Heretic

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A heretic is someone who believes in heresy - or almost the same things as you.

Any heresy with an adequate army (or more recently, an adequate voter base) is known as a religion.

Contents 1 Clarification 1.1 Illustration of Heresy 1.2 A more violent illustation 2 Political Heresy 3 The siege of Béziers 4 Footnotes

[edit] Clarification

[edit] Illustration of Heresy

The story below is often told to illustrate heresy:

I was walking across a bridge one day and I saw a man standing on a ledge, about to jump off. So I ran over and said, "Stop! Don't do it!"

"Why shouldn't I?" he asked.

"Well, there's so much to live for." "Like what?"

"Well, are you religious?" He said yes. I said, "Me too!"

"Are you Christian or Buddhist?" "Christian." "Me too!"

"Are you Catholic or Protestant?" "Protestant." "Me too!"

"Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?" "Baptist." "Wow, me too!

"Are you Baptist Church of God or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?" "Reformed Baptist Church of God." "Hey,me too!"

"Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1789 or Reformed Baptist Church of God, 1915?"

He said, "Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915."

I said, "Die, heretic scum!!" And pushed him off the bridge.^[1]

[edit] A more violent illustation

Another reference to heresy was made by George Carlin, during one of his sermons:

A.]"Do you believe in God?"

B.]"No."

A.]"BLAM!" *Mimes a gunshot* "Now, do you believe in God?"

B.]"Yes"

A.]"Do you believe in MY God?"

B.]"No."

A.]"BLAM!" *Mimes a gunshot* "My God has a bigger Dick than your God!"^[2]

[edit] Political Heresy

As in religion, there can be heresy in politics. At least in the views of certain right-wingers and, indeed, some leftists. The story above, regarding someone being perfectly acceptable until one final detail emerges, is certainly common.^[3]

[edit] The siege of Béziers

An often repeated story of Christian treatment of heretics occurred during the siege of the southern French city of Béziers during the Albigensian Crusade in 1209.

"A German monk repeated a story that Arnald-Amaury (a Papal legate) , when asked in the middle of the slaughter how the catholics could be distinguished from the heretics replied, "Kill them all, God will recognize his own." ^[4]

[edit] Footnotes

1. ↑ I recognize this as being basically similar to an old Emo Philips riff, although it might not be original to him.
2. ↑ I know I screwed the pooch on this one, but I think it demonstrates the heresy point well.
3. ↑ http://www.conservapedia.com/User_talk:Aschlafly#Don.27t_call_me_a_liberal
4. ↑ Sumption, Jonathan, the Albigensian Crucade, Faber and Faber, London 1999, p.93