All Jokes are Offensive - The Anatomy of Humor


By Bernie on 21 Mar 2009




read-speaker


That's right - no matter how you phrase it, no matter the context, no matter how innocent, someone will be offended by a joke. President Obama's recent attempt at humor, while meant to be self-deprecating, wound up offending others 1. We have now reached a point in Western society where even the most powerful man on Earth cannot make fun of himself without putting some group's panties in a twist.

A few thousand years ago, the local citizenry of Rome were able to let off steam by scratching some offensive graffito on a coliseum wall. Roman graffiti today offends almost no one except those who work for the city's department of sanitation.

In the UK the following joke will trigger a police investigation 2 of a possible violation of the "Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act of 2001":

A man goes into a library and asks for a book on suicide.

The librarian recommends the Qur'an.



If you google 'Muslim Jokes' the first reference you get will most likely be one of my articles in that category. It's not because I was the first blogger to assemble Muslim jokes, there are many Muslim sites preceding mine with so-called "Muslim Humor" - but because mine are truly offensive and hence, funnier, and therefore are linked to from hundreds of forums and websites.

As to that Quran joke above, let me say that Islam is a religion of peace and that the majority of Muslims have nothing but love and respect for their fellow man. There is no one more tolerant of other religions than a Muslim. I say this from the bottom of my heart and have not been induced to make this statement due to hundreds of death threats against me in emails and comments.

Now back to the anatomy of humor.

90 years ago, Charlie Chaplin made the world laugh by poking fun at everyone including the homeless. Today of course, some homeless advocacy group would be offended by his brand of humor. Chaplin was vile, vulgar, violent, and vindictive; he was also the most influential film-maker and comedian in history. If Chaplin were alive today and commissioned by President Obama to make a humorous sketch of Barack's bowling skills, I have no doubt he would have laid out a scene involving the Special Olympics that would have been hilarious to the audience of 1915; but today? Oh no, we are much too sensitive.

Even Henny Youngman's classic one-liners offended some group; for example, "Take my wife - please." Obviously this is a vicious attack against married women.

Try to leave me a joke in the comments section that absolutely offends no one. If it offends no one, if it doesn't have some basis in truth, I'll tell you right now - it ain't gonna be funny.

Of all the life on this planet, only humans have a sense of humor; we can laugh. If we keep up this idiotic striving to be politically correct, to be culturally sensitive to others, to be inoffensive, then one day we will lose the one distinction that separates us from the rest of the animals. And that will certainly be a sad, sad day.







Notes



(1):

CNN, Obama apologizes for Special Olympics comment

The comment came midway through Obama's appearance on the late night comedy show, when host Jay Leno quipped about the president's lack of bowling skills: "I imagine the bowling alley [in the White House] has just been just burned and closed down," Leno said.

"No, no. I have been practicing," Obama said. "I bowled a 129. It's like — it was like Special Olympics, or something."

(2):

Chortle UK, Reid faces racism probe

Mike Reid could face prosecution over anti-Muslim jokes he reportedly cracked on stage

Police are investigating complaints that the comic and ex-EastEnders star broke new religious hatred laws drafted after September 11.

...

The complaint comes from 23-year-old politics graduate Helen Kirrane, from Greater Manchester, who saw Reid in Chatham, Kent.

She said he made jokes about Muslims being told to bungee jump without elastic, and working as strippers.

She said: "It was like listening to the ranting of a racist dinosaur. Anti-Muslim jokes are disgusting, as are all racist jokes.





Click on the Print










Anyone may republish this article for non-commercial use without asking my permission. I make it easy, see details here.

Related Posts with Thumbnails

Comments



Hey, leave a comment - if this is your first time here, please read my Comment Policy HERE.


Comments are now located at the top of the article











HOME



Info


To Access our Mobile Version:

qrcode



FAQ/About Me

subscribe to my feedSubscribe to this blog's feed

subscribe to comment feedSubscribe to comments feed

Search/Archives

Site Policies

Testimonials

Print Friendly Articles

My Articles in Danish


Site Stats


users online



View My Stats





Shameless Advertising


This is what Bernie is Reading Now



Recent Comments


Buttons & Widgets


Blogarama - The Blogs DirectoryPolitics blogsGovernment BlogsPolitics blogs Advice Blog Directory Politics Blogs
Locations of visitors to this page



TopOfBlogs


Blogs That Link to Me:


123beta
A collection of things...
Always on Watch
Animal Magnetism
Apropos of Nothing
Bare Naked Islam
Basil’s Blog
BelchSpeak
Blazing Cat Fur
Blogging for a free world
BlogWrath
Celestial Offerings
Commonsense & Wonder
Cristy Li
Daily Blasphemies
David Drake
Die rather than betray trust
DiveDesk
DragonLady’s World
Eclecticity
Empyreum Cœlum
Fausta’s Blog
Fiery Spirited Zionist
foolocracy
Gates of Vienna
GDCritter
GM's Place
Gummihund/ Rubberdog and a proud Orangutan
Hard to Swallow
Huff-Watch
Infidelio
Infidels Are Cool
Infidel Bloggers Alliance
Intergalactic Source of Truth
Israel Matzav
Jewish Preppers
JewPI
Jihadi Du Jour
Leather Penguin
Maggie’s Notebook
Mesopotamia West
MFS - The Other News
mlah.us
Monkey in the Middle
Muellerstuff
My Gripes of Wrath
No Apology
nothing to laugh at
Nuke's
Oswald Bastable’s Ranting
Outside the Camp
Pakshahara
Project 2,996
Prune Juice Media
RADARSITE
Right Nation
Right Pundits
Right Truth
Right-wing Agenda
Rightjab
Rosemary’s Thoughts
Sherryx’s Weblog
Shimshon 9
Simply Jews
So Far, So Good ...So What!
Something and Half of Something
Squid Thoughts
Stop Islamic Conquest
StormBringer
SumanSpeaks
Synopsis
TAYLOR TOPICS
The Amboy Times
The Astute Bloggers
The Christian Defender
The Infidel Task Force
The Lasso of Truth
The Lambeth Walk
The Mindset
The Nose on your Face
THE OUTRAGED SPLEEN OF ZION
The Political Commentator
The Right Nation
TheRightRant
The Sandman
The Sassy Tn’T PoLITicallY InCorrect
THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER
The TexasFred Blog
The Trouble With Angels
The Unreligious Right
The Virtuous Republic
The World According to Carl
Theo Spark
Third World County
Thunder Pig
Treppenwitz
Veritas Universalis
Western Civilization and Culture
wine women and transcendence
World Challenges for the XXIst century
Zilla of the Resistance


Referrals (last 127 days)





Plank's Constant