While everyone else in Mayberry seemed to always be getting caught up in crazy superstitions, Andy always seemed to be the voice of reason and logic. In one episode Barney and Gomer even believed a house was haunted but Andy knew better. It seems strange that Andy would be the religious type, you'd think he'd at least be agnostic if not atheist.
shareBarney and Gomer were idiots. It's not a matter of faith to see right through some guys scheme to scare people away from a house.
shareIt's not just that, there were many instances of people being superstitious in Mayberry. Another one was the chain letter episode or the episode with the gypsies that claimed they could control the weather. Everyone in town seemed to buy into it except Andy, he was the only one that remained logical. Logic and religion usually don't go so well together. Although it is possible he just went to church regularly to appease aunt Bee and the rest of the town.
shareFacts are not liberals strong suit. Rhetoric is. Thomas Sowell
I should know better than to discuss a hot topic like religion with a bunch of strangers...but here goes. Why in the world would it be strange that Andy is a devout church going Christian?
He was an honest and decent man. He upheld the law. He did his best to raise his son to be responsible and respectful of adults. He obviously believed in the ten commandments. Why else would he enforce the law? Where do you think "Thou shall not kill or steal" came from? Some agnostic handbook on logic?
"Logic and religion don't go together." I respectfully disagree. I think logically and logic tells me that this world of ours did not spring up randomly. I do resent it when people of faith are looked down upon as superstitious nut jobs.
Don't want to start a religious debate especially with agnostic/athiest types. They don't have the constraints of the ten commandments to curb their tempers (as I've seen in the past, not to accuse anyone here)
Some of the superstitions of Barney and other townsfolk were played for laughs. People can be religious and still fall prey to silly superstitions.
Anyone can be a bad person or a good person. I've met plenty of bad religious people for sure. The main difference between atheists and religious folk is that religious folk try to be good so they don't go to hell, but atheists don't believe in hell so they're good only because they know it's right. Personally I'd rather be a good person because I want to be instead of being a good person because I was threatened to be.
As for the creation of the Earth, if you take an astronomy class you will learn all about how our solar system and the Earth came to be.
"As for the creation of the Earth, if you take an astronomy class you will learn all about how our solar system and the Earth came to be."
Yes, it came from nothing.
Sounds about as logical as it came from the 'spaghetti monster in the sky' the atheists are always talking about !
BTW, What was before 'nothing' ?
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Earth was created by the hand of God
shareFacts are not liberals strong suit. Rhetoric is. Thomas Sowell
I should know better than to discuss a hot topic like religion with a bunch of strangers...but here goes. Why in the world would it be strange that Andy is a devout church going Christian?
He was an honest and decent man. He upheld the law. He did his best to raise his son to be responsible and respectful of adults. He obviously believed in the ten commandments. Why else would he enforce the law? Where do you think "Thou shall not kill or steal" came from? Some agnostic handbook on logic?
"Logic and religion don't go together." I respectfully disagree. I think logically and logic tells me that this world of ours did not spring up randomly. I do resent it when people of faith are looked down upon as superstitious nut jobs.
Don't want to start a religious debate especially with agnostic/athiest types. They don't have the constraints of the ten commandments to curb their tempers (as I've seen in the past, not to accuse anyone here)
Some of the superstitions of Barney and other townsfolk were played for laughs. People can be religious and still fall prey to silly superstitions.
x2, Joe.
shareGreat response pj.
Why don't we just shoot 'em down and be through with it?
I agree here. In my post, I put quotes around "religious" as I tend to think of being religious as a negative thing. That is, legalistic/Bible thumping/judging type of person. The character Andy Taylor walked the walk and talked the talk like Jesus might have done. In the black and white episodes, that is... :)
Never make friends with the devil brother, his pitchfork will get you in the end.
Well, the real Andy Griffith was liberal, right, and something of an intellectual, so it's not hard to imagine Andy Taylor as the same. I like to think that Andy T. was like John Walton - a good man who rejected nonsense religiosity, though unlike John Walton Andy went to church so as not to scandalize Bee.
And we know Andy Taylor was in favor of gays in the military because he personally delivered Gomer to the Marines...
Where do you think "Thou shall not kill or steal" came from? Some agnostic handbook on logic?
shareFacts are not liberals strong suit. Rhetoric is. Thomas Sowell
Have to strongly disagree on that point, but carry on...
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How can make the comment that "Logic and Religion usually don't go together" and not realize you're being inflammatory? Making an assumption that someone is logical or illogical based on their religious beliefs (or lack thereof) is offensive.
Those who are logical typically rely on evidence instead of hearsay.
shareHow can make the comment that "Logic and Religion usually don't go together" and not realize you're being inflammatory? Making an assumption that someone is logical or illogical based on their religious beliefs (or lack thereof) is offensive.
Andy was not "religious." He went to church like most all good folks in a southern small town.
Never make friends with the devil brother, his pitchfork will get you in the end.
That's kind of what I was thinking, he just went to church because it was the thing to do, not so much because he actually believed all that stuff. Maybe he didn't want to appear as the odd man out. I'm glad things aren't like that where I live, my parents gave me the option to choose my own path growing up and let me think for myself.
shareI would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there isn't, than live as if there isn't and to die to find out that there is.
Albert Camus
No! That's not true at all, Elvis takes 50% of everything I earn!Col. Tom Parker share
I live my life from a scientific perspective. I need solid evidence before I am willing to believe something. Just saying that something exists with no evidence is not good enough. Many people believe in ghosts, others claim to be abducted by aliens, but again no solid evidence from any of em'. So in my opinion it's better to simply admit ignorance about things that are unknown until evidence can be provided. I feel that Andy always had this same outlook on life. Not that he was a scientist or anything, but he preferred to use logic and reasoning rather than just believing whatever he was told.
sharePerhaps Andy had faith? Faith means accepting that there is a being or even 'other stuff' that is much larger than our human comprehension. Why are you so concerned about this, Shaned? If you think we all become one with the dirt when we die, then TAGS should mean nothing to you. For that matter, in the end why would anything matter to you? And I'm not trying to be a smart alec. I'm just curious?
shareFaith without evidence means nothing. I could have faith that the Loch Ness Monster is real too but it doesn't make it so. I believe TAGS demonstrates how important it is to enjoy the little things in life and that's what I really love about the show. Life is all about getting the most out of every day because you never know when it'll be your last. And yes I certainly believe this life is the only one we get, there is zero evidence to the contrary. To me, that makes it all the more precious and gives me an even greater reason to enjoy the time that I have.
If you want to be realistic about it, we are all living on a tiny grain of sand within a vast ocean that is the universe. Nothing we humans do will ever really matter in the grand scheme of things. I think a lot of people have trouble coping with that reality so they'd rather believe something that sounds more pleasant whether there's supporting evidence or not. Humans want to feel important and many can't accept that they're not. It's the same reason Galileo was convicted of heresy for claiming that the Earth wasn't the center of the universe. Humans are an extremely arrogant race.
So - if Andy Griffith himself was a born again Christian - which he was - why do you have such a hard time believing Andy Taylor might be? Just odd to read all the projection stuff, like Andy went to church to appease Aunt Bee. Just weird. NOTHING in the show indicated that, as long as we're talking about the importance of evidence. His character was a DEACON in the church. That's a high level position with alot of spiritual responsibility - you don't become a deacon if you're going to church just to please somebody. And he was in the choir too. You really think the Andy Taylor character was hypocritical enough to be heavily involved in the church when he really didn't believe in God? And if you think Christian people are characterized by being superstitious and credulous, like believing in haunted houses and such, I just don't even know what to tell you on that. Poster earlier said religious people do good to avoid going to hell. For Christians, Christ's death on the cross bought us out of hell. No good works needed. You live a life of service to God and show love to others to follow Christ's example, because that's what God wants us to do. I know there's bad Christians around who mess it up for us and give us a bad reputation, but there's bad all kinds of people around. Christians are just like anybody else, just doing the best we can. This thread is fascinating to me because Christians are always accused of being unkind and intolerant to others, and here's somebody out of the blue starting a thread that's needlessly insulting and belittling to someone else's beliefs. "It's strange that Andy was religious because he doesn't SEEM like a raving idiot." Just wild. And yes, Andy Griffith was a Christian. Want to buy his CD of hymns of faith that he recorded late in life? It's on Amazon.
If you don't choose to have faith in God, it's ok. That's what's great about this country. Don't have it, it's fine. Why is it so important to knock people who do?
you don't become a deacon if you're going to church just to please somebody.
He said "become a deacon". There was nothing in there about choosing the devil later on. So are you telling us that Aunt Bea poisoned his mind so much that he turned away from God and accepted the devil as his savior? I mean, yeah he was always mean to Opie and was a bit of a jerk in the color episodes but aren't you taking this a bit extreme? Even IF he is a liberal and somewhat of an intellectual? loL
shareI've always heard that when Bee was supposedly off visiting kinfolk, leaving Andy & Opie to fend for themselves, she was actually jetting to Manhattan to visit her friends Roman & Minnie Castevett. Bee played the recorder, you know.
Look, if Clara Edwards was there, it's not too difficult for me to believe that
Aunt Bee was there too :)
I'm not attempting to debate your outlook on humanity's place in the universe. You have your view and while I disagree, I respect it. We could write back and forth every day for the next 6 months arguing and accomplish nothing.
I am only saying that to smugly suggest those that feel the way you do are probably logical and those who don't are illogical is far more arrogant than anything you're trying to assert about the human race in general. There is a word for that type of attitude and it isn't a favorable one.
I am a man of faith and I am totally convinced that there is a God because the evidence is all around us. To think that this universe, with all of the intrinsic engineering, just came out of nothing is absolutely idiocy!! There HAD to be a designer, a builder for this world to exist.
I have used this illustration; suppose you were to take a Chevy automobile apart and put all of the individual parts into a huge cement mixer and start it to turn. How long would it take for all of those parts to come back together, without a person putting them together, and to be a whole car? You could turn that mixer for a billion years, a trillion years, a zillion years, and you would NEVER have a car again. Not without a PERSON taking a wrench and a screwdriver and put it back together. In a million years, you would probably have just a large truck full of dust.
I have often said; it takes much more faith to NOT believe in God than it does to believe in him.
Sorry Marmac, that's idiotic. You are making a classic logical fallacy by "reverse engineering" reality.
Here's a better way to understand: Let's say you're in a fender-bender accident today, in which you bump into a car with the license plate that, say, is STHIX. A routine incident that is totally unremarkable and easily understood.
Now, go back to this morning when you woke up, and imagine saying, "I wonder what the odds are that today I'll hit a car with the plate number STHIX? The odds would be insane that that could happen."
See, it only becomes insane AFTER the fact, when a random incident, in retrospect, is recognized as the one-in-a-trillion happenstance that it - and everything else that goes on - actually is.
Get it? Life is made up of random happenings that only seem remarkable if you impose your demands of "intent" on them. How many times have you done something accidentally and then said, "wow, I couldn't have done that if I tried." Same principal here.
I may not be a very religious man, but I do know that in order to start an argument about such a topic on the Andy Griffith Show posting board, you can't be the sharpest knife in the drawer. People come here to have a good time and to discuss one of their favorite shows... they don't come here to argue about religion, politics, or any other topic that is divisive and sure to start an argument. You claim to be the arbiter of common sense, and yet you don't know any better than to discuss this topic in a proper place - that shows a distinct lack of good judgment on your part.
You also said that the character Gomer Pyle is gay and Andy Taylor is liberal because he is friends with him and accepting of his sexual orientation. What a load of hogwash! Now listen closely... the character that Jim Nabors portrays "IS NOT" gay... Jim Nabors "IS GAY". Here's another beauty you bestowed upon us - "Well, the real Andy Griffith was liberal, right, and something of an intellectual, so it's not hard to imagine Andy Taylor as the same." Here you go again, confusing the actor with his role. Many actors and actresses are very different in real life from the characters they portray, and you'd have to be completely lacking in common sense not to know that fact.
For someone with such strong opinions, you don't seem to have a whole lot going for you intellectually.
I am a man of faith and I am totally convinced that there is a God because the evidence is all around us. To think that this universe, with all of the intrinsic engineering, just came out of nothing is absolutely idiocy!! There HAD to be a designer, a builder for this world to exist.
I have used this illustration; suppose you were to take a Chevy automobile apart and put all of the individual parts into a huge cement mixer and start it to turn. How long would it take for all of those parts to come back together, without a person putting them together, and to be a whole car? You could turn that mixer for a billion years, a trillion years, a zillion years, and you would NEVER have a car again.
I have often said; it takes much more faith to NOT believe in God than it does to believe in him.
"I need solid evidence before I am willing to believe something."
So when fly on an aircraft - you demand to see the pilots FAA and medical certificate?
Or do you have faith in the system.....
I have faith that other people have actually SEEN the certificates. When you can find me a person who has seen proof of god's existence, get back to me.
shareI would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there isn't, than live as if there isn't and to die to find out that there is.
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Andy was not "religious." He went to church like most all good folks in a southern small town.
I would not necessarily say that someone has to be either religious or superstitious, there are a great many people who believe in God, while believing in things such as luck and odds of chance. I think Mayberry was by large, a religious own. They had a very active church, a lot of church socials, and several situations that yielded to a higher power. Matter of fact, Gomer and Barney were both respected members of the church.
I am surfing the Aunt Bee chatroom... I have officially hit rock bottom.
It's not that odd. I know MANY Christians who do not believe in superstition, they put God in a totally different category. Some ppl call it Special Pleading.
shareThis is possibly the most prejudiced and biased question I've ever seen on the message boards. Thank you to pj below who answered the bias quite nicely. Why be hating on people of faith?
3k
Well-stated, Bunny.
The OP in this thread was acting like a pompous & arrogant poster.
Kind of like saying how "all" members of this political party, race, religion, school, geography, career type, etc. are ALWAYS like this.
You might be satisfied with his answer, but anyone who prizes reason and logic wouldn't be. "I know because I know" is, frankly, astoundingly lame. And being a "comfort" is utterly beside the point - it would be a great comfort to believe that Santa Claus exists, or that tapping on wood prevents bad luck. It's called magical thinking.
There is most certainly a disconnect between religion and reason, and citing some example from 1935 means nothing compared to the many, many scientists who dismiss all such superstitions.
Though I do love the idea of a Nobel for the Big Band Theory. Don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
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I named one person, but since you seem to need more...
Northwestern & Duke (Methodist) and Notre Dame & Georgetown Universities (Catholic) say hello. All top 20 schools (2 are top 10) with excellent research creds that are overwhelming Christian faculty and enrollment. I'm guessing you'd find plenty of "logical" and "reasonable" folks across the faculty and student body (including sciences) in those schools, you think? Better minds than mine or yours, maybe?
Unless you were accepted to and attended a better school than these, I'd reconsider your absolute claims about your superior logic and reason.
Coming in late here, but I always felt that Andy was "spiritual, but not religious", kind of like Pa Walton...
share'60-'65 Andy lived by example.
Never make friends with the devil brother, his pitchfork will get you in the end.
Andy taught Sunday school.
So it wasn't just "a bunch of nonsense" that he followed only to please others, like the arrogant OP irrationally spec'ulated.
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