About Religious Humor

The humor you’ll read may delight or it may offend, so venture forth at your own risk. I personally find something to smile about each of these jokes, but our tastes may differ. That’s the nature of humor.

Our humor often says a great deal about our values, how we perceive other people, and how we perceive ourselves. For example, many of the jokes poke fun at the groups we belong to; others are aimed instead toward people from different groups. Some jokes use children to invite questions about religious belief and practice. It seems that by seeing things through a child’s innocence, we may find it easier to deal with the quirks of life… and with the questions surrounding our own mortality. What’s more, whatever our beliefs may be, humor may build up our own beliefs or attack the beliefs of others.

So as you read these pages, consider your own humor and what function it may play in your experience. Do you laugh at yourself as easily as you laugh at others? Are there subjects (such as “death”) that are never funny? Or perhaps you find it difficult to be serious about certain subjects?