Catholic vs Protestant God
joke · Theology ·
retold in 5 talks
Catholicism allows sin if confessed (playful); Protestantism demands guilt while sinning. Žižek prefers Protestantism's 'irrational capriciousness' and a God who is not good.
≤2000talks it is told in, per year2026
As told 4
“The Protestant version is you can do whatever you want just in so far as you feel a little bit guilty while while you are doing it.”
“in Catholicism everything is pardoned if you admit it in the confession…in Protestantism you just have to feel a little bit guilty then you can do whatever you want”
“in catholicism you only have to confess it every week. in protestantism you have to feel a little bit bad and guilty.”
What it carries
one story, many jobs: the ideas this anecdote is deployed to argue, one tally mark per use (an idea page shows the same relation from the other end, as its shelf of stories)
Its cast and sources
populated by
Ivan Illich1Günter Anders1Tom Hanks1Olga Kurylenko1Daniel Craig1Ramesh Srinivasan1Russell (unnamed)1Dan Nădășan1
alongside works
Every retelling 4
36:12 XLII Sigmund Freud Lecture by Slavoj Žižek: Theology, Negativity, and the Death-Drive2015 · 1:49:50
Catholicism allows sin if confessed (playful); Protestantism demands guilt while sinning. Žižek prefers Protestantism's 'irrational capriciousness' and a God who is not good., illustrating critique of ideology,Book of Job
What is the difference in sinning between Catholicism and Protestantism? In Catholicism everything is pardoned if you confess; in Protestantism you just have to feel a little bit guilty and then you can do whatever you want., illustrating jouissance,guilt and pleasure,Protestant ethics
In both Catholicism and Protestantism you can do whatever you want; in Catholicism you just confess weekly, while in Protestantism you have to feel a little guilty. A joke Žižek uses to approach the predestination question., illustrating predestination,Catholicism vs Protestantism
1:58 Slavoj Žižek: Should We Grasp AI Not Only as Substance But Also as Subject? - May 22, 20262026-05-22 · 1:19:04
The difference: in Catholicism you can do whatever you want (kill, rape) but must confess on Saturday; in Protestantism you must feel a little guilty while doing it. Žižek identifies as Protestant in this sense., illustrating superego,enjoyment and guilt,ideology