8 Responses to “Washington Post mocks Pentecostals”

1. Mike M. in Colorado Says:
   September 18th, 2008 at 9:39 pm

   Mocking people of faith is nothing new. It’s totally politically correct in western cultures.

2. peach Says:
   September 19th, 2008 at 5:18 am

   There is mocking and then there is this cartoon. I think I am more offended with the caricature of God talking on the phone cursing than anything else, Pat must be an atheist, for if I am offended, then other ‘religious right-wingers’ will be also.

3. Asinus Gravis Says:
   September 19th, 2008 at 9:11 am

   Peach, your claim that “Pat must be an atheist” because his cartoon offended you, may make “emotional sense” but it is absolutely illogical. It is a “non sequiter.”

   Take a look at the Prophet Amos for a peak at depictions of God being very critical of the religious practices of ones fellow countrymen. It is not much different from what Pat Oliphant did.

   Taking cheap shots at other versions of Christianity is traditional in American protestantism, and probably also American Catholicism too. It is one of the ways to try to build cohesiveness withing ones own religious community.

   It is a clear violation of the Golden Rule to be sure, but that has never stood in the way of American Christianity.

4. Caleb Powers Says:
   September 19th, 2008 at 10:33 am

   The fact is that we make fun of people for their religious beliefs, and thank God we do. Otherwise, we’d be playing right into the hands of the people who want to dismantle the first amendment and make this a theocracy.

   When JFK was elected president, a little ditty went around my county, which was heavily protestant and thick with members of the Masonic order: “Hail Mary full of Grace, the Masons are now in second place.” My own Episcopal Church has been mocked for years as “God’s frozen people,” derided as “whiskey-palians,” because we will, on occasion, take a drink, and the only known man-goes-to-heaven-and-sees-St.Peter-joke involving the Episcopalians has a punch line suggesting that an Episcopalian would go to hell for eating meat with a salad fork.

   People joked that Adlai Stevenson, a Unitarian, would burn a question mark in your yard if he didn’t like you. Jimmy Carter’s Baptist faith was widely lampooned by everyone, I’m sure including the Washington Post. And what each of these instances has in common is that they pick out some element of each faith that is different from other faiths and use that as the basis for the humor. Members of the mainstream denominations are used to that kind of humor and shrug it off.

   What’s different about this campaign year is that we’ve had two new religions to lampoon. First was Mitt Romney and the Mormons. And didn’t they scream like stuck pigs (often on this blog) every time someone made a joke about their beliefs. And now the pentecostals are getting the same treatment, even though the redoubtable Ms. Palin has apparently revoked her speaking in tongues license for a more standard brand evangelical experience. It seems to me that both the Mormons and pentecostals ought to see this as a good thing. Members of their faiths are making splashes in national politics, and when that happens, people make fun of you.

   And it’s not just religion. People are making fun of Ms. Palin for her having been a beauty contestant, for her love of killing large animals, for her in-home tanning bed, and for her foreign relations experience with the former Soviet Union, her closest neighbor. Likewise, they’ve made fun of Obama’s name, his ears, his wife, his pastor, and everything else about him. Joe Biden is Catholic, and no doubt the Catholic jokes will be made about him.

   This is America, and we use humor: Get used to it.

5. peach Says:
   September 19th, 2008 at 3:20 pm

   I can take all the jokes handed out and can dish it right back. I am still offended by the caricature of God cursing-it simply is not a bit funny to me. Although I do believe God has a sense of humor, Pat may still want to cover his/her head when he walks in a thunder storm!

6. José Says:
   September 19th, 2008 at 4:55 pm

   Hmmmm…is that true, that God never curses? Let’s see what the Good Book says.

7. peach Says:
   September 19th, 2008 at 5:01 pm

   please verse/ scripture

8. Baptist-Turned-Catholic Says:
   September 21st, 2008 at 11:57 am

   Caleb and Asinus are right-on, except that it’s not “probably” when it comes to Catholics taking cheap shots. As to God “cussin’, Jesus used the strongest language of his day, which wouldn’t ruffle a gnat today. He cursed the fig tree for not bearing fruit in the analogy of discipleship and bearing fruit for the kingdom. Now you can say he didn’t mean “curse” in the same vain, but it was strong language nevertheless. He used the word “racha” (excuse the spelling)to call out some people of his day as being “fools.” Words are amoral so let’s get over our prickly sensitivities and focus on the abomination of how supposed Christians treat other Christians in America.

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