Explain SMBC — the wiki for Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

indiana

2023-09-12 View on smbc-comics.com → 1 revision
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indiana
Votey panel for indiana
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Explanation

This comic is a parody of Indiana Jones-style adventure films. We see explorers entering what appears to be an ancient tomb, but instead of a typical ancient civilization's burial site, the caption reveals it is "the ancient tomb of the Mennonites." One explorer exclaims in surprise: "What the -- it's shooting wine at my mouth and showing me pictures of women in underwear!"

The other explorer (or a narration) explains, "They believed you'd be forced to go home and spend several years repenting." The caption reads: "The ancient tomb of the Mennonites was filled with traps."

The humor plays on the contrast between typical action-movie tomb traps (poison darts, spike pits, rolling boulders) and traps designed by Mennonites, a historically pacifist and conservative Christian group known for modest living and strict moral codes. Their version of a "trap" isn't physically dangerous -- instead, it forces the intruder to consume alcohol and view immodest images, which from the Mennonite perspective would be sinful acts requiring years of spiritual repentance. The joke is that these traps are only threatening if you share Mennonite values, while to a secular adventurer they're more like a party than a punishment.

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