Ship of Fools: No parachutes

Thread: No parachutes Board: The Laugh Judgment / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by Simon (# 1) on :

Joke submitted by peregrinner:

Fundamentalist joke:

Q: A Buddhist, a Hindu, a Sikh, a Jew and a Catholic all fall out of an airplane without a parachute. Which one hits the ground first?

A: Who cares? They're all going to Hell anyway.

[ 05. August 2005, 09:43: Message edited by: Simon ]

Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on :

It's funny 'coz it's true [Big Grin]

.

ETA clarification - "it's true" that some fundamentalists believe that, not that those groups are going to Hell!

Then again, it's probably offensive for the same reason...

[ 03. August 2005, 15:12: Message edited by: Marvin the Martian ]

Posted by Phred22 (# 3857) on :

This kind of joke helps me understand the viewpoint of non-believers that they don't want to be (baptized, saved, born again) lest they find themselves in a Heaven populated by believers.

Posted by Back-to-Front (# 5638) on :

Incidentally, the punchline is what I've been dying to post in response to the "Are Pentecostals Evangelical?" thread for days now, but haven't had the guts to.

Posted by KenWritez (# 3238) on :

Hmm, not funny, not offensive to me because I've spent time around such fundies. It's just a small, ugly thing; not really a joke IMO at all. Too heavy-handed.

Posted by rewboss (# 566) on :

I have to say, I am amazingly underwhelmed by this joke. It had no impact (ahem) on me at all.

Posted by Pyx_e (# 57) on :

Hosting

Go on, tell us why, don't hold back, go for it you can do it.

Pyx_e

Hosting

Posted by tclune (# 7959) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Pyx_e:
Hosting

Go on, tell us why, don't hold back, go for it you can do it.

Pyx_e

Hosting

I think a component of why I don't find any humor in this joke is because it lacks grace. There is no elevating "out." Compare this to, e.g., the Pope doing the crossword joke. While on one level, you get "caught" thinking the same dirty thing as the man, you also are offered the redemption of having your humanity shared by the Pope.

--Tom Clune

Posted by churchgeek (# 5557) on :

I think this is one of those jokes whose humor and / or offensiveness depends on who's telling it to whom.

I can see two ex-fundies or fundamentalists who don't believe that way sharing it as an almost self-mocking inside joke.

I can imagine it being used in a condescending/elitist way by a non-fundie to other non-fundies - in that case, I don't really think it's funny, just a cheap shot.

It would really not be funny if told by &/or to people who actually believe that way!

[ 03. August 2005, 17:47: Message edited by: churchgeek ]

Posted by ACOL-ite (# 4991) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Back-to-Front:
Incidentally, the punchline is what I've been dying to post in response to the "Are Pentecostals Evangelical?" thread for days now, but haven't had the guts to.

Whoah! Have I horribly misread this? What I read this as you saying was that you would like to answer the question "Are Pentecostals Evangelical" by saying, "Who cares? They're all going to Hell anyway."

If so, then I find this a horrendously glib way of commenting on the potential damnation of millions of people, and thousands of your fellow ship-mates. Certainly the most offensive thing posted on TLJ so far.

Posted by Pyx_e (# 57) on :

Hosting

Mmmmmmmmmmm. OK, both sides have fired a shot, what say you continue this somewhere else (you know where) or drop it.

Pyx_e

Hosting

Posted by rewboss (# 566) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Pyx_e:
Go on, tell us why, don't hold back, go for it you can do it.

Well, it had no impact on me. It wasn't funny and it wasn't offensive.

There is a sort of logical break, in that the question posed isn't really answered. That's a humorous device, but on its own it's not enough to turn this into a joke. It only begins to take on a semblance of a joke if you are prepared to believe that all the people named are necessarily hellbound -- presumably by virtue of their following the "wrong" religion, since no other reason is given. This involves a tacit agreement between the joke-teller and the audience, a sort of conspiracy almost. It lacks sophistication -- in effect, it amounts to little more than the statement that Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Jews and Catholics go to hell, a statement which you either agree with or you don't, but isn't funny.

Posted by Pyx_e (# 57) on :

Thank you.

P

Posted by TheLearner (# 9740) on :

quote:
Originally posted by rewboss:

quote:
Originally posted by Pyx_e:
Go on, tell us why, don't hold back, go for it you can do it.
Well, it had no impact on me. It wasn't funny and it wasn't offensive.

There is a sort of logical break, in that the question posed isn't really answered. That's a humorous device, but on its own it's not enough to turn this into a joke. It only begins to take on a semblance of a joke if you are prepared to believe that all the people named are necessarily hellbound -- presumably by virtue of their following the "wrong" religion, since no other reason is given. This involves a tacit agreement between the joke-teller and the audience, a sort of conspiracy almost. It lacks sophistication -- in effect, it amounts to little more than the statement that Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Jews and Catholics go to hell, a statement which you either agree with or you don't, but isn't funny.

As an ex-fundamentalist who is only now realizing the absurdity of claiming to know for certain which individuals are bound for hell and which are not, I enjoy the humor of this joke. It is offensive enough to make me chuckle and think that I am getting away with something, without being offensive enough to actually turn me off and limit my ability to find humor in the situation.

Posted by The Coot (# 220) on :

quote:
rewboss:
It only begins to take on a semblance of a joke if you are prepared to believe that all the people named are necessarily hellbound -- presumably by virtue of their following the "wrong" religion, since no other reason is given. This involves a tacit agreement between the joke-teller and the audience, a sort of conspiracy almost.

I disagree with this, though I can see that it might possibly be told in a conspiratorial manner to people of like belief by those that really believe those mentioned will go to Hell. Then it really is a distasteful joke, and I put it in the category of unaffectionate ethnic jokes ie. told by someone outside the group to deride the group.

Rather, I would imagine the joke getting more mileage by being told to deride fundamentalists for their beliefs that those people are going to Hell.

Posted by Hinematov (# 4766) on :

I surprised myself by laughing at this one.

quote:
Rather, I would imagine the joke getting more mileage by being told to deride fundamentalists for their beliefs that those people are going to Hell.

Yes, that's the way I took it. For me it also mocks the attitude that I've heard all too often among certain Christians, that is, "What difference does it make if the 'unsaved' are in earthly trouble? So what if they're starving, dying of malaria, oppressed, or even hurtling towards the ground to a messy death? Never mind that, let's just get them saved!"

Posted by Julian4 (# 9937) on :

This works for me as long as the line "Fundamentalist joke:" is included as part of the joke. That makes it a joke about fundamentalist attitudes, not about people going to Hell.

Posted by Ken Osis (# 2999) on :

I don't find the joke funny but it does produce a wry smile of recognition - and a depressed, sinking feeling - at the memory of some of the churches I've attended in the past and my involvement in them at the time. [Eek!]

It is way too easy to pick on some groups of religious believers!

Many years ago I came across the following in John Ryan's Ecclesiastical Fun Book (a book of religious jokes from the 70s):

"We are the sweet selected few
The rest of you are damned
There's room enough in hell for you
We can't have heaven crammed!"

I'm all for poking fun at superiority and dogmatism ........ it's not just fundamentalists who think they're right. I know I am. [Biased]

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