# The Cecil Adams Pit Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 13, 2003, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cecil-adams-pit-thread/168505 "2003-04-13T22:04:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cecil-adams-pit-thread/168505/41 "2003-04-14T04:08:24Z")
::tears in my eyes:: **tom** that was just… so… beautiful. I’m getting vhiklempt\* \*well how the heck would _you_ spell it? ::awaiting the really clever response “I - T”:: ---
**Author:** ![imthjckaz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/imthjckaz/32/3223_2.png) [@imthjckaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/imthjckaz)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cecil-adams-pit-thread/168505/42 "2003-04-14T04:09:18Z")
Somebody wake Zotti up so Cecil can defend himself in this travesty of a thread! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cecil-adams-pit-thread/168505/43 "2003-04-14T04:12:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tomndebb \* > \*\* > No Cecil Adams? Thank God he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, **Doc Nickel** , nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of students of knowledge. \*\* Well done Tomndebb… But still… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Rigel\_Haloran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rigel\_Haloran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigel_Haloran)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cecil-adams-pit-thread/168505/44 "2003-04-14T04:13:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Baker \* > \*_We need to get an Inquisition going, to root out all the heretical posters here who do not believe in the One True Cecil. They won’t expect it!_ \*\* Oh! Oh! Oh! I wanna join the Inquisition! Can I? Can I? PLEEEEEEEEEESE? Heretic!!! Blasphemer!!! Burn the Witch!!! How was that? Good enough?😛 ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cecil-adams-pit-thread/168505/45 "2003-04-14T04:23:14Z")
**Rigel Haloran** , you’re on! I’ll be Tomas de Torquemada, and you can be my deputy! ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cecil-adams-pit-thread/168505/46 "2003-04-14T04:29:14Z")
Can I join the Inquisition? I’ve got the comfy chair and the pillows and everything, and my Inquisitor outfit has been sitting around waiting for such an opportunity. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cecil-adams-pit-thread/168505/47 "2003-04-14T04:39:26Z")
Sure thing, **brianjedi**. Now, based on this thread, we need to start making up a list of the heretics and the disloyal. **Scylla** , of course, and **drewbert**. Then there’s **Doc Nickel** , **Evil Captor** , and **Waverly**. Oh my sweet Cecil, there are heretics all around us! ---
**Author:** ![Mac\_Guffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mac\_Guffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mac_Guffin)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cecil-adams-pit-thread/168505/48 "2003-04-14T04:41:10Z")
So, **brianjedi** , what you are saying is, you EXPECTED the Inquisition? I think not, because… NO ONE EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION! Sorry about that. ---
**Author:** ![Doc\_Nickel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5fc32e/32.png) [@Doc\_Nickel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doc_Nickel)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cecil-adams-pit-thread/168505/49 "2003-04-14T04:55:24Z")
Two points to **tomndebb** for the clever rewrite, but four off for the startling lack of originality. This is, by my count, the _third_ “Is Cecil Real” thread that uses some mention, excerpt or variant of the _Sun_ letter about Santa. As with most mythical figures, the _concept_ matters more than the actual existence. Yes, “Cecil’s” articles are interesting, often humorous to read, just as the writings others have written and then attributed to “God” are indeed good morality plays. But in the case of the latter, is that ‘morality’ genuine? It is instilled with the implied threat of a cosmic amd humorless Ultimate Judge- “Act this way or God will punish you.” In the case of the former, can a source itself based on ignorance and intentional deception, be said to genuinely “eradicating ignorance”? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cecil-adams-pit-thread/168505/50 "2003-04-14T05:00:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Doc Nickel \* > \*\*Two points to **tomndebb** for the clever rewrite, but four off for the startling lack of originality. This is, by my count, the _third_ “Is Cecil Real” thread that uses some mention, excerpt or variant of the _Sun_ letter about Santa. > > As with most mythical figures, the _concept_ matters more than the actual existence. Yes, “Cecil’s” articles are interesting, often humorous to read, just as the writings others have written and then attributed to “God” are indeed good morality plays. > > But in the case of the latter, is that ‘morality’ genuine? It is instilled with the implied threat of a cosmic amd humorless Ultimate Judge- “Act this way or God will punish you.” > > In the case of the former, can a source itself based on ignorance and intentional deception, be said to genuinely “eradicating ignorance”? \*\* Open that thread, **Copa**! We’ve got a nascent debate developing already! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cecil-adams-pit-thread/168505/51 "2003-04-14T05:17:03Z")
Going back to the hijack about **aha** , am I the only one who cannot hear the song “Western Union” without thinking of the pants-shitting thread? ---
**Author:** ![Pixiesnix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Pixiesnix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixiesnix)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cecil-adams-pit-thread/168505/52 "2003-04-14T05:17:37Z")
[Kryten voice] No Cecil Adams? Then where do all the little mailbags go? [/Kryten voice] ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cecil-adams-pit-thread/168505/53 "2003-04-14T05:32:34Z")
> [@](#): > > This is, by my count, the third “Is Cecil Real” thread that uses some mention, excerpt or variant of the Sun letter about Santa. Yeah, but one of those (the better one from which this was copied) was already mine, and I don’t need originality to knock down one more trite “But he’s not re-e-e-eal” posts. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cecil-adams-pit-thread/168505/54 "2003-04-14T05:33:42Z")
So you’re gonna pit the atheist’s God on his own turf, huh? Well, it’s been done before…back when **Lib** was a youngster apparently he made an ass of himself too. 😃 [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=93395&highlight=Cecil+Adams](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=93395&highlight=Cecil+Adams) ---
**Author:** ![athene1765](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@athene1765](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athene1765)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cecil-adams-pit-thread/168505/55 "2003-04-14T05:44:20Z")
Is there any proof that Cecil exists? I mean, apart from the answers he sends out every week. No, wait, those could be written by a consortium of people. Who’ve been doing it for thirty years…well, Cece’s been successful, so they might plod on for that long. Who’ve written in nearly the same style since day 1. You can see an actual progression in writing style…but, you say, those could just be different people writing the same article. With the same political views, sense of humor, turns of phrase…well, they’re just that good. Is there any proof that there ISN’T a Cecil Adams? Just because nobody’s ever seen him? Hell, if I were Cece, I wouldn’t just show up in public to all my adoring fans…ESPECIALLY if they didn’t know I existed. Be just like Cecil to have a laugh at something like that. What proof do we have to disprove his existence? No one guy could be this smart, you say. Bull. He’s been wrong before. Wrong. Inaccurate. No one guy could do all this work in a week, you say. Feh. If I had an entire week, a nice salary, a Chicago-sized public library at my disposal, a phone with unlimited long distance, and a really sharp attitude, I could be Cecil Adams. Well, maybe not. But most of what Cecil does is research, pure and simple. He gets asked questions and researches the answers to them. Anyone can do that, provided they’re fairly bright and very persistent. And the rest of his questions are personal, educated opinion. I’d expect a professional researcher to have very educated opinions, so again, it doesn’t matter who’s doing it. It must be a consortium, you say? Then why did he noisily hire the SD Staff? They’re a consortium too, ain’t they? Cecil Adams is really Ed Zotti? Gadzooks! You mean that someone might be working under a pseudonym?! Again – I sure as heck would be, were I Unca Cece. Means I don’t have to shell out the extra $20 for an unlisted number. You want to know if Cecil exists? Do a little Unca Cecil style detective work. Stake out the Reader’s office. Call the Editor of the Reader and ask. Keep calling. Check out the Social Security records (tricky and not very useful, but it might give you a start). Hey, maybe we should all send letters to the Reader saying the same thing: “Unca Cecil, there’s one big thing we’re all ignorant about: Are you a real boy?” What do you think, Cecil’s gonna come out of the identity closet after 30 years just because someone asks? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cecil-adams-pit-thread/168505/56 "2003-04-14T06:38:29Z")
All I know is that at this point I really hope Unca Cecil really _does_ write a column addressing the war hawks who got all hot-n-bothered by his condemnation of “this damn war.” Because I have this sneaking suspicion that Cecil will shred the pro-war position into such microscopic particles that you’ll need an electron microscope to find the pieces – and a pitting of _that_ magnitude would be something to tell the grandkids. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cecil-adams-pit-thread/168505/57 "2003-04-14T06:39:27Z")
Of _course_ there’s a Cecil Adams. ::removes hat and bows head in mock reverence:: He’s just passed on to that realm only reachable by John Edward and **Lekatt** , his column being writ by a relative who uses his name for the sake of continuity . . . oh, wait . . . that’s Dear Abby. Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cecil-adams-pit-thread/168505/58 "2003-04-14T08:20:13Z")
If it’s any consolation, **Scylla** , you’ve got Cecil beat in the Threadspotting department. He has to face it some time: you own him. {As someone who _has_ Threadspotted[sup]TM[/sup] **Scylla** ([A cliffhanger of a story, sheepishly told](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=83744), aka: “Ewes Sluts”), I can only comment that I am certainly NOT contributing to the OP’s threadspotting deficiency. Thank you.} ---
**Author:** ![leander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@leander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leander)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cecil-adams-pit-thread/168505/59 "2003-04-14T08:25:22Z")
**tomndebb** , was that really the best your wee brain could do? Silly, flowery hyperbole? I would have expected more from someone with such an aggrandized sense of intellectual purpose. Ah well. Not surprising. Fighting ignorance must go on… ---
**Author:** ![Loneraven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c0e974/32.png) [@Loneraven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loneraven)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cecil-adams-pit-thread/168505/60 "2003-04-14T10:01:39Z")
Indeed. Fighting ignorance must go on. I want to state for the record - I _believe_ in Cecil Adams. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cecil-adams-pit-thread/168505.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cecil-adams-pit-thread/168505.md?page=4)