Monday, 14 July 2008
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Featured Comment: Line between Funny and Disrespect
Wow, we didn't think the LOLcats post would be so controversial! There were a lot of valid points, such as junshien's comment:
not judging or anything, but does there come a point where we start being disrespectful to God? where, in our desire to show non-Christians that we can be funny or whatever the reason, we start being a little flippant about this Almighty God we worship, and we forget to tremble?
just wanted to throw it out there
LipsMovedEyesClosed's answer was that:
It's a joke that if there was a cat-god, this is what he would be, because the LOLcats are just silly. It's not making fun of God, it's making fun of cats.
We totally understand why some people thought Ceiling Cat wasn't funny, but it didn't cross our minds that Ceiling Cat could not be funny!
Take this Ceiling Cat, for instance:
The joke (to us) is that the image is spoofing Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel image, with a cat creating man - perhaps just so man can buy the cat gourmet cat food. We really do think the humor comes from laughing about how cats are self-centered.
This Ceiling Cat image made us laugh just because it's absurd:
Finally, this Ceiling Cat image is cute and made us giggle at the kittens.
However, we do realize that there is a line between funny and being disrespectful so we ask...
Do you joke about Christian-related things? Where do you cross the line between being funny and being disrespectful to God?
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Comments (33)
For me there is a line, but it depends on how they say the joke or who is saying it.. like, if someone made fun of the cross and really thoght itwas hillarious i might get a little ticked but i mean, as long as they arnt really trying to insult me or other christians sometime i will lugh other times i will just walk away or ignore it.... it really just depends.
the cat's are cute and funny. i don't see how it can be taken too seriously. it looks like a joke. i don't know of anyone who believes a cat created man.
Of course I joke. I would go insane if I didn't. I once joked to a friend that I sold my soul to Satan so I could pay for college. If the joking is done by true God-fearing Christians and doesn't desecrate anything, I think it's fine and besides, it's obvious that God has a sense of humor too! On the other hand, I don't watch South Park because it makes fun of Christianity in a demeaning way.
Well, I do try to avoid making Christian-related jokes. Since I don't believe, it might come off as just rude and disrespectful to others, and the last thing I want is to have God's personal army after me.
Kidding.
Yeah, I'll avoid Christian jokes for now...
I thinks not in this situation
I guess not being a Christian, I do sometimes joke (or make jokes) about Christian-related things. And I do admit, sometimes, I take it a little far. But it's really around the people you make the jokes around. I have friends who are Christians and sometimes, their jokes are far worse than mine. I wouldn't really throw a fit if someone was joking about Buddhism because all in all, I know it's a joke.
The only time I do say something against it is if it wasn't a joke and was just absurd. For example, I saw a video of one woman who said that saying "Oh my God" was disrespectful to Christians and God. However, she completely became hypocritical when she said that instead, she says "Oh Buddha".
So, really, it depends on how sensible people are to making jokes.
I don't really "joke" about Christian-related things so much as I do think about them critically. However, I don't find anything wrong with being humorous, or finding humor in Christian-related jokes. Take the Christian Rock band episode of South Park for example. I laughed until I cried, and then I watched it again. I know it probably offended a lot of people, but it made many good points about how people abuse Christianity to exploit it and make money from it when they, in fact, don't really follow the religion. IMO, that episode was a great way to get even those who don't go to church to start thinking about religion and the ways people abuse it.
I'm not offended by them, I just don't think they're all that funny. However, I did laugh at "Ceiling cat creates man." I can understand why they would be offensive though to some people.
@Nikolais_apprentice@xanga - I completely agree. God has an amazing sense of humor (didn't he create it, after all?)! But when some aspects of society degrade us, then the line has been crossed. Your example of South Park is excellent.
But when that line is crossed, I tend to just blow it off. I might say something and I'll definitely give the offender a pointed look, but God can defend himself beyond that. --Laura
At first, i thought this would be funny and i saw the wikipedia thing where it has every book of the bible, but then i went to a certain passage and the Lolcat or whatever thing is totally different, and it actually uses inappropriate terms so im totally not for this thing. i was looking at romans and its just a bunch of random things.
@Cygnus33@xanga - Yeah... I tend to have different reactions depending on what it is. For some things, like TV shows, you don't really have a choice but to just passively reject it. But if someone is having a conversation with me, and says something horrible about church or God, etc., I'll tell them that that's really rude and offended me. I don't try to "convert" people though.. I find that annoying.
As Mr. Lewis Black said it so elegantly, "patriotism and religion are only good and only in balance when they have a sense of humor. And when they don't, things go awry." Point is that there is no fine line unless you are one who takes to drama and offense. In our world today, we are in desperate need of humor. Making fun of Michelangelo's painting cannot be offensive because it is not saying that cat= God, it is just so happens that the photo was taken and it resembled that of the painting. By adding words does nothing more than state the fact.
Seriously, stop getting offended over trivial things. In the end, it doesn't even really matter, now does it.
In my comment on the previous post (for which I was accused of being a narrow-minded fundamentalist... haven't figured that out yet), I drew a contrast between "Ceiling Cat" and "the Flying Spaghetti Monster." The latter, for those who haven't encountered too many internet antitheists, is a satirical mockery of Christianity designed to lampoon religious belief as foolish and irrational.
I think the difference is largely one of attitude. F.S.M. devotees are clearly doing it because they don't believe in God and are trying to demonstrate that religion is stupid (there may be a philosophical point buried in there somewhere, but I'm not too impressed by it). I think the driving pulse behind the "ceiling cat" gags, on the other hand, is a bit of good-natured fun. In other words, the joke is not at the expense of God or Jesus or even religion; it's at nobody's expense and is therefore just a good clean laugh.
I do agree that we shouldn't treat anyone's religious beliefs degradingly, disrespectfully, or flippantly. If someone was genuinely offended by the joke, even if it doesn't bother me, I'd tread with more care out of concern for their conscience. However, I haven't seen that to be the case in this instance.
When I stop to consider life and all the things that God put in it, I am forced to believe that God had a sense of humor. I can't, for a second, believe that when Christ was on earth... that he didn't stop and laugh. I can't believe that he was "serious" all the time... because if he was, then that would be a part of humanity that he did not experience... and don't we preach that Christ experienced the things we did? Or do we limit Christ's humanity to sin?
There are lines to be drawn and even more so, you have to consider the crowd in which you are joking to. I think there are limits, but funny cat pictures aren't one of them.
Besides. God is holy regardless of the jokes made. It doesn't change who He is... and harm only comes when it changes how -you- see him.
@wherestherum_17@xanga - just letting you know that the "God's personal army statement" made me laugh.
as far as the line regarding jokes goes, I think that there's no harm to joking, but with any joke you take the risk of offending someone. The best route is to pay attention to your audience, and apologize if neccesary. You weren't intending to offend.
I like the Ceiling Cat jokes, I don't think that it shows disrespect for God, there is a line but cat jokes do not cross it in my book.
Oh pah, I think God himself is laughing at the LOLcats thing. I mean he can't have much humour in all of our wars, blood, hatred, and sadness, so it'd be a nice change of pace for him.
Don't scream at me for that, I'm just giving my opinion. :]
@LydJaGillers@xanga -
i love you for quoting Lewis Black on this, because i was going to XD and to further that quote......... it's the crazy fundamentalists of ANY religion who can't laugh at themselves. i don't want to go crazy at the expense of believing in God.
i haven't been Christian all my life. so, i have to tell you..... from an outsider's POV, your religion is ridiculous, like something from a Monty Python sketch. most religions are. so, honestly... if you can't even laugh at yourselves without fearing God's wrath, you should rethink your concept of God. do you really think He cares about LOLCats?
"Even God has a sense of humor. Just look at the platypus."- Kevin Smith
I actually had this question with a mentor of mine. He said something that I thought was full of integrity - Sometimes we can laugh at sin to take the power out of it, but there's a difference between laughing at it because it's evil and because it's scary. Laughing at it so it isn't scary isn't ok.
@too_pretty_to_die@xanga - Hahah! Platypus!! I had forgotten all about that one! Oh man, He sure does have one hell of a sense of humor.
I think there is a difference between poking fun at Christians, and poking fun at God.
Christians are people. They have quirks. I think it's ok to poke a little tasteful fun. For example, I know several people who constantly repeat one of God's names when they pray out loud: "Father God, we just thank you for this day, Father God, and we ask, Father God, that you help us..." etc. I think that it's alright to acknowledge those quirks and things that make us unique and find some humor in them. Both life and Christians are often very funny things. God made us that way.However, it is never ok to poke fun at God. He has no quirks; no oddities. He is perfect. That doesn't mean we're not allowed to laugh at anything - just that He is not an acceptable object of our humor. To view Him as such is incredibly prideful, condescending and I would say sinful.In light of all that, I think Ceiling Cat is harmless. I think the lolcat images shown have more to do with humanity and our perceptions than with God as He truly is.I don't feel the LOLcats Ceiling Cat photos are disrespectful at all. It's not insulting the Lord in my opinion. It's just cute and harmless. However there are plenty of jokes out there that ARE disrespectful about God. How I see it is, if you have to question if it's disrespectful, then you just shouldn't do it. Jokes, sayings, or whatever. I feel it's how you feel about something that determines it's meaning.
i dunno really... but i make God-related jokes when things happen to me that is embarrassing or uncool. i usually say God did it on purpose cuz i was either this or that. but i know He knows what's in people's hearts. something that sounded offensive but wasn't meant to be offensive as said by the speaker is totally forgivable. God knows what we meant. if people found it offensive, such as LOLcatz, then i'm sorry they don't have a more open mind. but they can feel free to inquire as to the nature of my joke and i'd be more than willing to explain my intentions =)
You guys are really going to have kittens (yes, pun intended) when you see the Ceiling Cat Bible.