Religion: The Art of Being Deadly Serious?

J

JustARide

America: 51% fucking idiots
Registered Senior Member
Can humor survive religion?

Religion seems to be a repository for all things serious -- death, the search for meaning, judgment, the war between Good and Evil. Thus, comedy directed at religion is usually taboo, even in the most liberal societies. People hold strong beliefs on a number of things--politics for example--but comedy that attacks those areas is commonplace and generally accepted, if not begrudgingly by partisans, in the mainstream. Preachers and churches can be made fun of to some extent (usually after they become virtually self-parodic), but belief in the majority religion rarely comes under attack, except in the relative privacy of comedy clubs and the coves of "alternative" media.

Religion allows for "clean," sterilized sermon humor occasionally -- as long as it doesn't really convey any alternative point-of-view. Religious folk tend to "clean up" their humor, often ignoring genuinely funny aspects of life (sex, drugs, and language), and persist in pretending that replacing "fucking" with "darned" actually enhances comedy.

But we all know the world is funny. Laughter is one of the most cathartic, enjoyable activities known to man (Lenny Bruce called it the only "true art form" because funniness cannot be faked). So why do so few people incorporate humor into their worldview? Do we have some stake in the seriousness of the universe? If so, why?

Thoughts anyone...?

Josh
 
se·ri·ous
adj.
1. Grave in quality or manner.
2. Concerned with important rather than trivial matters.
3. Being of such import as to cause anxiety.
4. Too complex to be easily answered or solved.
​

Of course, the word "serious" is subjective, but surely you can tell the difference between the generally serious vs. the generally comedic. Tastes vary, but broadly speaking things that tend to evoke laughter, lightheartedness, and playfulness are more on the humor side; things that tend to make people cry, agonize, and kill themselves tend toward the serious.

Are there many preachers that have a comedian warm up the crowd? Or any comedian preachers (those being ones that are intentionally funny)?

Religions tend to be about ritual, solemnity, silence, and solitude. All I'm asking is, why isn't there at least one religion which puts a decent stock in comedy? Why doesn't anyone seem to honestly consider that humor may be a driving force in the universe?

There's an Oscar Wilde quote... something like, "Americans have not learned how to take their comedians seriously."

Why not a funny religion? Or at least one that's more open to laughing at itself? It would certainly make the services more fun.

Josh
 
I've witnessed some clerics interject their brand of "humor" into their sermons. But, as you pointed out, it's rather insipid. (by my taste) Puns can be so cheesey.

Just the same, two observations:

People often laugh as a remedy for pain, suffering and discomfort. Like one of my favorite lines from Apocalypse Now about how can you shoot women and children - "Easy, you just don't lead 'em as much." Ouch, ha ha heh? That kind of humor wouldn't go over well on Sunday morning. I guess Saturday for those inflicted with LDS.

Also for mainstream parodies there's Monty Python movies and more so... The Simpsons constantly parody religion with Ned and Rev. Lovejoy. Now there's some comedic writing I do take seriously.
 
jinchilla --

True. Situation does play a big role in humor. Obviously, preachers can't suddenly burst into Sam Kinison routines (though Kinison himself was a former preacher - perhaps he simply converted to another "religion" so to speak).

I guess my underlying question is: why does every religion assume that the meaning of life must be serious? Death, the afterlife, commitment--it's all deadly serious stuff. What if people die and God parts a curtain and says, "Man, you guys are thick. It's a big joke. Lighten up..."?

We all assume there are huge ramifications for every little thing we do. Religions prescribe lists of rules and regulations, commandments, orders for rituals, creeds, etc. People believe God watches everything. As we speak, he's watching teenage boys jack off to the swimwear section of a K-Mart ad in Sunday's paper, and the assumption is God does this with a straight face-- an angry straight face in fact. He's recording every sin, so it can be later visited upon us in the everlasting fire of damnation.

Everlasting. Sanctity. Salvation. Judgment. Commandments. Holy. Everything has to be BIG with religion. I just want to know if people fart in Heaven and God laughs.

:)

Josh
 
Last edited:
Dunno but, I never thought farting was all that funny. 'Sides, an angel's probably smells like roses.

I guess the responses to death, the afterlife and commitment are based on social expectations. Amazing how people will act as expected when others are watching.

I don't personally believe in a god so I guess I'll leave off mentioning the end of Meaning of Life by Monty Python. Heaven was like a Vegas stage show. Glad you could make it! Similar to your curtain idea.

Anyway, this thread is too serious... ;)
 
Agreed.

The Meaning of Life is a good example actually. People laugh at the ending, but never admit how close that vision is to the mainstream idea of Heaven (sans the topless women maybe).

Perhaps if more people realized how fucking absurd their beliefs are (even if they persisted in believing in them), maybe we would spend less time blowing each other up.

What can I say. I'm a dreamer.

Josh
 
Depends on the religion, sect, and people. I've known religious people who can make fun of themselves, and even their beliefs. It really depends on how people approach religion. Religion can be approached as a way to back up social norms, or it can be used to justify turning your back on every socially imposed belief, or just about everything in between. It's not fair to lump "religion" together into one big group. Because of the large number of people that adhere to some form of religion (or even any one of the major religions) it is impossible to make any kind of generalization about "all religion" other than that they have some way of viewing reality. But then everyone has that, right?
 
This depends entirely on the culture. The British for example have always been able to make fun of religion. Just look at many of their TV commedy shows, many are based on the silliness of religion. And British commedians have no problem using religion as their platform.

In the USA, however, where the culture is still largely immature, religion in commedy is a problem. Americans do tend to take a more simplistic view and their general insecurity make them less open to the humor of religion.

But then when you realize that religion is all about personal fantasies then it is difficult to take any aspect of religion seriously. In short religion is itself just one big joke.

Kat
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top