[Bond]

For example, I can tell a joke that involves racist language that doesn't actually involve race in it. (I'm thinking of one, in fact.)

Well, tell it, then.

This post has been edited by Bond: 15 August 2007 - 12:28 PM

[J m HofMarN]

"Is there a sign outside my house that says dead nigger storage?"

That was a pretty good joke, since despite the racist language you can pretty clearly tell that he was more perturbed by the dead status rather than the skin color of the deceased.

I pretty much think anything is cool to make fun of if it's funny. I laugh my ass off at Wilford Brimley Diabeetus jokes even though my father and grandmother both have it. But then again, I'm a mutant.

[OhNo_Stereo]

I think anything at all can be joked about, but that it depends on how clear your intent is. using racial epithets and the like is similar to slapping a friend in the face. given the right mood, strength of friend ship and situation you can do it and it will be funny. but if you're obviously kind of mad at them, they can feel the intent in the slap and suddenly it's not a joke.

for instance I had two roomates, one white and one black. their conversations often includes terms such as 'honkey' 'cracker' 'nigger' 'house boy' 'porch monkey' but it was allways plainly obvious by the rest of their conduct that they respected each other. however if my landlord, who had an intense dislike of my black roomate, had said any of those things there would have been a serious problem

that said there are people who get upset when slapped by friends even if the situation is right, but these people usually are no fun anyway. I think the same can be applied with ribald jokes.

[Bond]

I pretty much think anything is cool to make fun of if it's funny. I laugh my ass off at Wilford Brimley Diabeetus jokes even though my father and grandmother both have it. But then again, I'm a mutant.

Well, that's mostly because Wilford Brimley is a silly old man.

[Dr Lecter]

In Britain making fun of Christianity is like, kicking a little person in the balls. Funny as fuck.

Anyway, if you're British or Australian you're allowed to make jokes about Australians being mostly descended from criminals. I don't know how we get away with it though, probably only because they were our criminals. Anyone else makes a joke about it though, and its instantly not funny.

There are quite a few British Empire related jokes that only British or British Commonwealth are allowed to tell, I can't remember them all. I think we only restricted them to get back at the USA for their revolution. We invent a whole genre of jokes that they can never tell, ever.

This post has been edited by Dr Lecter: 15 September 2007 - 07:40 PM

[Cobnat]

Muslims should not go ape shit when someone draws Mohamed. In fact I have a whole theory concerning this: Since Islam was created 400 years after Christianity then that means that Islam is currently in the same mindset Christianity was 400 years ago. You know, fundamentalism, expansionism and all that idiocy. I am sure that in 400 years people will be drawing Jesus and Mohamed walking hand in hand… straight into a gay nightclub.

[Dr Lecter]

Well, to be fair, Christians do have graven images of Jesus in their churches even though one of the ten commandments says against that. Hence Christians must have some serious balls to violate a rule that gets you sent to hell in their own place of worship. I mean, that instantly makes me give kudos to them.

[Spoon Poetic]

That commandment doesn't say you can't have some sort of art or image, it says you can't have one of those that you worship. So as long as you're not worshipping the idol, and it's just a depiction to you, supposedly you're okay. Just don't start worshipping the depiction as if it's the actual god, I guess.

[Cobnat]

That commandment doesn't say you can't have some sort of art or image, it says you can't have one of those that you worship. So as long as you're not worshipping the idol, and it's just a depiction to you, supposedly you're okay. Just don't start worshipping the depiction as if it's the actual god, I guess.

So… is it alright to worship the idol if it is a representation of god? If not, what is up with Christians and the cross?

[Spoon Poetic]

No, see - you don't worship the idol. You worship God, and you have pretty art. Like, you live in a house. You don't live in a painting of a house. But you might like this particular painting of a house enough to have it hanging in your living room, because it's pretty, or because it represents something to you (okay, not the best example). Uh... Oh! You keep pictures of your friends around because they mean something to you and it's nice to have a reminder of that friend. But that picture isn't your friend; you don't turn to that picture for comfort or conversation or whatever. It's just a picture. Like the cross/crucifix/depiction of Jesus/whatever is a visual reminder and also in some cases, art.

[Dr Lecter]

Exodus 20:2
You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

I fail to see the words "do not worship idols". It simply says do not have them.

[Spoon Poetic]

An idol is worshipped. An icon, a depiction, a scuplture, a painting - these are not worshipped. The commandment doesn't say "don't make some pretty art of Jesus," it says not to make idols which by the standard Christian definition is different than these other things because an idol's purpose is to be worshipped. *shrug*

[Dr Lecter]

So... basically it's because before the Romans become Christian, people didn't make idols of Jesus, but when the Romans started to convert, they started to make them. Simply because they were used to having idols.

[Spoon Poetic]

Actually there was Christian art before the Romans became a Christian Empire, but that is a good point. At the same time, though, the Christians were few before the Romans began converting, so there wasn't a demand for art within the Christian community. Also they were mostly converted Jews, who were used to not having art.

Plus, I feel the same way about Roman "idols." They didn't actually worship those idols, they worshipped the god/goddess that the idol was depicting. They did say that the idol was a way to communicate with the god/goddess (something that some Christians do, as well, actually) but people wouldn't worship the actual sculpture instead of the god/goddess it represented.

An idol also doesn't have to be a representation; it can be money, fame, a celebrity - the commandment basically means, God should be the only thing you worship (make most important, blah blah). The commandment was written during a time where people actually would make an idol and declare it was a god - like, the sculpted form itself. The commandment goes on to cover other forms of idolatry, such as false gods, etc. But I fail to see how the commandment should be interpreted as "don't make art of God or Jesus."

[Slade]

Lecter: I don't understand how you can continually fail to see that icon != idol, unless you're just being an ass.