Jokes at the expense of Christianity?

God gave us the ability to laugh at things, the gift of a sense of humour, an understanding of irony, and the power of satire. As we know, it is sinful to waste the gifts that God gave us. He also made us in his own image, so he probably likes a laugh at the whole nonsense of it too.

strobe wrote: »

Hi, I was just wondering if I could ask, what kind of feelings and thoughts do you have as Christians about people 'taking the piss' at Christianity's expense?

I think it really depends on the nature of it. The likes of Fr. Ted or The life of Brian etc. are fairly mild and to be honest they're funny and I end up chuckling and at various times would use some of the more memorable quotes from them..... The Simpsons regularly take the piddle out of both Christians and Atheists and Jews and you name it....some of them are very funny, but in a mild way...

Homer: I'm not normally a praying man, but if you're up there save me Superman!:D

Ranging from tamer 'a priest, an Imam, and a Rabbi walk into a bar' type things to more 'edgy mocking'.

Do you feel that anything that seeks to derive comedy at the expense of Christianity is distasteful or should be off limits?

Not off limits - but yes some of it I would find kind of distateful, so I don't bother with it. Give it attention and generally speaking you feed the fire.

Do you think that there is a specific line that shouldn't be crossed?

I think when you start drawing lines that shouldn't be crossed than people inevitably want to as far as 'humour' is concerned - some of it is pure crap tho, you know the comedians that consistently rely on haw haw material get really boring and predictable after a while. I think people get bored with them too.

How would you, personally, draw that line?

Personally, I wouldn't choose to listen to them - I like certain types of comedy. The likes of 'The Man with Two Brains' and 'The Jerk' etc. that type of humour, I find is far better....personally.

Do you care not a jot?

Yes, I do care of course, but I can't really control it. Some 'Art' or 'Humour' sometimes goes a little far for me personally and it really hurts me 'personally' because obviously hurt or defame Christ and it hurts Christians, I get a pain in my heart when I see some things. The likes of the 'P*ss Cross' and people slagging The Holy Eucharist, or stereotyping Christians and generalising etc. whether they are lay Catholic or Priests or whatever I think is unhelpful and quite hurtful depending on the delivery and intent - So I choose not to give them a hearing and instead try to concentrate on the better things every day, the things I do find interesting and funny or whatever.

Do you find humour in these kinds of things even when sought at Christianity's expense?

Yes, depending of course....

Are there specific areas that you feel are ok to be made fun of? Is it more about the intent behind the thing? Or how it is done? Would you ever make a joke about or poke fun at Christianity yourself?

So yeah, just in general, how do you feel about jokes whereby Christianity is the subject matter?

Yes, I think it's healthy to be able to laugh at yourself too - I think however, most people know if there is 'intent' as such behind a joke at the expense of a group of people and malice is there or no....When there is no malice, I'm not going to look for it iykwim - I think if there is malice than that says more about the person themselves and I can choose not to listen to somebody or to try to point out that it's hurtful or not really good taste or whatever - that may not work, than again it may work - but it's a choice I'm free to make in any situation I suppose.

Good thread Strobe.

strobe wrote: »

Do you feel that anything that seeks to derive comedy at the expense of Christianity is distasteful or should be off limits? Do you think that there is a specific line that shouldn't be crossed? How would you, personally, draw that line? Do you care not a jot? Do you find humour in these kinds of things even when sought at Christianity's expense?

First things first, I'm not a Christian, but I just want to throw in my 2c.

If one were to ban the mocking of religion, just because it is an integral part in some people's lives, what's to stop them banning the mocking of people's political views? To some people, Fianna Fáil, the Liberal Democrats, the Democratic Party of the USA, Front National, Partido Popular, the Northern League of Italy etc. might mean as much to them as their faith. Just as some pious people would run for the hills at the sight of a joke making fun of the Eucharist, the Pope or various high-ranking figures in modern Christianity, these people might find it appalling that some would crack a joke about Micheál Martin, Nick Clegg, Barack Obama, Mitt Romney etc.

Also, if one were to censor perceived "mockery" of religion, where do you draw the line? Do you draw the line at Frankie Boyle making a "paedo priest" joke, at the guy in the pub who makes the "priest, imam and a rabbi" joke or at a person disputing some tenets of another person's faith, e.g. doubting the divinity of Jesus or the revelation to the Prophet Mohammed?

Some people might not like it, but mockery of religion is part of freedom of speech and freedom of expression, just as much as mockery of politics is.

Lapin wrote: »

Any institution that inflicts misery on the lives of so many people through threats and propaganda is fair game for comic ridicule.

Nazism, Facism, all religions, communism, and all other collective groupings that command unquestioning obedience on pain of death or everlasting suffering leave themselves wide open to becoming the butt of jokes.

At least we can be thankful that Christians haven't resorted to blowing themselves and those around them to bits when they try to find something to be offended about in a cartoon image of their God.

You have conflated a lot of serious stuff in there together.
Your apparent working assumption that 'all religions' are comparable to Nazism and Communism or command unquestioning obedience under pain of death or everlating suffering is a questionable thesis, to say the least.
In the case of the Christian Faith it is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that respects the free-will of all persons ... and loves all persons.

Aspects of every person and every belief can lend itself to wit, fun and humour ... and as long as it is tasteful, respectful and not malicious it is good to laugh ... at our own beliefs first ... and the beliefs of others, if good taste and manners permit.