Can God be funny? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.
This is an odd chapter. It’s dealing with the idea of pseudoscience and there was very little relevant to our purposes. As it is, I only highlighted one section in this chapter, and it’s not because I disagree with it, but because it is something worth commenting on.
Although the above isn’t particularly amusing, it isn’t reverential, either, and does suggest a couple of questions about religion and humor. Why is the notion of a fundamentalist comedian funny, or at least quite odd? Why does the idea of God as a comedian seem more appealing (at least to me) than the traditional view of God? Why does solemnity tend to infect almost all discussions of religion? Certainly an inability or reluctance to stand outside one’s preferred framework is part of the answer. So is an intolerance for tentativeness and whimsy. The incongruity necessary for appreciating humor is only recognizable with an open mind and fresh perspective. (A famous “argument” for an abstract proposition symbolized by p comes to mind. It’s ascribed to the philosopher Sidney Morgenbesser and illustrates, or maybe mocks, this fluid capriciousness. “So if not p, what? q maybe?”)
Paulos, John Allen. Irreligion: A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for God Just Don’t Add Up (pp. 25-26). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Kindle Edition.
Do we ever think about Jesus laughing?
Why do we think of the Puritans as boring and stuck-up people?
Why do we associate negativity with words like “sermon” and “preach.”?
I have noticed that I think comedy is dying in the West, but I honestly think it’s because of leftism gaining a hold politically. If it gets to the point where you are not allowed to make jokes about X because they’re politically incorrect, we are closer to tyranny. My recommendation is to let the jokes be made and let the market decide.
Months ago I said that we shouldn’t protect people from jokes about X and I did have someone say that we should definitely allow comedians to make jokes about kids with cancer. My thought to something like that is, yes. Let them make jokes. Then let us silence them not by violent means, but in the market of public ideas. We don’t buy their books or listen to their shows or watch their videos or anything like that. That is the way freedom works. Freedom of speech is there not to protect speech we like, but speech we don’t like.
Christians need to be funny. We should get the most joy out of life compared to anyone else. Sometimes when we are told we believe some bizarre things, we should accept it. Yes. They are wild. What is even funnier about how wild they are, is that they’re also true.
I agree with Paulos to a point here. I do think we should treat God as holy, but that does not mean as boring. We are meant to enjoy Him and enjoy His creation. He created the world to be enjoyed and we are creatures that have the ability to laugh because we find something funny. We should use it.
We’ll continue next time.
In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)