When it comes to humor there are so many forms of it like
understatement, exaggeration, slap-stick or physical humor, word play, puns, or
intelligent questions about silly or common situations to name a few. There is the humor we find in children doing
‘cute’ things, or pets doing ‘funny’ things.
There is the analytical humor of comedians like George Carlin who takes
an in depth look at the language we use to describe common situations like pre-boarding an airplane – “how do
you get on before you get on?” Or
“making sure we get ‘in’ the
airplane, let Evil Kneivel get ‘on’
the airplane.” I think George would make
God giggle with this routine, particularly his entire section on airline
security.
In today’s day we find a new generation of Christian
comedians who expound about life’s common situations and the funny things we
find ourselves doing or saying. Like
music I find myself enjoying many forms of humor. One in particular I enjoy is ‘dead-pan’ humor
or asking very smart questions about common things, in a very dry monotone
voice. Steven Wright is a good example
of this asking the question “why is the alphabet in that order?” Or “what happens if you get scared half to
death, twice?” Others like comedian
Demetri Martin ask questions like “isn’t a mobile home with a flat tire, just a
home?” I have to believe God is laughing
out loud at this one, particularly since He knows all the real answers to these
kinds of questions.
The humor of poking fun at yourself can be quite amusing and
takes a fair degree of humility to do.
We find humor in impressions of others, the better the impression, the
more funny it can be. There can be humor
in stereo-typing groups of people, but often this can degenerate into a series
of offensive statements designed to illicit a laugh. If it plays to the truth, and avoids playing
to racist bias, it can still be funny.
When you start thinking about all these types of humor, and the
literally hundreds of comedians who have been able to make you laugh, do you
begin to wonder if God is not the author of humor as well? Let’s face it, not everybody has the comic
timing to tell a joke. Still others
think they are funny when they are clearly not.
The skill or ability to be a great comedian looks to me like a
gift. I know where gifts come from don’t
you.
Making people laugh in this world is a precious
commodity. With all that evil has
accomplished in diverting our attention to fixate on what would destroy us –
comedians arise on the scene and ask us to re-examine what we take for
granted. They cause us to see the humor
in our ruts. They make us take a second
and laugh at our strange behavior. But
beyond that, they make us think. George
Carlin talks with great humor about how business marketing takes advantage of
us. His routine is well-worded and articulate. But beyond the immediate laugh, is the
premise George uncovers – we are sold things we do not need, by people who do
not care, for prices we cannot afford to pay.
If George were a preacher, I doubt his sermon, would have reached the
millions that his routine has undoubtly been heard by.
George may not be a Christian. Neither is Bill Maher or Jon Stewart. But the questions they ask, and the jokes
they make about issues in the news of the day – cause people to sit back and
think. Given the goal of evil to keep
our attention on anything but Christ, doesn’t it seem that thinking about what
we see and what we are told causes us to look at a bigger picture for
meaning. The drive to find meaning in
your existence is the earliest step on a journey that can ultimately lead to
God. I believe there is great value in
what our comedians do for us. I believe
whether they realize it or not, they disrupt the routine of evil, and give us
pause to think about our behavior.
One of the reasons I wrote this book is due to my admiration
for Bill Maher. It appears to me that
Bill has been systemically poisoned by well meaning Christians about the
character of God. The myths we debunk in
this book, shed a new, or more accurate, light on all the topics that cause an
agnostic to question the character of God.
If Bill had not been programmed to believe all these lies about God,
would he still be an agnostic? Or would,
as he eludes to on his show, he find that Jesus’ words embody the great truth
of our existence. I do not believe that
intelligence, a common trait among comedians, is incompatible with a belief in
God. I believe the lies intelligent
people wind up subscribing to, cause them to reason another way. After all, I would be unable to reconcile the
concept of a loving God with an ‘eternally burning’ hell designed for ‘bad’
people no matter what they did here on earth.
That would lead me away from God as well. This logical fallacy is one key reason, why
this commonly taught doctrine of hell is simply not true.
Some people are offended by the swear words comedians tend
to use in their routines. They consider
this ‘offensive’ language to be unacceptable by God, and therefore something we
should avoid listening to. I agree with
the concept of ‘offensive language’ being avoided. However I find it in so many other
places. For example, when a homeless
person asks us for a dollar and we say “no” – that is offensive to me. When a sinner reaches out for love and
support and finds only judgment and condemnation from us – that is entirely
offensive to me. When we blindly accept
the lies evil tells and rationalize our words and our actions – that is
offensive to me. When a child asks only
for a few minutes of time from a busy parent and the answer is “no” – that is
offensive to me. And most of all – when
we use the name of God to justify our own ignorance and bias and inflict pain
on others – that, is truly offensive to me – and to God.
Don’t get me wrong, I do not advocate using gutter language
to express yourself. To me some of the
greatest comedians do not need the use of swear words to make their material
funny. Jackie Mason, Red Buttons,
Lucille Ball, Bill Cosby, Carol Burnett, Demetri Martin, and Jim Gaffigan to
name a few. On the other hand, I try not
to judge those who speak differently than I do, and I do try to listen to what
it is they are actually saying beyond the words I may not enjoy. After all, I’m sure some of the things I say
may not always be the best, even if the words I use are longer or absent the
expletives used in a comedy routine.
The wise man said “laughter does good like a medicine”. I believe in that statement, both
metaphorically and literally. I think
God gave us the ability to laugh, and to some the gift of being funny. I think we laugh too little and worry too
much. Maybe we should turn that paradigm
over on its head in our lives …
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