Is it OK to make fun of religions?

[CynthiaCypher]

If someone tells me that B. Roussel was stupid, I do not feel that as a personal attack against me.

That is because Russell is not very relevant for most of today's atheist. Most never even heard of him.

Now if I were to call Richard Dawkins a sexist, misogynistic little pig (which he is), some atheists get very perturbed that I could even suggest such a thing.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Nothing is exempt from humor, and I have a hard time taking anything serious which doesn't have a sense of humor about itself.

I have a sense of humor about Judaism. That in no way leads me to enjoy seeing Judaism mocked by others.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I have a sense of humor about Judaism. That in no way leads me to enjoy seeing Judaism mocked by others.

But does your lack of enjoyment provide enough rationale for disallowing said mocking?

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

But does your lack of enjoyment provide enough rationale for disallowing said mocking?

Of course not. Feeling, as I do, that is is very often not "OK to make fun of religions" in no way equates to feeling that such humor should be disallowed.

 

[CynthiaCypher]

But does your lack of enjoyment provide enough rationale for disallowing said mocking?

You see, mockery of Judaism often turns into Antisemitism. And that is never good.

 

[Vinayaka]

mocking can turn to outright bullying PDQ, as well. Ask any kid who's been the victim in a high school setting.

 

[Erebus]

It seems that in some societies it's ok to make fun of religions while it is not ok in other societies. So, what are your feelings about making fun of religions? Would a prohibition on making fun of religions in your society amount to according religions a special status that few, if any, other institutions in your society are accorded? Would a prohibition be a good thing? Why or why not?

Anything can be joked about. I would find it very disturbing if that was prohibited.

Should there by any limits on how much or what kind of fun can be made of religions?

Yes and no. It's like anything else really, joke about the wrong thing to the wrong people and in the wrong manner and you're going to **** them off. How a person deals with that knowledge is entirely up to them.

Personally I'm sick of jokes about religion, not because it offends me, but because it's inevitably the same ground covered over and over. George Carlin's "invisible man in the sky" skit cracked me up when I first saw it, but since then it's been repeated ad nauseam by hordes of people with the wit and charm of a sack of cow vomit.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Of course not. Feeling, as I do, that is is very often not "OK to make fun of religions" in no way equates to feeling that such humor should be disallowed.

A perspective many others would be well-served in understanding.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

mocking can turn to outright bullying PDQ, as well. Ask any kid who's been the victim in a high school setting.

I think comes back to context, as I touched on a few posts back. Take the video I posted: I have no problem with the idea of making child abusers and the people who protect and enable them uncomfortable, and I wouldn't call this bullying... especially since they held and continue to hold a great degree of power, by and large.

 

[dust1n]

I think that making fun of / mocking specific religions should be viewed much like making fun of / mocking specific races / ethnicities.

I'm a little confused about the comparison. One doesn't choose ones race or ethnicity. But what people believe (could be wrong about this since I usually don't believe in free will) in is generally held as a matter of choice. Seems to be a difference between one one thinks and what one innately is.

 

[yoda89]

There's also a world of difference between me (an atheist descended from centuries of Protestant Orangemen) making a joke about Middle Eastern Muslim women and me making a joke about the beliefs that my own ancestors held.

And there's a world of difference between denigrating the disadvantaged and "afflicting the comfortable". The powers that be should never be considered above mockery, and right now, a lot of those powers are heavily influenced by religion.

I agree with this. If you can't take the heat get out of the water. Yet, I question if there is a difference between mockery and abuse. Commenting on how much Santa and Jesus in common is far different from disallowing services to Christians based upon that or beating them. Which unfortunately seems to be blurred in many minds.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

You see, mockery of Judaism often turns into Antisemitism. And that is never good.

I think you have it backwards.

 

[Vinayaka]

I think comes back to context, as I touched on a few posts back. Take the video I posted: I have no problem with the idea of making child abusers and the people who protect and enable them uncomfortable, and I wouldn't call this bullying... especially since they held and continue to hold a great degree of power, by and large.

Totally agree. Mocking is deserved in some cases.

 

[Sunstone]

Personally I'm sick of jokes about religion, not because it offends me, but because it's inevitably the same ground covered over and over. George Carlin's "invisible man in the sky" skit cracked me up when I first saw it, but since then it's been repeated ad nauseam by hordes of people with the wit and charm of a sack of cow vomit.

Good point. It seems that trolling religion has become a lost art.

 

[Erebus]

Good point. It seems that trolling religion has become a lost art.

Not entirely, Atheism is still a really easy religion to troll

I do feel it's important that people learn to laugh at themselves and there's no reason religion should be exempt from that. It's like anything else though, for every good joke about religion there are countless flops. For every great George Carlin joke there are a few thousand basement dwellers sucking all the fun out of it. I call it "Monty Python Syndrome" as there comes a point where you just want to slap anybody who shouts Ni! at you.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Good point. It seems that trolling religion has become a lost art.

Skillful humor is always a rare talent.

 

[Sunstone]

I do feel it's important that people learn to laugh at themselves and there's no reason religion should be exempt from that. It's like anything else though, for every good joke about religion there are countless flops. For every great George Carlin joke there are a few thousand basement dwellers sucking all the fun out of it. I call it "Monty Python Syndrome" as there comes a point where you just want to slap anybody who shouts Ni! at you.

Well, I think I know what you mean. I'm an atheist at least three days out of seven and an apatheist most other days, but there are atheist websites that I'll no longer go near -- almost entirely because their takes on religion (including their alleged jokes about it) are so...repetitious, witless, and dull. It's like trying to squeeze an original insight from a sack of potatoes.

 

[nazz]

If by "make fun of" you mean condescending ridicule I find that unethical (but I have done it myself I must admit). But I would not prevent it by means of law.

 

[Sunstone]

Skillful humor is always a rare talent.

That's true as well. I suspect most people pretty much just repeat jokes they've heard elsewhere. Relatively few of us are often original. I wonder if that says anything worth listening to about our species?

 

[Erebus]

Well, I think I know what you mean. I'm an atheist at least three days out of seven and an apatheist most other days, but there are atheist websites that I'll no longer go near -- almost entirely because their takes on religion (including their alleged jokes about it) are so...repetitious, witless, and dull. It's like trying to squeeze an original insight from a sack of potatoes.

Sure I can get that. The advantage to not having religion held above humour is that new jokes can and do appear. It's just a catch 22 that humour always finds itself in, anything new and original doesn't stay that way for very long.
Peter Kay would be another example of this, he was something of a one hit wonder in the UK a few years back. Significant portions of his material where very quotable and that coupled with his inability to come up with anything new proved his undoing. It didn't take long for everybody to get tired of hearing Peter Kay quotes.
Obviously very few jokes are entirely new, the vast majority have been covered in one way or another at some point. Maybe rather than originality being the issue it's over-saturation?