What a Joke!

One way to make a lot of people mad is to poke at the things that they hold close to their hearts. It’s understandable, no one wants to be laughed at.

When it comes to society, jokes often break barriers. I can’t count how many times a political cartoon has opened up my eyes to situations unknown. Jokes are powerful. They ease tension, while offering up the possibility for a thoughtful discussion. That’s why you often see jokes portraying generally touchy topics, topics like religion.

Search the internet long enough and you will find that atheists are generally described as fedora (they’re actually trilbies) wearing, male neck-beards, who’s only arguments against religion sound a lot like Spongebob’s “Squirrel Jokes.”

"They’re just so darn stupid!"

But zoom out to your local religious communities, and you will find that atheists are described another way, as pure evil:

Psalm 14:1 “The fool says in his heart, ”There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.”

And that is not meant as a joke. In this sense joking is very important for theists and atheists because it relates the two on a common subject. Laughter ("maybe all atheists aren’t evil hahahaha… well maybe?"). As silly as it may sound jokes opened up my eyes to a lot of things I had never thought about before, and helped pave the way to my atheism.

Finding the right prescription of of laughter is difficult though, and here is my general rule:

Don’t insult the person, critique the doctrine.

This can be difficult, especially for me because I am anti-religion (side note: not all atheists are anti-religion. Many don’t care, many do). It can be very difficult for me to come up with educated responses, especially when I honestly find something incredibly stupid.

Critiquing is very important though, even if through jokes. There is a very big problem when people don’t allow others to critique their viewpoints.  I don’t think anyone should be afraid of hearing other people’s opinions.Open discussion allows for a greater sense of knowledge and understanding. On the same note, if what you think IS the truth, then a joke shouldn’t matter. If it’s not the truth, then maybe you should look a little deeper. Not allowing other opinions shows that someone is desperately trying to control something. We see censorship like this all over the world in oppressive regimes. If it can’t be talked about, then there is a chance that it’s hiding something bad.

The same things goes for religion. It’s not always easy to hear things you don’t agree with, but I would rather see christian’s joke about atheism than see a world unable to call out each others flaws. Trust me, I’ve got a lot of flaws to be pointed out.

So if you are going to joke around go ahead, but let me give you a few pointers first (and hopefully I can do a better job of following them myself):

1. Don’t be hateful: saying, “god is not real,” is not hateful. Saying, “you have to be the stupidest asshole on the planet to believe in god,” is hateful. 
2. Be Educated: make jokes all you want, but make sure you can have a meaningful discussion after it’s made. It doesn’t make sense to take sides on a topic that you know little about. Being well versed in what you are talking about will make you come off as respectable, not scummy.
3. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT make fun of incredible serious and sensitive subjects. These include race, gender, death, rape, suicide, etc. It’s not funny ever. It’s incredibly hurtful. All it does is make you and those around you look bad.

Remember, here is no reason for us to hate one another, and questioning something does not always equal to discrimination or force feeding.

As always, keep on questioning.

Love,
Liana