I love to laugh. It's a passion of mine. I need to find something funny in nearly every circumstance, or else the situation gets dull, boring, or even slightly morose-- and we all know how great of an experience it is to droll our minds to death. I crack jokes-- even if they lack a storming punchline. I tell puns, so well that sometimes I get like butter-- on a roll! But most of the time I use ironic, situational humor-- "...As opposed to..." punchlines. When I applied to the seminary last winter, one of the questions asked me to "finish the sentence." Evidently, the psychological aspect of seminary application tried to delve into my personal beliefs, values, and ideologies. For instance, they asked me to finish "my dad ________" or "my mom ______" or "I secretly fear ________." The most memorable of all asked me to finish "girls _______." I humbly replied, "Girls tell me I'm funny." Believe me, I got a chuckle or two out of the psychologist when he read my answer.
There is power in humor. A well told joke can instantly change moods from low to high, moving a person from a state of depression to elation within seconds. It is nearly impossible for me to remain angry or disappointed when I hear a stomach-jiggling joke. And yet, sometimes I find myself laughing at some, well, jokes questionable in their moral standard. I do not think, however, it is improper for someone to dislike a joke. I do believe, however, that the moral standards that ought to be applied to evaluating jokes, puns, and humour insofar as not how much someone likes or dislikes a joke, but its effect upon their personal dignity.
G.K. Chesterton predicted, nearly a century ago, that, "If the modern world will not insist on having some sharp and definite moral law, capable of resisting the counter-attractions of art and humour, the modern world will simply be given over as a spoil to anybody who can manage to do a nasty thing in a nice way." It seldomly seems that contemporary comedians have a "clean" show. It seems as though comedians have found ways to use the f-word as every part of speech. I could not go one day in my high school without hearing a classmate utter a vulgar word. Maybe the world has been handed over as spoils? I hope not.
It used to be that vulgarity expressed extreme anger or outrageous displeasure. It used to be that it was social taboo to speak "cuss" or swear words. Men and women who blasphemed merited death in certain cultures. That, of course, is not the case these days. These days, popular songs such as "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" "You're Beautiful" "Empire State of Mind" "Not Afraid" "Love the Way You Lie" include vulgar, and easily remmovable improper language-- and yet remain popular and contemporary "classics", songs easily known by the mass public. Is this integrated vulgarity into pop society necessary? NO. Plainly, no. There is no excuse for vulgar or "dirty" language-- lest we reduce human beings to nothing more than animals farting out sounds from their mouths. Pop culture has integrated these thoughts of "acceptable language" to be equivalent in respect to a vulgar thought disguised by a popular icon.
There is an old saying, "Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action; reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character reap a destiny." As popular culture sows the thought of introducing acceptable-vulgarity, it implicitly endorses anger. By endorsing anger, pop culture ought not be surprised at the multitude of violent crimes. Pop culture excuses the violent crimes through relative-subjectivism, or blames design or the environment. Rarely do individuals take remorseful and personal culpability directly related to their actions and intentions. That is the devil's lie-- we ought not be sorry for any wrong we commit-- we ought not feel bad, responsible, culpable, remorseful, or repentant. Content: that is his lie. Then what is the truth?
"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me," articulates Jesus Christ. Jesus is the truth. How do we come to know truth? Through and by Him. Through prayer, adoration, the sacraments, and recognizing Christ's presence in each other-- "When two or more are gathered in My name, I am there." This is not a laughing matter. It is UNTIL you accept Christ in your life that you consciously or unconsciously desire Him. We all have a Jesus-sized hole in our human design.
As we laugh, let us remember-- if Jesus would be for "this joke", then I can be for it; if Jesus would be against "this joke", then I should be against it. Essentially the cheesy grade-school "WWJD." But it works. Plainly and simply. It requires a change of heart, change of lifestyle, change of language -- all metanoia. The tingle of a funny bone can never triumph the value of the heart, lest the value of our hearts decrease to zero. Remember, Jesus tells us to, "Love the Lord God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbor as ourself." That's our punchline--a punchline of love.
