I Won't Joke About Jesus Or 'take The Mickey' Even Though I No Longer Believe.

[BlackCat]

I notice how many atheists and ex-Christians take the mickey out of Jesus (e.g Jebus).  Even though I no longer believe in Jesus, I still 'love' the idea of Jesus, and I would never joke about him.  I've been angry and pissed off with Jesus when I believed in him, but I figured that was similar to how you can be with your parents. 

 

My favourite 'film' Jesus, was the guy in 'The Passion'.  He was how I had imagined Jesus to be.  That 'man' gives me no reason to mock- pity maybe, for being mistaken (if he was a real person). 

 

What are your thoughts guys?      

[Deva]

I don't care for mockery. 

 

There was an article in the paper recently about a local college that had a class exercise where a student was asked to stomp on a picture of Jesus.  Of course a student complained and now the exercise has been discontinued. I see no benefit for such a thing - unless perhaps there is a person trying to deconvert. For the general public, certainly not.  It is offensive.

[◊ crazyguy123 ◊]

I have thought about this and if Jesus and Yahweh were real, I would think it would be ok to mock Yahweh for being the monster he is, but Jesus on the other hand, would be a victim of the cruelty of his god father and the people who did not like him, though it is possible that if the two were exactly who the Bible said they were, the people executing him and torturing him would have only been tools used by Yahweh to murder his son in order to forgive humans for not being able to meet his moral standards.

[BlackCat]

I don't care for mockery. 

 

There was an article in the paper recently about a local college that had a class exercise where a student was asked to stomp on a picture of Jesus.  Of course a student complained and now the exercise has been discontinued. I see no benefit for such a thing - unless perhaps there is a person trying to deconvert. For the general public, certainly not.  It is offensive.

 

I agree.

[BlackCat]

I have thought about this and if Jesus and Yahweh were real, I would think it would be ok to mock Yahweh for being the monster he is, but Jesus on the other hand, would be a victim of the cruelty of his god father and the people who did not like him, though it is possible that if the two were exactly who the Bible said they were, the people executing him and torturing him would have only been tools used by Yahweh to murder his son in order to forgive humans for not being able to meet his moral standards.

 

I can understand people mocking Yahweh, although again, I wouldn't.  Something stops me........

[Overcame Faith]

I don't care for mocking Christians, either.  However, at least on this site, I don't think that doing things like referring to Jesus as Jebus is always mockery.  Sometimes it is a person's attempt to desensitize him or herself from his or her former Christian religion.  It is, therefore, in that circumstance a form of coming to terms with the new realization either that the Jesus described in the NT did not exist or if there was a person or persons who served as a model, that person or those persons were not divine.

[◊ crazyguy123 ◊]

 

I have thought about this and if Jesus and Yahweh were real, I would think it would be ok to mock Yahweh for being the monster he is, but Jesus on the other hand, would be a victim of the cruelty of his god father and the people who did not like him, though it is possible that if the two were exactly who the Bible said they were, the people executing him and torturing him would have only been tools used by Yahweh to murder his son in order to forgive humans for not being able to meet his moral standards.

 

I can understand people mocking Yahweh, although again, I wouldn't.  Something stops me........

 

Maybe you just see mocking these fictional characters or the belief in them as pointless and not really funny.

[BlackCat]

Maybe you just see mocking these fictional characters or the belief in them as pointless and not really funny.

 

Hmm, possibily.  It's like ghosts or fairies.  We don't mock them, even though we don't believe in them.  

[◊ crazyguy123 ◊]

 

Maybe you just see mocking these fictional characters or the belief in them as pointless and not really funny.

 

Hmm, possibily.  It's like ghosts or fairies.  We don't mock them, even though we don't believe in them.  

 

But the thing is, with things like ghosts and fairies, we never really had to experience a fear of eternal torment for thinking, "Maybe these things do not exist". We never really had to follow crazy rules that made no sense and fully devote our lives to fairies or ghosts. I think that people who mock fictional beings that they once believed they had to devote their lives to or were absolutely terrified of the idea of them not being real probably do it to feel better when they realize that those beings might actually not be real. I know with me mocking the god I once believed in and mocking the belief of that god to myself helped me to feel better about it and even now I still think it's funny.

[florduh]

We mock that which is foolish to us. The subject of our mocking derision may be aliens, ghosts, Bigfoot or the Pope. Scientology is a popular target of mockery these days. Of course the reason such things are worthy of our mockery is the fact that somebody else takes it seriously.

[BlackCat]

 

 

Maybe you just see mocking these fictional characters or the belief in them as pointless and not really funny.

 

Hmm, possibily.  It's like ghosts or fairies.  We don't mock them, even though we don't believe in them.  

 

But the thing is, with things like ghosts and fairies, we never really had to experience a fear of eternal torment for thinking, "Maybe these things do not exist". We never really had to follow crazy rules that made no sense and fully devote our lives to fairies or ghosts. I think that people who mock fictional beings that they once believed they had to devote their lives to or were absolutely terrified of the idea of them not being real probably do it to feel better when they realize that those beings might actually not be real. I know with me mocking the god I once believed in and mocking the belief of that god to myself helped me to feel better about it and even now I still think it's funny.

 

Good points.  I suppose it comes down to your personal experience of Yahweh and Jesus.  I didn't believe in a  literal place of eternal conscious torment and so 'my' Yahweh wasn't a monster in that respect, in fact, He was quite a 'cool' God, if you believed in universal reconciliation (I've done a thread on that) as I did.  But, yes, I can see it's dependant on your own experiences.

[Yrth]

I don't have a problem with jokes about Jesus and I actually enjoy a few of them quite a bit (Robot Chicken and Family Guy have some classics). However, I wouldn't joke about Jesus in front of other Christians because I like to think that I'm not that big of a jerk. But there's nothing inherent in the Jesus story that would prevent me from joking about it -- in the same way, nothing about any other classic stories would prevent me from joking about them either.

 

I can see what you're saying in that certain aspects of Jesus' character, such as his (ostensible) willingness to sacrifice himself for others, are admirable. Also, you said you related to the idea of Jesus as though he were a parent. FWIW, I would think that an unwillingness to joke about Jesus would come more from the way you related to him as a to-be-revered authority figure than from any admirable qualities present in his story.

[BlackCat]

We mock that which is foolish to us. The subject of our mocking derision may be aliens, ghosts, Bigfoot or the Pope. Scientology is a popular target of mockery these days. Of course the reason such things are worthy of our mockery is the fact that somebody else takes it seriously.

 

I get that.

[BlackCat]

FWIW, I would think that an unwillingness to joke about Jesus would come more from the way you related to him as a to-be-revered authority figure than from any admirable qualities present in his story.

 

Actually, it's the other way round.  

[florduh]

Why did Jesus cross the road? He was nailed to the chicken.

 

I don't care who you are, that there's funny.

 

Of course I wouldn't mock Jesus in the presence of a Christian, nor would I mock Scientology in front of one of its members. The shit's still funny, though.

[BlackCat]

Why did Jesus cross the road? He was nailed to the chicken.

 

I don't care who you are, that there's funny.

 

Of course I wouldn't mock Jesus in the presence of a Christian, nor would I mock Scientology in front of one of its members. The shit's still funny, though.

 

How anyone could find the  murder of a man funny, by imagining him to be nailed to a chicken instead of a cross, is way beyond me, but then we're all different.  That is offensive to me, so it seems a part of me still 'believes' in Jesus...................

[boftx]

Why did Jesus cross the road? He was nailed to the chicken.

 

I don't care who you are, that there's funny.

 

Of course I wouldn't mock Jesus in the presence of a Christian, nor would I mock Scientology in front of one of its members. The shit's still funny, though.

 

This is pretty much the same as my attitude. There are many jokes that mock one belief or another that I find hilarious, but I tend not to repeat them depending on who I am speaking with. It is not out of respect for the belief being mocked, but rather out of respect for the people I am with.

 

Now if I am talking with a complete shithead all bets are off.

[Yrth]

 

FWIW, I would think that an unwillingness to joke about Jesus would come more from the way you related to him as a to-be-revered authority figure than from any admirable qualities present in his story.

 

Actually, it's the other way round.

The latter is often conflated with the former. We are taught brainwashed to revere Jesus because of all of his admirable traits: he died for other people, he was innocent, he died a gruesome moderately terrible death, etc. Think of other stories with characters who also exhibit virtuous qualities, and then think of whether you would be willing to joke about them or whether you would meet the same resistance you meet when contemplating jokes about Jesus. My guess is that you wouldn't.

[BlackCat]

 

 

FWIW, I would think that an unwillingness to joke about Jesus would come more from the way you related to him as a to-be-revered authority figure than from any admirable qualities present in his story.

 

Actually, it's the other way round.

The latter is often conflated with the former. We are taught brainwashed to revere Jesus because of all of his admirable traits: he died for other people, he was innocent, he died a gruesome moderately terrible death, etc. Think of other stories with characters who also exhibit virtuous qualities, and then think of whether you would be willing to joke about them or whether you would meet the same resistance you meet when contemplating jokes about Jesus. My guess is that you wouldn't.

 

Roman crucifixion was most certainly not a moderately terrible method of killing.  Please check that. 

I wouldn't mock other similar 'virtuous characters'.   What would be the point?   I think this is a very individual issue. 

[boftx]

As a general rule, humor is based on someone's pain or the mocking of someone. Try to think of a joke or humorous story that isn't.

 

Given that general rule, if one is unwilling to accept humor about religion, then one should also not accept any other humor or else one risks being a hypocrite.

 

"If God talks to you from a burning bush, you have gonorrhea." - Ron White

[RipVanWinkle]

It is a way of venting anger at certain (not all) Xtians for treating us badly and being such

insufferable hypocrites. But is it an appropriate way? Even though I have done it in anger, personally, I

don't think it is. I just don't feel right about it. It doesn't give me a feeling of satisfaction. To

direct mocking at Xtians or to mock in the presence of Xtians, I do believe is wrong. It does not help in the cause of reason, which is what we are about.

 

It truly is insensitive, if not cruel. Moreover, It provides Xtians with a weapon to use against us with their fellow Xtions. Like,"See, what did I tell you about those atheists." bill

[BlackCat]

As a general rule, humor is based on someone's pain or the mocking of someone. Try to think of a joke or humorous story that isn't.

 

Given that general rule, if one is unwilling to accept humor about religion, then one should also not accept any other humor or else one risks being a hypocrite.

 

I see the humour in many aspects of religion and I can chuckle at a joke that takes the mickey out of people (e.g There was an Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman...' type jokes).  I've even joked about people I certainly wouldn't joke about to their faces, so yes, I can be hypocritical.  I just don't carry that over to Jesus.  There is nothing I can see that warrants jokes about his death.  I find nothing funny about the horrific death of anyone.  Now, if you don't believe Jesus existed or that he was just a deluded man, then even then, why would you joke about his death or how he lived?   

[midniterider]

We mock that which is foolish to us. The subject of our mocking derision may be aliens, ghosts, Bigfoot or the Pope. Scientology is a popular target of mockery these days. Of course the reason such things are worthy of our mockery is the fact that somebody else takes it seriously.

 

It's worth mocking if somebody takes something uber-ridiculously seriously. Mocking helps to destroy irrational fear. 

 

Lets see, God sacrificed himself to himself in order to lift a curse that he himself put on all humanity.

 

I think that's worth mockery. My mockery is usually contained to Ex-c though.

[boftx]

We joke about death all the time. I'm sure that the mention of names such as Dahmer or Waco can conjure up memories of jokes you've heard and quite possibly laughed at.

[Yrth]

 

 

 

FWIW, I would think that an unwillingness to joke about Jesus would come more from the way you related to him as a to-be-revered authority figure than from any admirable qualities present in his story.

 

Actually, it's the other way round.

The latter is often conflated with the former. We are taught brainwashed to revere Jesus because of all of his admirable traits: he died for other people, he was innocent, he died a gruesome moderately terrible death, etc. Think of other stories with characters who also exhibit virtuous qualities, and then think of whether you would be willing to joke about them or whether you would meet the same resistance you meet when contemplating jokes about Jesus. My guess is that you wouldn't.

 

Roman crucifixion was most certainly not a moderately terrible method of killing.  Please check that. 

I wouldn't mock other similar 'virtuous characters'.   What would be the point?   I think this is a very individual issue. 

One thing Christians teach is that Jesus died -the worst- death possible, but the fact is that there are many worse ways to die than crucifixion. That's all I meant.

 

My point is just that when people see the following video about Gandalf, no one writes letters to their editor complaining about the show. 

 

But they might for this one (don't worry, it's tame):