In reference to a philisopical question I need your opinion on a joke?

Question

This joke is not to offend any religion nor a people it is just the irony here that interests many. Your serious opinion please. the Pertaining to an open philosophical study.

Bernie Schwartz was a very bad boy and his parents could not control his behavior. He was being sent to a juvenile hall, and his mother and father were devasted. One morning before trial, Mrs Schwartz(Bernies mom) walking by the church as she must everytime she goes to the corner store, she always smiles at the Priest and he always says Hello as well. This day she has a long face and he asks her why . Mom Schwartz tells him and he says "oh no, we can fix that problem, you and your husband bring him to our school(catholic school for boys),and we will straighten him out. Mrs. Schwartz goes home tells her husband they argue but in the end it was the only recourse they had versing a jail. So they bring little Bernie to the School, and 3 months go by and there is a Parent teacher in the auditorium and the Schwartz

sit in the back pew awaiting a report. Then Father O'Malley gets up to the Podium and called out to the parents and tells them what a model student there son is and that he doesnt understand why anyone would have a problem with him. Finally Bernie goes to his parents and his parents are thrilled but the Mom and Dad ask him one question. "Bernie why did you behave so well for these people and not for us or your own?" The boy replied, "Mom , and Dad, do you see that Jew hanging on that cross up there? These folks mean business."

My question is obvious?

So far so good but could we get this in context in reference of today as well with other religions and situations with people?

Answer 1

This joke is a little on the windy side, but I imagine that the boy's family is Jewish or related to Jews because of the last name, "Schwartz", and so he sees for the first time what Catholics really do to "bad Jews", and so he's scared straight. The irony, of course, is that it wasn't the Catholics that strung up Yeshuva, it was at the behest of Jews by Romans. Philosophically speaking, I would venture to say that the Catholics see glory in explicit depictions of Jesus on the cross, while uninitiated others may only see gore and wonder about the Catholics.

Answer 2

As a Christian I find the joke both offensive and funny. I find using the Christian church icon of Christ on the cross at part of the punch line to be tasteless. At the same time I find humor in how a boy from one religion can misunderstand the icon of another religion. The hidden message in this story is that it wasn't the Christians who put Christ on the cross but it was the Jews.

Answer 3

By using the name "Schwartz," this joke uses stereotypes to infer that the misbehaving boy is Jewish. Jesus was a Jewish carpenter who was crucified for acts against the churches at the time--and the assumed blasphemy of telling his followers that he was the son of God. To simplify, if a Catholic school uses a Jewish carpenter nailed to a cross (for, essentially, misbehaving) as their symbol, how much leeway are they going to give a Jewish boy who's in there to straighten up? Hence, "These folks mean business."

Answer 4

Is the point you're trying to make is that religion taught the boy about discipline, but nothing about what religion is really about (or what is religion really about?)? An outsider (or a small child) can easily "misunderstand" what people try to teach through their religion (things aimed for like peace, humility, kindness) because there are other parts of the religion that can be misinterpreted. I remember just listening before while everyone was singing Christian songs in a church I was at and thinking to myself what some of the songs might sound like to an outsider, someone who had no idea what was being sung about. A lot of the hymns contain heaps of metaphors that, unless you know what they refer to, probably sound odd by themselves. e.g. "Amazing grace": "was blind, but now I see" [kid thinks, "wow, cool"], "Crown him with many crowns": "behold his hands and side, those wounds yet visible above, in beauty glorified" [kid thinks, "ow, that's got to hurt"] and so on. It's just that sometimes one has to see the big picture, and if you're missing big pieces of it, the symbols that are frequently used don't quite make sense alone (and then one might further argue, if they don't seem to make sense by themselves, do they make sense? Sure they do, for lots of people; and things are real in so far as they have a consequence (to paraphrase a social philosopher whose name I can't recall at the moment)).
Your story reminds me of a story by George Macdonald, "The Gifts of the Child Christ," by the way. The little girl in that story found out a little bit about religion, but misunderstood it and no one paid attention what she thought. She was convinced that if God would punish her, then He would be showing her He loved her, so asked "chasten me, God, please" whenever she was sad and lonely.

Answer 5

Firstly, to agent: He was asking for any opinion you might have about the joke.

My opinion: I'm not offended in anyway, even thoguh I'm a practicing Catholic because I am happy and enjoying my faith. This joke will separate those who are small minded and those who are not. :)
people who get mad because they feel affronted because of jokes like this are small-minded because it would negate what their faith taught, which is to be compassionate to those who know nothing about their faith. and those who find this joke funny, well i wouldn't make any assumptions on their backgrounds. :)

Answer 6

It works!

I don't know what your question was, but I don't think anyone would be offended!

Unless, you told the joke in front of a group of Catholic School teachers or preachers.

But it works!

Answer 7

not a bad joke but not that great. as a catholic it doesn't offend me but than nothing really does. i'm not sure what your philisophical question is.

Answer 8

I didn't understand what you just written... Where's the question?