Peace
Original: Peace on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
A man kneels with his hands clasped in prayer at the edge of a cliff, looking up.
Man: GOD, IF YOU'RE INFINITELY POWERFUL AND INFINITELY GOOD HOW COME BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE?
Panel 2 (left, a thought/speech bubble):
GOD (thinking): IS PREVENTING SUFFERING GOOD?
Panel 3 (right, a thought/speech bubble):
GOD (thinking): AM I CAPABLE OF CAUSING INFINITE SUFFERING?
Panel 4:
A bald, white-robed figure (God) is seen from behind, leaning toward a screen or window that shows a red, hellish, fiery landscape — a vision of infinite suffering. No text.
Panel 5 (left, set against a dark starry sky with a small distant figure):
GOD: DON'T KNOW IF I LOVE YOU DOING A LOGICAL END-RUN AROUND THE DEEPEST QUESTION IN THEOLOGY.
Panel 5 (right speech bubble):
GOD: WAIT TILL YOU FIND OUT WHO INVENTED LOGIC!
Caption beneath the comic:
I'm not a hug person.
Footer: PATREON.COM/ZACHWEINERSMITH SMBC-COMICS.COM
Votey:
A bald man smiles contentedly, looking off to the side.
Man: MAN, I WAS WORRIED I'D HAVE BUYER'S REMORSE, BUT NAH THIS IS GREAT.
A man kneels with his hands clasped in prayer at the edge of a cliff, looking up.
Man: GOD, IF YOU'RE INFINITELY POWERFUL AND INFINITELY GOOD HOW COME BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE?
Panel 2 (left, a thought/speech bubble):
GOD (thinking): IS PREVENTING SUFFERING GOOD?
Panel 3 (right, a thought/speech bubble):
GOD (thinking): AM I CAPABLE OF CAUSING INFINITE SUFFERING?
Panel 4:
A bald, white-robed figure (God) is seen from behind, leaning toward a screen or window that shows a red, hellish, fiery landscape — a vision of infinite suffering. No text.
Panel 5 (left, set against a dark starry sky with a small distant figure):
GOD: DON'T KNOW IF I LOVE YOU DOING A LOGICAL END-RUN AROUND THE DEEPEST QUESTION IN THEOLOGY.
Panel 5 (right speech bubble):
GOD: WAIT TILL YOU FIND OUT WHO INVENTED LOGIC!
Caption beneath the comic:
I'm not a hug person.
Footer: PATREON.COM/ZACHWEINERSMITH SMBC-COMICS.COM
Votey:
A bald man smiles contentedly, looking off to the side.
Man: MAN, I WAS WORRIED I'D HAVE BUYER'S REMORSE, BUT NAH THIS IS GREAT.
Alt text
A six-panel SMBC comic about theodicy. Panel 1: a man kneels in prayer at a cliff's edge and asks, "God, if you're infinitely powerful and infinitely good, how come bad things happen to good people?" Panels 2 and 3 show God's internal questions in thought bubbles: "Is preventing suffering good?" and "Am I capable of causing infinite suffering?" Panel 4: a bald, white-robed figure (God), seen from behind, leans toward a screen showing a red, hellish, fiery landscape — the infinite suffering God could unleash. Final panels: God replies, "Don't know if I love you doing a logical end-run around the deepest question in theology," then, in a separate bubble, "Wait till you find out who invented logic!" A caption under the comic reads, "I'm not a hug person." The joke: God answers the problem of evil by reframing it as a logic puzzle of God's own making. Votey aftercomic: a smiling bald man looks off to the side and says, "Man, I was worried I'd have buyer's remorse, but nah this is great."
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.