AtD blurb - "false" religiosity?

[Chris Broderick]

Keith sez:

I've given up on "true statements" whether Augustine
laid anyone to  
W.A.S.T.E. or not. I don't know shit, and I don't
trust anyone who  
claims they know shit.

So I sez: 

Pynchon put it well when he said that intelligence is
about learning the shape of one's own ignorance.  I'm
a happy atheist, and I don't think I'd bring anything
to the table in terms of discerning "false" from
"true" religions.  That being said, some religious
figures are falser than others.  One can smell more
snake oil coming off of Pat Robertson or Tom Cruise
than one can smell from one's average rabbi or pastor.
 That's all I think that Pynchon is referring to when
he speaks of false religiosity.

Someone (I think it was Keith, though in the tangle of
the digest, it's hard to tell) said:

Why would a man of his talent be so OBVIOUSLY ironic,
huh?

Pynchon doesn't exactly avoid the obvious.  Consider
all of the silly puns, slapstick and schtick in his
books (Joaquin Stick?!)  So just because it is
unsubtle doesn't mean it ain't Pynchon.

-Chris

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