[S.T.O.R.Y. 4/7/02] This dojo was built by Time Lords

[Chaos Priest]

http://www.egscomics.com/d/20020407.html

OK, here's my theory. Ya see, the reason why the dojo seems bigger on the inside is because it is bigger on the inside. The dojo is actually a TARDIS, and simply suddenly appeared there one day like many other small mysterious shops that weren't there yesterday. Sensei Greg is a Time Lord, and after having gone through several reincarnations he's gotten a bit, well, loopy. But he still knows there's always some danger to the planet just around the corner, and in order to help provide for it's defense he's training kids how to in a special martial arts so they will be able to handle threats when they arrive. Mr. Verres knows about this as he's from the EGS US equivalent of Torchwood, but he had never actually met The Sensei so he had no idea how he looked, explaining his shock later on.

Getting away from crazy theories for a second here, I kinda feel sorry for Justin here. He has a hard enough time as a Buddhist as it is, so he definitely doesn't need any other obstacles than the ones he provides himself. I kinda wonder what sect of Buddhism he belongs to. Of course, he could just be a "dumb American teenager" and just heard a few things about Buddhism and decided to call himself that while trying some meditating.

By the way, does anybody else miss Nanase being buff? I mean, look at her in the thirteenth panel there. She obviously works out a lot. Not that I'm saying that her current appearance doesn't look good, but it just seems that her earlier one was a bit closer to her being The Sensei's most powerful student.

[Man on the Moon]

By the way, does anybody else miss Nanase being buff? I mean, look at her in the thirteenth panel there. She obviously works out a lot. Not that I'm saying that her current appearance doesn't look good, but it just seems that her earlier one was a bit closer to her being The Sensei's most powerful student.

Obviously, she does a anime-style 'buff up' sequence before fighting.

[Tarvok]

It looks very much like Dan intended the ASMA dojo to be an extradimensional building. It just isn't funny enough to be a throw-away joke, but it is cool enough to be a significant fact, if it ever comes up again.

Yeah, I also miss buff Nanase, and buff Elliot while we're at it (we'll see him a few more comics down the line).

[nitpicking]

Yeah, I also miss buff Nanase, and buff Elliot while we're at it (we'll see him a few more comics down the line).

Such as the beginning of Sister II?

Mostly people don't have visible muscles, I suspect, because Dan's current style is very cartoony. Only Popeye would get drawn with visible lines and bulges.

[Nightranger]

Mr. Verres knows about this as he's from the EGS US equivalent of Torchwood, but he had never actually met The Sensei so he had no idea how he looked, explaining his shock later on.

So Mr. Verres, and Agents Wolf and Cranium are all bisexual?

[ForkBomb]

So Mr. Verres, and Agents Wolf and Cranium are all bisexual?

Mr. Verres used to be a woman, and it was Tedd's dad that left...

[ChronosCat]

== Spring, 2006 ==

Chronos: Anime-Style, eh? Odd name, but it sounds promising.

The comment about it being bigger on the inside was unnecissary unless it's supposed to be like the TARDIS; I wouldn't have noticed anything strange otherwise, as we never get a good look at the building's exterior.

== Nov, 2008 ==

Crystal: Aaaand, introducing Justin and Nanase! (Not to mention Gregg.)

The comments Elliot makes to Justin in this strip are amusing.

Mr. Verres knows about this as he's from the EGS US equivalent of Torchwood, but he had never actually met The Sensei so he had no idea how he looked, explaining his shock later on.

Being a fan of the original series, and considering the military-style forces at Mr. Verres disposal, I'd classify his organization as being similar to UNIT.

Getting away from crazy theories for a second here, I kinda feel sorry for Justin here. He has a hard enough time as a Buddhist as it is, so he definitely doesn't need any other obstacles than the ones he provides himself. I kinda wonder what sect of Buddhism he belongs to. Of course, he could just be a "dumb American teenager" and just heard a few things about Buddhism and decided to call himself that while trying some meditating.

Did Justin ever actually say he was a Buddist?

By the way, does anybody else miss Nanase being buff? I mean, look at her in the thirteenth panel there. She obviously works out a lot. Not that I'm saying that her current appearance doesn't look good, but it just seems that her earlier one was a bit closer to her being The Sensei's most powerful student.

I should miss it, but strangely I don't.

[Chaos Priest]

Getting away from crazy theories for a second here, I kinda feel sorry for Justin here. He has a hard enough time as a Buddhist as it is, so he definitely doesn't need any other obstacles than the ones he provides himself. I kinda wonder what sect of Buddhism he belongs to. Of course, he could just be a "dumb American teenager" and just heard a few things about Buddhism and decided to call himself that while trying some meditating.

Did Justin ever actually say he was a Buddist?

I don't recall him explicitly stating that he's Buddhist, but he expressed his concern over the desire to rid himself of desire and mentioned Nirvana, which is a Buddhist term. And quoting Dan:

...The only religion I'm particularly interested in addressing in EGS is Buddhism. That wasn't just a random thing at the start of Night Out, Part I; Justin has a distinct interest in Buddhism. In fact, it's the first thing ever hinted at about Justin (back when he claimed he was about to obtain inner peace while meditating). One of the jokes about Justin, however, is that he's not very good at Buddhism; he collects material objects, he's not a vegetarian (this is debatable amongst Buddhists; killing animals seems to be universally wrong in Buddhism, but eating an animal someone else killed is a loophole evidently used by some Buddhists. Nonetheless, it's a strike against Justin's Buddhism), and he's just generally full of desires. I don't know why, but the idea of a "bad buddhist" amuses me.

So, I suppose I should apologize to all my Buddhist readers out there. My apologies. Although, I should note that if you were GOOD Buddhists, you'd be free of the desire for an apology. *is savagely beaten*

[Man on the Moon]

While I totally understand why and have no problems with the lack of religion in EGS, it does kind of annoy me that the whole webcomic continuum runs only from "no mention of religion at all (monotheistic, at least; Oriental and neopaganism are just peachy)" to "atheist/neopagan soapbox".

[Ineluki]

True. Or, wait...

• S*P involved people with christian believes and in a light that even I found myself nodding in respect to the author.
• Dressed in Black does not like catholics (who guessed...)
• Suicide for Hire has an... interesting relationship with faith
• JACK. christian mythology as background for a very deep story about redemption (if you don't mind the gory setup)
• Misfile: but just as fitting background
• Ozy & Millie: tackled topic
• Penny & Aggie: on a side character, afair
• Sinfest... well... kinda...

Okay, that makes 8 (tops) out of 91 comics that I tagged with "reality". (But I got sloppy with tagging these last months and may have missed a few)
Yeah, definitely a trend. I guess most likely because the authors want to offend as little as possible or it just wouldn't make for good conflict with the characters.

[Free Radical]

While I totally understand why and have no problems with the lack of religion in EGS, it does kind of annoy me that the whole webcomic continuum runs only from "no mention of religion at all (monotheistic, at least; Oriental and neopaganism are just peachy)" to "atheist/neopagan soapbox".

Do people randomly talk about religion a lot where you live? Religion just not coming up as a subject just seems normal to me. It's the same in Britain as well, as far as I know.

[Aeg'air]

In Lincolnshire, England religion is an insult...

[Challis]

I live in the eastern usa, but I don't talk about religion. That might be because I am Jewish, and there are not many other Jews to talk to around were I am. Then again, for 2 years in middle school there was an large group of people who were convinced that I was Buddist, simple because they knew I wasn't Christian, and I refused to explicitly tell them that I was Jewish( I didn't think that my religion was any of their business). I also like the idea of things that are bigger inside than outside, and I don't watch Doctor Who.

[Melvar]

By the way, does anybody else miss Nanase being buff? I mean, look at her in the thirteenth panel there. She obviously works out a lot. Not that I'm saying that her current appearance doesn't look good, but it just seems that her earlier one was a bit closer to her being The Sensei's most powerful student.

Obviously, she does a anime-style 'buff up' sequence before fighting.

I was thinking the reverse: she is normally that buff, but since she hides in everyday life (by magic, but especially wearing non-revealing clothing) it's simply not visible to the reader.

[Man on the Moon]

While I totally understand why and have no problems with the lack of religion in EGS, it does kind of annoy me that the whole webcomic continuum runs only from "no mention of religion at all (monotheistic, at least; Oriental and neopaganism are just peachy)" to "atheist/neopagan soapbox".

Do people randomly talk about religion a lot where you live? Religion just not coming up as a subject just seems normal to me. It's the same in Britain as well, as far as I know.

I live in the Deep South, so yeah, it probably comes up a lot more here than elsewhere.

But what bugs me is not the 'no religion at all' part, but the 'unless it's non-monotheistic' part. The two largest religious groups, containing over half the world's people, don't get any mention at all, but goodness, there's neopagans and atheists crawling out the woodwork (with some East Asian religions for flavor or Japanophilia).

[potentia]

My take on the whole religion debate is, should religion really matter that much? I mean, for the most part it should not matter if you're a Christian, Buddhist, or Atheist, of if you worship magical dancing pandas. Basically what I'm trying to get across is, we're all sharing this world, so wouldn't it be better if we all got along instead of worrying about who belongs to which religion and how often it gets mentioned anywhere? It's far better to just live life to the best of your ability and finding your own path on this journey through life.

[Ineluki]

if it "should" matter is debatable, of course, with no objective answer.
But it does. It's a very powerful motivator and as such got its fingers in everything in human history. For good as well as for evil.

[potentia]

True, We have plenty of examples of it being used for both sides of the scale throughout our history. There's something about it that incites the masses. When I sit back and think about all of the blood that was shed, and battles that were fought throughout history because of religion. It makes me wonder if somewhere people just missed the point and got lost along the way.

[Bonz0]

True, We have plenty of examples of it being used for both sides of the scale throughout our history. There's something about it that incites the masses. When I sit back and think about all of the blood that was shed, and battles that were fought throughout history because of religion. It makes me wonder if somewhere people just missed the point and got lost along the way.

I don't see it as blood being shed "Because of religion". I see it the other way around. Like, conflict was bound to happen in history, as human nature dictates, and religion was just used as an excuse for said violence. I'm not saying that any religion was STARTED because of violence, though. I just think that people blame religion unfairly as the sole reason why some conflicts were started.

[Ineluki]

That's a good point. Religion was abused a lot in that regard. But I also think it often created hate by giving humans an excuse to hide their insecurities behind such differences like which god is the only right one.
Of course, as you said, if not religion then there are other such petty, unimportant things, like skin tone or whatever...

[potentia]

exactly, Religion is not the only reason why wars have been started throughout history. But it is still fodder for a lot of problems past, present and future. For example, aren't the wars in the middle east primarily about religion? What with calling the US the great satan, and all of the other things that have been keeping that area occupied for longer than I care to remember or research. It'd be far better if all sides could just sit down at a table and hash things out once and for all. I mean, there are far more important things that we can be devoting our money to. Such as sinking money into the space program so that we will have a means of surviving if/when a meteor or other great disaster comes along and damages the earth.

[Bonz0]

exactly, Religion is not the only reason why wars have been started throughout history. But it is still fodder for a lot of problems past, present and future. For example, aren't the wars in the middle east primarily about religion? What with calling the US the great satan, and all of the other things that have been keeping that area occupied for longer than I care to remember or research. It'd be far better if all sides could just sit down at a table and hash things out once and for all. I mean, there are far more important things that we can be devoting our money to. Such as sinking money into the space program so that we will have a means of surviving if/when a meteor or other great disaster comes along and damages the earth.

I think terrorists were going to target the USA no matter what. It has more to do with them being terrorists, imo, than it does with them being religious. They are just using religion as a means to gain more followers, and to give themselves a reason wreak as much havoc as they want.

[potentia]

While jealousy of the US is a large part of it, most of the basis for their war is religious in nature. From calling the US the great satan that corrupts the world, to fighting so that they get the holy land back, religion plays a large part in the reasons why they continue to fight, and have fought in that area for hundreds of years.

[Nightranger]

Meh, I have to agree with BonzO that religion and the whole "great satan" thing are more likely recruiting/propaganda tools then an actual cause. However I'd disagree with his opinion that the various radical Islamic terrorist groups who hate America do so "just 'cause." What's the cause? Well, how about America's support of ordering all the Palastinians to just pick up and move from their homeland to make room for Israel after WWII, coupled with our continuing strong support of Israel. Or how about how America supports and safe-guards corrupt, unpopular dictatorships in countries like in Saudi Arabia? Or how America tends to meddle in their local politics in order to ensure its access to oil?

[potentia]

Meh, I have to agree with BonzO that religion and the whole "great satan" thing are more likely recruiting/propaganda tools then an actual cause. However I'd disagree with his opinion that the various radical Islamic terrorist groups who hate America do so "just 'cause." What's the cause? Well, how about America's support of ordering all the Palastinians to just pick up and move from their homeland to make room for Israel after WWII, coupled with our continuing strong support of Israel. Or how about how America supports and safe-guards corrupt, unpopular dictatorships in countries like in Saudi Arabia? Or how America tends to meddle in their local politics in order to ensure its access to oil?

I agree with you there, Suffice to say that I'm not a fan of US policy and how it sponsors dictatorships and stuff like that just to protect it's own interests. I'm in a rather large argument about this very topic with a US friend of mine, and it seems to have spilled over onto this this thread, for which I apologize. Both sides are at fault for one reason or another. I just wish everyone would put aside their differences, hash out an agreement that everyone can live with, so that we can go on with our lives without hearing in the news about this war and that battle. I'd much rather hear news facts about the fact that we've colonized mars and shuttles are ready to transport civilians to the colonies (yes, that's exceptionally unrealistic at this point, but hey, I can dream can't I? )