2012-08-14
Explanation
This comic is a satirical parallel between creationism and a hypothetical "revolution denialism." A history professor begins lecturing about Louis XVI'''s execution when a student interrupts to say that, according to his religion, states were created in their current form and he does not believe in revolution. The student argues that if revolution were true, it would imply states change over time.
The professor responds with evidence -- weapons, uniforms, and documents from the period -- but the student dismisses them as having been "put here by Satan to fool non-believers." When the professor notes that every historian agrees the French Revolution happened, the student offers literature from the "Creation History Foundation." The professor points to recent revolutions in the Middle East as observable evidence, but the student counters that everyone accepts "microrevolution" while insisting the resulting states are basically the same. He then argues that the "theory of revolution" cannot explain where states come from, to which the professor points out that the existence of states is not part of the theory and that you cannot have revolution until a state exists. The student scoffs at this as a "pretty limited theory."
The professor finally snaps and screams in frustration. The final panel reveals the punchline: the professor concedes, "Okay, I concede. Teaching intro biology is harder than teaching intro history," and the student says "Thank you." The entire exchange is a point-by-point parody of creationist arguments against evolution, transplanted into a historical context to highlight how absurd those arguments sound when applied to something as well-documented as the French Revolution.
The votey panel adds one more joke: the professor asks, "How old do you think the Earth is?" and the student answers "6000 weeks" -- a play on the young-Earth creationist claim of 6000 years, made even more absurd by substituting weeks (which would be only about 115 years).