RELIGION: Ruining Everything Since 4004 B.C.
Year: 2015
Author: Zach Weinersmith
Length: 261 pages
Much like SCIENCE: Ruining Everything, RELIGION: Ruining Everything is another collection of webcomics from “Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal” (SMBC). Basically, these two topics cover the vast majority of Zach Weinersmith’s comics. This book can act as a primer for anyone who wants to start reading this webcomic but happens to not have the internet (for some reason). This printed collection of webcomics still manages to capture the humor and hidden jokes present in the online versions of these same comics, but with a few extras sprinkled in to make long-time readers pick it up as well.
While not nearly as biased as The Holy-Bible Unabridged, no religion is safe from being the butt of Weinersmith’s jokes in this collection. It did help that the distribution of jokes about these different religions seemed to be fairly well balanced in this book. And even as someone who considers themself a Christian, I could laugh at how ridiculous some of our beliefs would appear to outsiders. However, not being as well-versed in other religions, I don’t know if the jokes aimed at them were similarly self-aware.
When compared to SCIENCE: Ruining Everything, I feel RELIGION: Ruining Everything is more approachable for those who want to start reading SMBC comics. Perhaps this is because most people can relate to the jokes contained in this book instead of needing specific scientific knowledge to understand why the comic is funny. Of course, I’m sure some people might be offended by these comics, but then this collection probably isn’t for them anyway. I feel being able to laugh at irreverence is not the same as endorsing blasphemy. If anything, understanding the jokes in this book means you’re fairly well-read in your religion already.
A humorous collection of religious jokes that doesn’t pull its punches, I give RELIGION: Ruining Everything 4.0 stars out of 5.
