Belief Makes You Stupid: Difference between revisions

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* [[Father Brown]]’s general appearance [[Obfuscating Stupidity|made him look as dumb to everyone]], but this trope is continually applied to him by his condition of Catholic Priest: A lot of people in his stories (''The Blue Cross, The Flying Stars, The Hammer of God, The eye of Apolo'') constantly [[Did Not Do the Research|make the wrong assumption]] that a priest is a [[A Man Is Not a Virgin|celibate simpleton]] unaware of the [[Real Life]]. In fact, a priest must study philosophy and theology precisely to defend his beliefs helped by logic, and the fact of hearing a lot of people confessing his sins give him an interesting perspective about [[Real Life]]. Lampshaded in The Blue Cross when he explains to [[Master of Disguise]] [[Gentleman Thief]] Flambeau how he discovered him:
* [[Father Brown]]’s general appearance [[Obfuscating Stupidity|made him look as dumb to everyone]], but this trope is continually applied to him by his condition of Catholic Priest: A lot of people in his stories (''The Blue Cross, The Flying Stars, The Hammer of God, The eye of Apolo'') constantly [[Did Not Do the Research|make the wrong assumption]] that a priest is a [[A Man Is Not a Virgin|celibate simpleton]] unaware of the [[Real Life]]. In fact, a priest must study philosophy and theology precisely to defend his beliefs helped by logic, and the fact of hearing a lot of people confessing his sins give him an interesting perspective about [[Real Life]]. Lampshaded in The Blue Cross when he explains to [[Master of Disguise]] [[Gentleman Thief]] Flambeau how he discovered him:
{{quote|''"How in blazes do you know all these horrors?"'' cried Flambeau.
{{quote|''"How in blazes do you know all these horrors?"'' cried Flambeau.
The shadow of a smile crossed the [[Obfuscating Stupidity|round, simple face]] of his clerical opponent.
The shadow of a smile crossed the [[Obfuscating Stupidity|round, simple face]] of his clerical opponent.
''"'Oh, by being a [[A Man Is Not a Virgin|celibate simpleton]], I suppose,'' he said. [[Confessional|''Has it never struck you that a man who does next to nothing but hear men's real sins is not likely to be wholly unaware of human evil?]] But, as a matter of fact, another part of my trade, too, made me sure you weren't a priest."''
''"'Oh, by being a [[A Man Is Not a Virgin|celibate simpleton]], I suppose,'' he said. [[Confessional|''Has it never struck you that a man who does next to nothing but hear men's real sins is not likely to be wholly unaware of human evil?]] But, as a matter of fact, another part of my trade, too, made me sure you weren't a priest."''
''"What?"'' asked the thief, almost gaping.
''"What?"'' asked the thief, almost gaping.
''"You attacked reason,"'' said Father Brown. ''[[What an Idiot!|"It's bad theology.]]"'' }}
''"You attacked reason,"'' said Father Brown. ''[[What an Idiot!|"It's bad theology.]]"'' }}
* In ''[[Good Omens]]'', most of humanity appears this way. Best shown when Aziraphale gets accidentally exorcised by [[Church Militant|Shadwell]] and spends the next several hours body-surfing around the aether, causing nearly everyone he encounters to assume they're being inhabited by a Demon. With slight irritation, Aziraphale has to correct them that he's actually an ''Angel''.
* In ''[[Good Omens]]'', most of humanity appears this way. Best shown when Aziraphale gets accidentally exorcised by [[Church Militant|Shadwell]] and spends the next several hours body-surfing around the aether, causing nearly everyone he encounters to assume they're being inhabited by a Demon. With slight irritation, Aziraphale has to correct them that he's actually an ''Angel''.
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* On ''[[Lost]]'', {{spoiler|Richard Alpert}} is Catholic, and, in 1867, he accidentally kills a man while getting medicine for his dying wife, gets arrested, is told he can't be absolved for his sins, and then crashes on the island. Naturally, he is willing to believe he's gone to hell when told just that by an apparition of his dead wife and a mysterious Man in Black. Exploiting {{spoiler|Richard}}'s faith, the Man in Black tells him he can only escape "hell" by killing "the devil," the Man in Black's archenemy {{spoiler|Jacob}}. The plan falls through when {{spoiler|Jacob}} explains {{spoiler|Richard}} is not dead, not in hell, and was misled by the Man in Black.
* On ''[[Lost]]'', {{spoiler|Richard Alpert}} is Catholic, and, in 1867, he accidentally kills a man while getting medicine for his dying wife, gets arrested, is told he can't be absolved for his sins, and then crashes on the island. Naturally, he is willing to believe he's gone to hell when told just that by an apparition of his dead wife and a mysterious Man in Black. Exploiting {{spoiler|Richard}}'s faith, the Man in Black tells him he can only escape "hell" by killing "the devil," the Man in Black's archenemy {{spoiler|Jacob}}. The plan falls through when {{spoiler|Jacob}} explains {{spoiler|Richard}} is not dead, not in hell, and was misled by the Man in Black.
* A staple of classic ''[[Doctor Who]]''. Religion was usually portrayed as the antithesis of science and any character fanatically loyal to a 'god' and doing things in 'his' name would ultimately be revealed to be deluded and worshipping a mad computer (''Face of Evil''), an empty spacesuit (''Planet of Fire''), etc.
* A staple of classic ''[[Doctor Who]]''. Religion was usually portrayed as the antithesis of science and any character fanatically loyal to a 'god' and doing things in 'his' name would ultimately be revealed to be deluded and worshipping a mad computer (''Face of Evil''), an empty spacesuit (''Planet of Fire''), etc.
** Modern ''[[Doctor Who]]'' has used this and its opposite, but an example of the trope being played straight would be ''[[Doctor Who/Recap/NS/S4/E06 The Doctor's Daughter|The Doctor's Daughter]]'', where the soldiers' deity turns out to be {{spoiler|a terraforming device}}.
** Modern ''[[Doctor Who]]'' has used this and its opposite, but an example of the trope being played straight would be ''[[Doctor Who/Recap/S30/E06 The Doctor's Daughter|The Doctor's Daughter]]'', where the soldiers' deity turns out to be {{spoiler|a terraforming device}}.
* Averted hard on ''[[The X-Files]]'', of all shows. Though the presmise of aliens and the paranormal may seem like the antithesis of religion (as it's usually portrayed), religion gets a ''ton'' of screentime during the series. Besides the Monster of the Week episodes that deal with things like stigmata, demonic posession, and recordings made by Christ, the show has a lot of religious undertones. However, these undertones aren't "God is responsible for everything on the show" kind of things. More questioning religion and how it came to be. At one point, Scully finds an extraterrestrial engraving that contains passages from the Bible, and Scully herself experiences a birthing experience similiar to the birth of Christ. This interplay of religion and science also plays large role in Scully's character development. Though a skeptic of Mulder's theories, she is a practicing Catholic and often must reconcile what she's learning with her faith.
* Averted hard on ''[[The X-Files]]'', of all shows. Though the presmise of aliens and the paranormal may seem like the antithesis of religion (as it's usually portrayed), religion gets a ''ton'' of screentime during the series. Besides the Monster of the Week episodes that deal with things like stigmata, demonic posession, and recordings made by Christ, the show has a lot of religious undertones. However, these undertones aren't "God is responsible for everything on the show" kind of things. More questioning religion and how it came to be. At one point, Scully finds an extraterrestrial engraving that contains passages from the Bible, and Scully herself experiences a birthing experience similiar to the birth of Christ. This interplay of religion and science also plays large role in Scully's character development. Though a skeptic of Mulder's theories, she is a practicing Catholic and often must reconcile what she's learning with her faith.


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