I wonder that too.
I thought religion was about joy. Not the fundamentalist "gee I'm so happy cuz I'm so blessed" phony happiness, but true, deep enduring joy that is there no matter how sad or angry or lost or whatever you get.
The holiest people I know are also some of the funniest. The most sanctimonious people I know are dour and severe. Where real joy is, there's gonna be laughter and lightheartedness too.
I think Jesus probably laughed a lot, and generally kept the disciples in stitches.
Where did the hothouse piety and scandalizability and dourness come from? Was it our Puritan forebearers, and their rigid Calvinism?
2007-09-18 05:28:44
·
answer #1
·
answered by Acorn 7
·
5⤊
1⤋
I agree, and I'm a Christian. I have to admit, some of the stuff we believe sounds pretty funny depending on how you put it.
And I think South Park is hilarious, so I would be a hypocrite if I laughed when they make fun of Mormonism or Scientology but got mad when they make fun of Christianity. I just laugh at all of it, because really, it is funny.
Take the Faith Plus One episode, for example. There's some Christian music that I like, but a lot of the Christian music industry is beyond dorky. I guess I could get all offended because it's making fun of Christians, but honestly, that episode is probably one of the funniest there is.
I think the reason people get so upset is because we all feel the need to be right and to have our opinions validated by others. Things in the scientific world are easy to prove or disprove, so if someone challenges a scientific belief you hold and proves it wrong, you don't feel personally attacked. You just change your mind, because you've seen proof. But you can't prove intangibles, like God or Heaven. So if you say you have a belief about them, and someone else says you're wrong, since you have no tangible proof that you're right and they have no tangible proof you're wrong, it feels like an attack against you personally, even though they're only attacking the belief itself.
When it comes to intangibles, our beliefs almost feel like a part of our identity.
2007-09-18 05:35:38
·
answer #2
·
answered by JimmyNeutron85 2
·
1⤊
0⤋
Hey, I am Jewish and love South Park. Have you ever heard Cartman do the "Jewish play stupid games" rendition of the dreidel song? It is freakin hilarious.
I think you generalized. Bill Mahr is a little bit different because he is such an avowed atheist and hates religion that it comes out as petty. I don't find him funny but I am not offended.
I think Jews are very funny people (at least within our own community) and I am guessing Christians are the same way.
Muslims get very upset about jokes about Islam or Muhammed and so don't want anyone to joke their religion. They are the only religion I know of that seems to have no sense of humor (that and the Amish but I am sure I have a stereotypical view of the Amish since I don't know any).
2007-09-18 05:37:53
·
answer #3
·
answered by Feivel 7
·
2⤊
0⤋
That's a good question. Maybe they just don't have a sense of humor or maybe they aren't smart enough to find humor. I used to attend a methodist church and there was laughter. I grew up going to a congregational church and there was laughter. I didn't see anyone taking anything too seriously. The people were wonderful. I didn't see any questionable behavior. Imagine that. I laugh at born agains trying to tell people how to be and what they are, as if they know. I just think, oh please, I've been a good person all my life. I haven't been perfect but I do my best. I try to learn from the mistakes I have made. It's a continual thing.
2007-09-18 05:31:44
·
answer #4
·
answered by Unsub29 7
·
2⤊
0⤋
Only to a point. I can laugh at the old Dana Carvey character the Church Lady. I can laugh at the jokes that start a priest, a rabbi, and a (fill in the blank). They are making fun of some universal, human foibles. But some of the things that you have mentioned aren't meant in fun. They are malicious and degrading. They mean to denigrate the very people who believe, not some of the silly things we do as people. If those same jokes were being made about people based on their race or ethnic origin, you would understand immediately what the big deal is.
2007-09-18 05:31:24
·
answer #5
·
answered by Sharon M 6
·
4⤊
1⤋
life is very difficult and people need something to get them throuhg their despair and sense of meaninglessness. Plus, the mystery of existence is profound so people assume there must be some higher power at work in the world.
The more you study science, the less reason you have for believing there is some higher force at work in the world.
But most people don't know and never will. They insist that some ancient story must be true because so many people believe it. "Something must have happened" they say. But when they look at Islam and the story of Mohammed meeting the angel in the cave they don't say "something must have happened". So they pick and choose what is most convenient to believe.
Fear. Ignorance. Desperation.
2007-09-18 05:38:41
·
answer #6
·
answered by Earl Grey 5
·
1⤊
0⤋
To most people, their spiritality and religion is a very personal thing. When someone makes fun of a person's beliefs (often defined by the particular religion they practice) it can feel an awful lot like a personal attack, and it hurts.... even when no hurt was intended.
2007-09-18 05:55:46
·
answer #7
·
answered by Yoda's Duck 6
·
0⤊
0⤋
Sometimes, no matter what it is, a person gets a chip on their shoulder, or a pet peeve, or perhaps too much is too much. But at that point, they become over sensitive and very serious.
Sometimes it is fear, sometimes is love that motivates people to become serious about their religion, too. If you take a religion seriously, and then endure a bunch of persecution, for example, and if that religion says people who do that are going to hell and these people are your friends at work, then you're probably going to at least become serious too at some point. So, widen the view. Are the serious ones sick of taking jabs? Put yourself in their shoes. What part of their religion is being poked at and what kind of harm has it done to that religion? See what I mean?
If you learn to understand these people when they are feeling serious, well on your way to spreading the seeds of the brotherhood of mankind.
Keep on going :)
2007-09-18 05:36:43
·
answer #8
·
answered by Holly Carmichael 4
·
1⤊
0⤋
Religion is a SMALL stepping stone to God. If God wants us to all know the same thing why would he have divided us into religious groups? He wouldn't have.... people are the church... not the building you sit in every Sun. or holiday. People making fun of other's beliefs is crazy, because almost everyone in these groups believe in God. People are fighting over rules of the churches, turning it away from God. For that matter why do priests, ministers and any other clergymen preach from a doctrine, a book on what their religion believes in? Why doesn't every denomination pull out the Bible and preach word for word from it, it would make their life easy, because God does the work in it. Why would God require us to go to a building every week to listen to someone give us their interpretation of what we should believe. Why are we not required to bring Bibles into Sunday service, if we attend them? God is not about religion, he is about saving us from these judgemental groups and taking us on all to himself, it's about a personal relationship between you and him and nobody else. He is trying to teach us all to love one another and not be divided.
2007-09-18 05:49:04
·
answer #9
·
answered by Peng-you 3
·
0⤊
0⤋
I like making lite of a lot of things but the Bible is clear about coarse humor and it's not about offending man but offending God. I know it's hard but to tell the truth and shame the devil I do laugh hard at some of that stuff but a mature christian will feel a tug in their stomach that let's them know that The Heavenly Father does not like it and is offended by it. It all has to do with how far you are in your walk with Christ.
2007-09-18 05:40:14
·
answer #10
·
answered by wonderwoman 4
·
0⤊
0⤋