Religion and Humour

[CynthiaCypher]

I am interested in how various religions view the importance of humour.

I know there are going to be differences in the same religion. Such as in Islam, teachers like Ruhollah Khomeini discouraged any sort of humour or joking while from the sources I've read the Prophet himself encourage the use of humor in even religious instruction. But because of what people have seen from teachers like Ruhollah Khomeini and others, many view Islam as humourless and dour and Muslims are seen as being way too serious about things.

It seems that in some religions such as Zen Buddhism, humour takes a central place in instruction, one could say that most of the text of Zen are elaborate jokes and riddles. In Christianity, Jesus is well known for telling stories which often had and element of humour in them and he is also known to have been kind of sarky.

So what are your views on religion and humour?

 

[Secret Chief]

Zen is life is absurd is meaningless is profound is funny.

Bring it on and laugh.

 

[Tarheeler]

Laughter is an integral part of life and is essential for us all (provided it is healthy mirth and humor and not laughing at someone or in ridicule).

 

[Vinayaka]

Never met a swami who couldn't crack a joke.

 

[Sees]

Humor, joy, good times are all a big part of my religious traditions but not to a point of absurdity where focus on taking care of business is lost. We strive to have them in our lives as much as possible while knowing it's not always in the cards and we may need to sacrifice.

 

[Levite]

I am interested in how various religions view the importance of humour.

I know there are going to be differences in the same religion. Such as in Islam, teachers like Ruhollah Khomeini discouraged any sort of humour or joking while from the sources I've read the Prophet himself encourage the use of humor in even religious instruction. But because of what people have seen from teachers like Ruhollah Khomeini and others, many view Islam as humourless and dour and Muslims are seen as being way too serious about things.

It seems that in some religions such as Zen Buddhism, humour takes a central place in instruction, one could say that most of the text of Zen are elaborate jokes and riddles. In Christianity, Jesus is well known for telling stories which often had and element of humour in them and he is also known to have been kind of sarky.

So what are your views on religion and humour?

Humor per se is not necessarily a formal part of Judaism, but as an informal part, it has a long and rich history. We have many stories even in Talmud or Midrash which are funny in some way, and some passages in Tanach may be intended to be humorous. But mostly, we have a very extensive history of telling funny stories and laughing at ourselves or at our oppressors. And of course, today, there are many, many Jews who are writers of humor, comedians, comic actors, and so forth.

 

[The Sum of Awe]

Humor is one of many important building blocks of the art of creation.

 

[1137]

Are riddles necessarily humor?

 

[Tumah]

The Talmud teaches that with the destruction of the Temple, one may not "fill ones's mouth with laughter" (as opposed to chuckling). Also, "light-headedness" which I understand to be something like giddiness of maybe frivolity is not permitted.

At the same time, happiness is considered one of the four fundamental positive character traits.

 

[oldbadger]

To discover a little more about a person, no matter who, if conversation moves close enough, simply say.....
'God loves laughter'.
...... and then watch and listen.
Some will laugh, some will smile, some will just stare, others might scowl.
One deeply religious man once answered 'No, He does not!'
Another once turned white-faced said ,'It makes me very angry indeed to hear that sort of thing!'
Another..... 'I don't think so! God Hates humour!'
Another.... 'He won't be laughing when he deals with unbelievers!'

The best answer I ever heard was from a very wise Rabbi, whose face lit up into the most beautiful smile as he replied , 'I do hope so. I'm relying upon it!'

 

[psychoslice]

I can't get the life of Brian out of my head.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Very popular genre for Indian children. Fun, no disrespect. There are many stories. One details how the house of Shiva is at war. Parvati's mount the lion eyes Shiva's mount the bull for food, Karthikeya's mount the peacock eyes Shiva's snakes, Shiva's snakes eye Ganesha's rats. How would peace come to Shiva's house. Hindus do not mind. The most loved in cartoons are Krishna, Ganesha, and Hanuman.

,

 

[Kilgore Trout]

So what are your views on religion and humour?

Humor probably comes the closest of anything to actually being my religion. Additionally, there is no more fertile fodder for humor than religion.

 

[Amechania]

If you can't laugh about your beliefs, and especially at your own shortcomings, then what is the point of religion or life itself? Faith is saying to yourself "I'm clueless," so help me God. Laugh and do not weep, because whatever God in whom you place your faith takes great pleasure in your laughter.

 

[icehorse]

Slightly off topic (or perhaps not), some Islamic scholars shun music and poetry as well as humor. And, in fact, the Quran provides some support for these views... sigh...

 

[Pastek]

Such as in Islam, teachers like Ruhollah Khomeini discouraged any sort of humour or joking while from the sources I've read the Prophet himself encourage the use of humor in even religious instruction. But because of what people have seen from teachers like Ruhollah Khomeini and others, many view Islam as humourless and dour and Muslims are seen as being way too serious about things.

So what are your views on religion and humour?

I don't know what said Khomeini, but in Islam you can't blasphem (God/the prophets/disciples/religion) or speak ill about people.
Other than that there's no rules against humour.
There's humourists in every countries from any religion.

It makes me remember this quote : "Laughter is the shortest path from a man to an other one" (Wolinsky)

 

[Twilight Hue]

Oh definitely.

"Hell was OK, until some wise guy went to heaven and came back."-- Buddhadasa Bhikkhu*

 

[CynthiaCypher]

Oh definitely.

I've read a lot of stories about Buddhist masters. Sometimes a Buddhist master would just burst out laughing for no reason and his students would ask the Master why he laughed and then the Master would deliver a koan as if no one got the inside joke.

I love those stories.

 

[dyanaprajna2011]

As Magog and Nowhere Man pointed out, Buddhism is full of humor. Especially in Zen, but sometimes it takes a little digging to get the joke.

 

[Vouthon]

Oh there is definitely humour in the Catholic Faith, I mean what other religious leader have you seen do this?

He was making fun of the paparazzi photographing him....

Blessed Pope John Paul II had a wicked sense of humour

Pope Francis has a great sense of humour too. During one of his general audiences he spotted a fire fighter and put his helmet on to amuse the crowds:

He did the same with a coal miner:

Another previous pope, Blessed John XXIII just oozed humour and warmth:

Here are a few of his one-liners:

John XXIII will likely become the patron saint of stand-up comedians. Some of his one-liners are legendary. “How many people work at the Vatican?” a reporter asked him. “Oh, no more than half of them,” John replied with a wink.

On another occasion, a Curia official told Pope John that it would be “absolutely impossible” to open the Second Vatican Council by 1963. “Fine, we’ll open it in 1962,” John answered. And they did.

Then there was the time Pope John visited the Hospital of the Holy Spirit. All in a flutter, the religious sister in charge introduced herself, “Most Holy Father, I am the superior of the Holy Spirit!” To which John replied, “Well, I must say you’re lucky. I’m only the Vicar of Christ!”

And surely it was mischief that inspired the following exchange, which took place at a banquet when Pope John XXIII was apostolic nuncio to France. In the course of the meal, he offered an apple to his neighbor, a woman in a dramatically low-cut gown.

“Do take it, Madame, please do,” he urged in his typically genial way. “It was only after Eve ate the apple that she became aware of how little she had on.”

More often than not, though, Angelo Roncalli was the target of his own humor. He often laughed about his appearance—big ears, large nose, and round figure. One day after a session with a photographer, he told the stately archbishop Fulton Sheen: “From all eternity, God knew that I was going to be pope. He had eighty years to work on me. Why did he make me so ugly?”

Another time, he greeted an ascetic-looking visitor with a sigh and the comment: “We will both have to say a prayer to God, beseeching him to remove half my excess fat to give it to you!”

Besides serving as an aid to humility, the self-deprecating humor was John’s way of putting others at ease.

https://wau.org/archives/article/two_saints_who_smiled/

Here are three others:

One time a new building had to be constructed on Vatican grounds. The architect submitted the plans to His Holiness, who shortly afterward returned them with these three Latin words written in the margin: "Non sumus angeli", that is to say "We are not angels." The architect and his staff were non-plussed as to what the Pope meant, until finally someone noticed the plans did not include bathrooms.

Shortly after Angelo Roncalli (papal nuncio to France and future pope) became a cardinal, he was asked whether he had any family connections with his namesake, the Marquis of Roncalli. Angelo, a farmer's son, smiled. "Up to now we did not belong to the same family," he replied, "but I think that starting from this moment we will become more and more related."

Pope John [XXIII] once reported that while falling asleep, important thoughts would frequently come to mind and, briefly waking, he would make a mental note: "I must speak to the pope about that." "Then," he continued, "I would be wide awake and remember... that I am pope."

I think these words of Pope Francis from last year are also pertinent:

Pope: Sad Christian faces are like pickled peppers

Pope Francis underscored the importance of being joyful by contrasting sad Christian faces – which are more like “pickled peppers” – with the testimony of a beautiful life.

“Sometimes these melancholic Christians' faces have more in common with pickled peppers than the joy of having a beautiful life,” Pope Francis said May 10.

“If we keep this joy to ourselves it will make us sick in the end, our hearts will grow old and wrinkled and our faces will no longer transmit that great joy, only nostalgia and melancholy which is not healthy,” he added.

The Pope delivered his homily on the reading from Acts 18 in the chapel of St. Martha's residence.

He concelebrated the Mass with the Archbishop of Mérida, Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo, and the abbot primate of the Benedictine monks, Notker Wolf.

Vatican Radio staff and their director, Father Federico Lombardi, also attended the Eucharistic celebration.

The pontiff told them Christians should not keep joy “bottled up” for themselves because they risk becoming nostalgic.

Christian joy is not like “having fun, which is good,” he explained, rather it “is more, it is something else.”

“If we want to have fun all the time, in the end it becomes shallow, superficial, and also leads us to that state where we lack Christian wisdom, it makes us a little bit stupid, naive, no?” Pope Francis said.

“Joy is something that does not come from short term economic reasons, from momentary reasons, it is something deeper, it is a gift,” he preached.

The pontiff described joy as “a gift from God” that “fills us from within” and “cannot be held at heel, it must be let go.”

“It is a virtue of the great, of those great ones who rise above the little things in life, above human pettiness,” said Pope Francis.

Pope: Sad Christian faces are like pickled peppers :: EWTN News

Pope Francis: Long faces cannot proclaim Jesus

It’s the Spirit that guides us: He is the author of joy, the Creator of joy. And this joy in the Holy Spirit gives us true Christian freedom. Without joy, we Christians cannot become free, we become slaves to our sorrows. The great Paul VI said that you cannot advance the Gospel with sad, hopeless, discouraged Christians. You cannot. A certain mournful behavior, no? Often Christians behave as if they were going to a funeral procession rather than to praise God, no? And this joy comes from praise, Mary’s praise, this praise that Zephaniah speaks of, Simeon and Anna’s praise: this praise of God! "

Pope Francis: Long faces cannot proclaim Jesus