I asked on several Usenet newsgroups: 'When is humor about sex funny?' You

can read the article I wrote with the help of some responses under the title

'Sex and Humour: Q's and A's'



Here's more 'wit and wisdom' on the subject:



How do echidnas manage to reproduce? *Very* carefully.



~~~



Elijah when he mocked the false prophets on Mt. Carmel (1 Kings 18:25-29 is

one of the funniest passages in all of Scripture - especially v. 27), or

Jesus when he sarcastically rebuked hypocrites by referring to a "log" in

their eye . . . or how about Paul wishing that false teachers would

"mutilate" (castrate) themselves (Gal 5:12 - a pun upon circumcision)? All

of these were very serious matters, but the human folly is what was

ironically humorous.



~~~



>'Who is telling the joke?

>That is at least as important as the content.'



Indeed



>'The best Jewish jokes I have heard have been told me by Jews. Full of

>Jewish

>stereotypes, and possibly offensive if I told them to a Jew.

>The few funny Scottish jokes I have heard have been told me by Scots.

>The only Chinese joke I have ever heard was told me by a Chinese.'



There are some political jokes developing amongst Chinese people.  But

laugh at yourself first still holds true.



'I have never heard, or heard of, an Islamic joke.'



They do exist, they are just bloody hard to explain to most western

people.  Implied homosexuality and bestiality and heaven is a running

theme much like our blondes and other fall guys (take your pick from

black people, polish etc.)



===

Mhemet had been adopting city ways so his father sent him to the country

for a few weeks.  While watching the sheep he asked his cousin if he was

a virgin.

===



You might not find it funny but the Islamic people I know do.  They told

me the joke after all.



>'Any joke I can remember about one brand of Christianity or another has an

>undercurrent of bitterness.'



I don't think that is specific to Xtianity.



>'Jokes by men about women usually lack wit or subtlety.'



Doesn't mean they have to be.



>'Jokes told by politicians are, without exception, abysmal.'



I can think of a few exceptions.



~~~



The ancient church fathers (and some of the modern ones, too) were

extremely uptight

about sex.  Augustine, Origen, Tertullian come to mind.  From what I

read about

them they viewed sex as a necessary evil.  And put the church

universal on the road to

framing sex, for nearly 2000 years, as spiritually safe/acceptable

only when

espoused for the procreation of cute little babies.  Even Augustine,

for all his brilliance of

mind and faith could not argue against that. Motherhood, I mean.



~~~



Let's not get too precious about this. The things that make us laugh

are generally things that are close to us and so have 'resonance' with

us. Sex is part of the lives of normal  people, Christian or otherwise.

Thus jokes that involve sexuality will amuse us (though context is

everything here - I probably won't tell your joke next time I'm in a

pulpit!). The problem arises when ALL our humour is focussed on

sexuality. This is unhealthy and suggests a fixation on sexual

gratification which is not what God wants for his children. (Sex -

Good; Obsessive fixation on sex - bad).



I find that a good rule is this: God wants us to be moral; not po-faced.



~~~