“It is the test of a good religion whether you can joke about it,” wrote G. K. Chesterton. What he was trying to say is those religions that hold their beliefs strongly can laugh at the world, their predicaments and themselves. Those without confidence in their beliefs cannot laugh at all, for fear the whole thing will come tumbling down.
I give the Mormon church some credit when it comes to laughing at its self. I think they did very well with how they handled the Broadway show “The Book of Mormon”. They didn’t try to sensor it from its members (don’t go watch it!), and they didn’t really say anything bad about it, but instead purchased advertisements on NYC taxies with the “I’m a Mormon” campaign on them (small victory for Satan). They even targeted some of the ads with “You’ve seen the play, now read the Book”, and went to far as to buy ad space on the musical’s playbill.
There was some films in the mid 2000’s that were made by Mormon’s that poked fun at the funny stuff we do. “The Singles Ward” from 2002 made fun of LDS culture, silly ward activities, and the desperate quest for an eternal mate. Other similar movies include “The R.M.” and “The Home Teachers.”
But as a whole I think the world sees Mormon’s as a pretty sober bunch. My dad tells a story of him and my mom taking a tour of Europe. They were the only LDS on the tour bus, but got along with everybody. One evening they were all together with their tour group eating at a restaurant in Italy. There was drinking (but not by them) and plenty of laughter. They said it was a fun time. About half way through they noticed another tour group arrive and sit at an adjacent table. On there name tags he could see they were from Utah. There was no drinking at their table, and little or no laughter. They just sat there quietly and ate their meal. His comment to me was he was sure glad he wasn’t with that Mormon group!
How much of this perception of soberness is self-imposed because of the temple covenant to “avoid all light mindedness, loud laughter….”? From a historical perspective, we have quotes from Joseph Smith and Brigham Young driving home the point:
Joseph Smith:
“Think not that we would enjoin you a Monkish sadness or hypocritical gravity: not so, but we would have your forsake all your loud laughter which is always indicative of an empty mind, and as we have before remarked, is calculated to grieve the Holy Spirit and make it withdraw, leaving you to the influence of that spirit which lures but to destroy.”
The Latter-day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate, Kirtland Ohio, May 1836, Vol.2, No.8, p.306
Brigham Young:
“Some of you are very fond of passing jokes, and will carry your jokes very far. But will you take a joke? If you don’t want to take a joke, don’t give a joke to your brethren. Joking, nonsense, profane language, trifling conversation and loud laughter do not belong to us. Suppose the Angels were witnessing the hoe-down we had the other evening, and listening to the haw, haw’s, the other evening would they not be ashamed of it. I am ashamed of it.”
“The revelations in the bible, in the book of Mormon, and doctrine and covenants teaches us to be sober; and let me ask you Elders that have been through the ordinances in the Temple, what were your covenants there? I want you should remember them. When I laugh I see my folly, and nothingness, and weakness, and am ashamed of myself.”
Prophet Brigham Young, May 29, 1847, The Essential Brigham Young, p. 29
From everything I’ve read about BY, I don’t see him having much of a sense of humor. Most of my Bishops and Stakes Presidents over the years have been pretty serious, so the ones that were not stand out. I had one Bishop that used to have a Far Side calendar hanging from the wall of his office. His office was next to the Spanish Ward’s Bishop, and he, being a quite large man, often joked that the “Obispo” sign should be on his door!
One person I ran into that did not have any humor was a 70 named Elder Lawrence. One Sunday morning when I was Bishop I got a call from my SP, telling me Elder Lawrence was in the area and wanted to attend a Sacrament meeting. The SP informed me he would be bringing him to my ward, and he would be speaking. While I did not know him, he was my parents Stake President before he was called as a GA, and had called my parents on a mission. I knew he had just returned from Siberia as a Mission President. So when I introduced him, I went over a little of his history, and then said “In the world when somebody does wrong, they get sent to Siberia, in the Church when you are a great Stake President, you get sent to Siberia as a Mission President! I got a few courtesy laughs from my congregation. Elder Lawrence said nothing to me, but actually complained to my SP after that my humor was entirely inappropriate for Sacrament Meeting. My SP told me about it at my next interview with him, and told me that only the Prophet is allowed joke in meetings (he actually said that!).
So how well does the Mormon Church do with the joke test? Can we joke about the Mormon church without the fear that it will come tumbling down?
Image by Poison_Ivy from Pixabay
Wheat & Tares 
Yes. We can joke and have been doing it all along — except for members who should be sent to Siberia. 🙂
Incidentally, if “loud” refers to decibel count in “loud laughter which is always indicative of an empty mind, and … is calculated to grieve the Holy Spirit and make it withdraw, leaving you to the influence of that spirit which lures but to destroy,” then that statement is simply false, as demonstrated by experience and observation of members and leaders of the Church. It would be interesting to learn what specific events prompted the prophets’ hyperbole and what “loud laughter” referred to in the 19th century.
I interpret “loud laughter” to mean mocking laughter, making unkind jokes at the expense of another.
For context, I’m an adult covert raised in a house FULL of loud laughter. I told my pioneer stock husband a joke about Mormons.
How can you tell it’s a Mormon wedding? The bride isn’t pregnant but her mother is!
He thought it was very funny so he told his family via group text. Not only did the joke get ignored but he himself was basically got ignored for a couple days after.
So no, I don’t really think the Mormons I have experience with can joke about it, lol.
Also, going through the temple the first time, my husband shared a lot of information with me. Basically everything except covenants. He never mentioned anything about the laughter and it was therefore a very offensive thing to me in there. It seriously hurt my feelings. I don’t want that for myself and my family. I want a home filled with joyous ruckus. I find it very objectionable and therefore did not repeat that part and sat there silently with an angry look on my face. Nobody said anything to me about it though.
When I brought it up to my husband after he said he didn’t even notice it enough to remember to tell me-that it was that insignificant to him. Definitely telling about our different upbringings!
I think the Mormon church did well at handling “The Book of Mormon,” but to me the real test is how they would react if a MORMON wrote something like “The Book of Mormon.” There was a story a few years ago of a BYU student, Chad Hardy, who helped create a calendar featuring shirtless Mormon missionaries. His diploma was rescinded and he was excommunicated “for conduct unbecoming a church member.” If we’re punished for satirizing ourselves, other people will do it for us, less well and less accurately. I think this is why “The Book of Mormon” came to be, and I consider it a lost opportunity for Mormon writers to tell their own satirical story.
This is super interesting to me because the other part of that charge (to not speak evil of the Lord’s anointed) is more vague in its language and yet more stringently enforced among the membership, almost always interpreted as, “don’t criticize the Brethren.”
But the loud laughter bit? You’ll almost never hear it brought up (this post being an exception). Wanna know just how much the church doesn’t really care about loud laughter? BYU’s official Improv Comedy Club is called…
…Laugh Out Loud.
I posted on FB recently about a boxer named Joe Smith Jr – I’m sure some of my staunch friends did not appreciate this.
Also really enjoyed the 2014 book by Avi Steinberg The Lost Book of Mormon: A Journey Through the Mythic Lands of Nephi, Zarahemla, and Kansas City, Missouri.
Love the post Bishop Bill (See? It does happen). It also reminds me of your “An now for Something Completely Different” post, which I also loved. I know many here and in general try to paint LDS as too uptight or prudish. I’ve never found that the case except on rare occasions. I may just hang out with a different crowd.
I haven’t watched Late Night TV for a while, but saw an episode of Leno when the violence broke out in France for the Mohammed cartoon. Some Muslims said that they were just reacting the way any other religious group would. Leno said “Do you think that’s true? When the Book of Mormon musical came out, we didn’t see Provo burn to the ground!” I also loved a Jimmy Kimmel line about the Mormon Church being against the medical marijuana proposition in Utah, saying “They’re worried it could be a gate-way drug for coffee.”
In defense of the group at the table next to your parents, it’s also been my observation that Latter-day Saints often pack more in a day than others and often try to take things up a notch when it comes to fun, coming close to over packing the day at times. It could be that the adjacent group was just plain tired.
I think Elder Lawrence probably needs to lighten up just a bit. I do think we could make our Sacrament meetings a little more spiritual. At times that would preclude some humor, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with most of it. My dad used humor in talks that some felt bordered irreverence at times, but he was often able to hone in on a very spiritual point before he was through. He had many Saints come up to him over the years and remark about how much they remembered his talks, and not just the humor. I sincerely feel he does a lot of good in his talks. As I mentioned in your “completely different” post, he and his friends could also walk into a room where everyone was a complete stranger, and have all of them laughing together like lifelong friends in almost no time. I do think that’s a spiritual gift of sorts.
Dot wrote “If we’re punished for satirizing ourselves, other people will do it for us, less well and less accurately.”
I think the main part of what makes satire funny is that part of it is based largely in truth. I’ve only seen bits and pieces of “The Book of Mormon,” (I may get around to seeing all of it at some point) but felt it does get some of the nuts and bolts about Latter-day Saints right. I didn’t really see any truth in Hardy’s calendar. I realize some satire involves flipping something 180 degrees to make it exactly what it isn’t, but I don’t think Hardy succeeded. I laugh at a lot more things than many unassuming Latter-day Saints with a supposedly well-developed sense of humor, but what I’ve see of the calendar didn’t really do anything for me, which left me feeling humor was not Hardy’s main motivation (which is probably giving him more credit as a thinker and planner than assuming his sensor of humor is just plain debilitated).
Here’s an ironic twist to your piece:
When I was a TBM, I had more of a sense of humor about the Church. I was secure in the doctrine of the Church so I really didn’t mind if we all made fun of the LDS culture, whether it was internal (members) or external (non-members). But as I’ve investigated Church history in more debt, my attitude about the Church has changed drastically. And what I once thought was funny doesn’t seem so funny anymore.
Here’s an example: I used to laugh at the efforts we made to be modest. As a TBM I didn’t necessarily agree with every last pronouncement but I respected the general idea and I sustained the leaders as inspired for promoting the modesty theme. Yes, I might laugh here and there at women with dresses down to their ankles at church or leaders who freaked out at bikinis. It was all kind of funny to me and I made fun of us. But as my attitude about the Church and leaders changed, I didn’t think it was so funny anymore that women and girls were shamed and guilted into compliance. And the constant virtue signaling really gets to me.
I’m trying to not be the grouchy PIMO Mormon. I’m trying to maintain a sense of humor about the Church and its associated culture. But it doesn’t seem as funny as it did back when I thought it was all based on truth.
Humor was a part of my LDS upbringing, and my family always had a way of laughing at ourselves, and never taking the Mormon parts of our lives too seriously. My grandfather, a longtime bishop himself, had a dry, self-deprecating wit, a lot like Pres. Hinkley. I also miss GBH, who was never afraid to poke fun at himself, but at the same time kept sacred things sacred. His successor, TSM, also did this, but to a lesser degree. RMN, however, is quite humorless, and everything I’ve read about him suggests that he’s the kind of person who takes some things too seriously (like emphasizing the full name of the Church) and is probably cut from the same cloth as “Elder Lawrence” in the OP. I always thought having a sense of humor and the ability to laugh at themselves is critical to a minority religious group’s long-term survival, which is why Jews have managed to endure for millenia (and explains why many of the funniest people on earth are Jewish).
It may be just my own perspective, but it seems like a lot of humor has been sucked out of the Church (both local and general) in the last several years. About 10 years ago, I was in a stake conference where one of the SP counselors told a story about when he was doing some home renovations a few weeks earlier. While working with a pneumatic nail gun, he accidentally shot a nail through his own hand. After recalling the pain and embarrassment of the blunder, he quipped that he perhaps was taking the charge to “be more like Christ” too literally, while showing his bandaged hand to the audience. As the laughter died down, he used that topic (being Christlike, taking scriptural mandates too literally) for his subsequent talk. It feels like there are rarely such moments of levity in Church meetings anymore–General Conference is fairly joyless nowadays, and that has trickled down to stake conferences and ward sacrament meetings.
As for the proscription against “loud laughter” in the endowment, I’ve dismissed that as an archaic 19th century Masonic interpretation, which probably refers to heavy drinking, gambling, carousing, consorting with prostitutes, etc.
I saw this in a ranking from a blog many years ago. The top 4 sins in the LDS corporation:
4. Unchastity (but not polygamy)
3. Murder (but not blood atonement)
2. Denying the holy ghost (still don’t know what it means)
1. Creating publicity the LDS corporation doesn’t like
Loud laughter falls into #1. The only reason the Broadway play was semi-accepted is because the Q15 said so. Any time they cannot control the narrative, then it is a sin. If someone gives a talk in sacrament meeting that is funny ( or spiritually feeding), then it takes the limelight away from the Bishop or the Stake President.
When decision-makers get up in General conference and tell their “jokes”, the automatic audience laugh track starts, even though it is not funny, and even sometimes even offensive toward others.
Also with loud laughter you are chasing away the spirit and breaking sin #2.
The churches own websites tell us there is a time to be serious and a time to “have fun”. But the problem is, only the decision makers get to decide which is which.
From the 1976 General Conference a talk by Leonard Arrington:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/new-era/1976/08/joseph-smith-and-the-lighter-view?lang=eng.
“Joseph Smith helped teach people what true religion was, and he taught them very graphically that it was not sanctimoniousness. ”
Read this talk!!!
With TBM bishop stake/GA types in 2021, they gaslight members and state this is not how true disciples of Christ act. But forget that Joseph Smith, Jr. himself did and really have no real knowledge of true history. The church is full of so many contradictions. The only constant is blind obedience and being quiet in passive demeanor . That is NOT the gospel of Jesus Christ !
This article is symptomatic of a great problem in the Church: younger members expect to be entertained, not educated. It is almost as if they will not be satisfied unless they are handed balloons and lollipops on their way into the chapel.
In the past, members attended church to be educated and edified. They understood that there was a difference between reverently attending a worship service and sitting around in sweatpants and crocs watching hot dog eating contests on television.
Church is not a place for those who conduct meetings to try and become the next Jerry Seinfeld. It is a place to treat sacred things in a sacred manner. This requires humbleness and piety.
Anyone who had never heard of The Book of Mormon in London certainly does now after the ad campaign for the musical appeared on every London bus. Incredible publicity hooking into curious minds everywhere, I’d love to know the figures for LDS- curious missionary contacts after the musical. Possible proof that no publicity is bad publicity.
My kids loved the musical and it has helped reposition their relationship with the faith of their parents into something hokey and cute rather than a threat to their autonomy, which says something about the usefulness of humour that BB refers to in his post, really defused some of the tension in our house.
But I understand that it is pretty offensive, enough to enlist our kids protectiveness in relation to us seeing it. Interesting unforeseen consequences all ’round.
Josh H: Good point. I feel the same way.
Eli: I’m not saying the calendar was great satire. But punishing people for “creating publicity the LDS corporation doesn’t like” crushes not only the lame attempts, but the great ones, as well.
There is a reason that J. Golden Kimball was and is still beloved by Church members. He was down to earth and had a sense of humor. And yes, GBH had a good sense of humor. I remember in the 1980s, when he was a Counselor in the FP, he read a funny story in GC about a British insurance claims examiner who went to the Caribbean to inspect hurricane damage. The story was genuinely hilarious, and GBH was so overcome with laughter as he read the story, that he had trouble finishing.
Why do Church members like Dieter Uchtdorf and Jeffrey Holland so much? Same reason that Robert Kirby’s humor column in the SL Tribune was so popular. They are down to earth and have a sense of humor, and make you glad to be around them. They don’t take themselves too seriously.
I am not now and never have been a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Constipated Saints.
To those who do belong to that Church, I would merely quote Proverbs 15:13: A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance. Also Proverbs 17:22: A merry heart doeth good like a medicine. And Joseph Smith referred to his native cheerful temperament (JS-H 1:28).
Illigitimit non carborundum!
Chet, I also read “The Lost Book of Mormon” about a year after I went with my extended family on one of those LDS tours of the Yucatan. He nailed it!
In Lynn Packer’s biography/hit piece of Paul H Dunn, “Lying for the Lord”, he relates stories about the personality of his uncle, Boyd K. Packer. Most of us know BKP as a stern, dour, joyless authority figure. According to the book, Elder Packer actually had a very irreverent, bawdy sense of humor. His favorite show in the 70s was “Three’s Company”, known for ribald humor and “adult situations”. When the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal broke, BKP enthusiastically shared the latest oral sex jokes that were going around back then, though only in private settings with trusted people.
It is possible for a Church leader to privately have a wicked sense of humor, but keep it under wraps and project a humorless public persona, especially if he or she feels the situation demands it. I wonder how many current GAs fall into this category.
Eli, I think your dad and I would be great friends. My Sacrament meeting talks are always filled with laughter and satire, but like your dad I bring it home to some Christlike lesson, and always get complements afterwards. There is one lady that still reminds me of a talk I gave while bishop that is her top sacrament meeting talk of all time!
Jake Hughes, you need to listen to a recent Mormon Stories podcast where John interviews Lynn Packer. He shares lots of stories about BKP. Very different persona that he projected to the church.
I just found this today or I would have linked it in my OP. This is really funny!
John Charity(?) Spring –
1. You really seem to dislike younger members of the church. Why?
Do you dislike all young people or just those in your church? Why/why not?
2. Do you have younger kids or grandkids? If so, I send them my condolences.
3. Education and edification seldom occur at church. Never really have.
Preaching occurs.
Boredom occurs.
Manipulation and brainwashing occur.
Revisionist history occurs.
Clock watching occurs.
Judging occurs.
Shaming occurs.
And guilt is felt.
4. Since education is missing at church, I think entertainment is even more necessary. Honestly, don’t you agree?
5. Your posts don’t paint you in a good way.
6. Do you really believe the things you post, or are you simply trying to get reactions – tweak us a bit?
I hope it’s the latter because to honestly believe what you post would be sinful. (Sinful may not be the right word, but I’m trying to use one I think you’ll like, and calling others sinners or sinful seems to fit – although, in truth, I know very little of you, it’s a sense. I may be wrong.)
7. For many people I know, including those I grew up with, the social aspect – a degree of entertainment – of attending church was a primary reason for killing a Sunday in meetings.
8. Are you attacking hot dogs?
I love hot dogs, and they’re a perfect mustard-delivery system.
Or are you attacking Crocks?
Sweatpants?
Television?
Or people who are different than or not as good as you?
9. Balloons and lollipops make almost everything better.
10. S’mores would be even better.
11. And jello. Without carrots or cottage cheese. Pineapple, mandarin oranges, or huckleberries turn jello into a celestial treat.
Thanks, Bishop Bill.
Rosemary is such a card.
The sunglasses are a nice touch. 🙂
Still laughing — loudly!
LDS congregations will laugh at practically anything. It is actually difficult for me to give a sacrament meeting talk in which the congregation doesn’t have a free low-decibel chuckles.
Which isn’t to say that people necessarily like the humor. I have heard folk remark on jokes that detracted from the from the spirit of the meeting.
I’m going to make some guesses as to what makes jokes go over poorly or well.
Self deprecating jokes tend to work.
Jokes at the expense of others, particularly someone present (I.e Siberia from the op) will get a laugh but not everyone will like them.
Jokes that involve popular media references may appeal to folk who wear crocs and sweatpants, but not to people with the name “Charity”
Humor that involves weird doctrine, like polygamy or Kolob, generally gets a laugh even though a lot of people will be very uncomfortable or offended with it.
Sexist/misogynist humor will always get a hearty laugh in an LDS congregation, but should absolutely be avoided anyway.
Mormonism can joke about itself (culture mainly) to some extent. But it maintains some rigid lines that can’t be crossed. At least, lines that if gone past won’t go over well with believers. The believership seemed extremely offended by the Book of Mormon musical. I know no believers who have spoken openly about seeing the play or wanting to see it. However, the culture generally respects free speech and doesn’t engage in violent protest when mocked. Mormons are quite sensitive about how they’re portrayed in media. I remember a petition being circulated that was signed by over 100,000 people calling for the New York Times to take down an obituary of Thomas Monson that it has published (many of these signers I’m sure cry endlessly about so-called “cancel culture” on the left). The obituary as far as I could tell was well written, too. I also remember calls to cancel an appearance of David Cross (who played Tobias on Arrested Development) for posting an ad of himself wearing only garments to market his appearance at a Salt Lake show. Believers just have a hard time with anything that can be construed as critical of their leaders and core beliefs. I’d say that overall believers are fairly thin-skinned when it comes to humor about Mormonism. I simply couldn’t imagine someone making a movie or sitcom that featured characters in Utah that wasn’t sanitized for Mormon tastes. Mormons are very sensitive about how people portray Utah.
On the movie Singles Ward, it seems extremely safe with its humor. The fact that the lead character drinks alcohol is portrayed as a serious matter, and not as a joke about how weird Mormons are for not drinking alcohol. It portrays the temple with reverence and not a shred of mockery. The intended audience of that movie was clearly believing Mormons.
If you want to cite examples of humor about the church, you’ll have to include Brother Spring. His doggedly consistent denouncements of young members and reliable inclusion of crocs, sweat pants, and hot dogs make him the most consistent source of trollish humor on this forum.
This is tangential to the point of humor, but I find the story where the SP chastised you for making a joke about the visiting Seventy very telling about hierarchy. He said only the prophet can joke in a meeting. This sounds to me like business culture, where the boss’s jokes are always funny, and yours are probably not funny and probably not welcome. We Mormons hate sins against the proper hierarchical order of things even more than we hate loud laughter!
Our stake executive secretary once made a joke on a stake-wide email and followed it up with another stake-wide email apologizing for the joke. I don’t know what prompted the apology … but I felt so bad for the guy. (The joke had something to do with the mission transfers that were being announced – probably in a similar vein as the one in the OP, how dare someone suggest that not all mission transfers are 100% straight from the mouth of God …). That said, one does need to be careful about humor in an audience of thousands. It can go badly.
@Rockwell, I wish your point about sexist jokes always getting a laugh weren’t so spot on. So true.
JCS, I hope my frisbee never lands on your front lawn.
Bishop Bill, perhaps you could do one on how we are now allowed to have fun. Remember when activities had to have a priesthood purpose.
I have a number of families in my ward that run, and are posting their times for half marathons. I asked one what the point of it was and he said it was fun.
I never could run in school I was put in a 800m race (2 laps) and I was lapped.
My parents believed having fun was wasting time. We lived near the best beaches in the world, but never went to the beach. Only beach bums wasted their time at the beach.
Bishop Bill, you have a knack for generating very interesting conversations. I appreciate the consistent thought-provoking topics and insights.
I’ve thought about Geoff’s idea that “we are now allowed to have fun”. That’s a great idea for a talk and I’ll likely steal it at some point when I’m asked to speak. One of the things that I think has changed for the worse in the world and in the Church has been the increased distance between individuals and families. Very rarely do friends and families get together to “have fun”. At the risk of being the old man reminiscing about days gone by, we have very little “fun” together. We aren’t having the “hoe-downs” BY regretted. We aren’t having friends visit our homes for BBQ or game-night. We don’t have the nearly universal participation in Little League or other community events. I feel we’re missing out and I don’t know how to bring that back to my family.
I find it interesting to consider the methods that the Savior used to teach and build his church. I’ve quipped in talks previously that it is significant that he did not choose to give his final instructions to his disciples at “the last correlation meeting”, but rather had a nice meal in a private room. When he taught the Sermon on the Mount, he turned it into a picnic. Peter was fishing when he got converted. I’ll continue to try to have fun as Geoff so eloquently put it. The world is changing, but I hope we retain or regain our ability to have fun.
I’ve attended temple weddings in Idaho and Utah where the officiator asked attendees to not clap each other on the back when we congratulate the couple, because it’s too noisy and not reverent.
It didn’t stick.
John Charity Spring’s satire is growing on me. It’s clever & non-formulaic (just his own formula).
Also appreciate that he couldn’t muster it up when addressing racism.
I don’t think Mormons are better or worse than others at laughing at jokes at their expense. I still remember trying to read “DaVinci code” on an airplane. It took me way too long to read because everyone on that plane had an opinion about my reading a fiction novel.
Something that really irks me is the temple announcement part of GC. People used to audibly gasp or make small outbursts when a mixture of surprise and happiness hits them to hear of places they love getting a temple. But then Mormons love to outdo each other so that eventually evolved into cheering and clapping. Then came the smackdown. We should have no emotions about the building of temples.
JCS: You are part of the problem dude. Some of these croc-wearing youtube watching kids belong to you. If you are good Mormon, more than your fair share, actually. You should have raised them better.
I’m a grown man and today I am wearing crocs and had hot dogs for lunch.
Dot wrote: “Eli: I’m not saying the calendar was great satire. But punishing people for ‘creating publicity the LDS corporation doesn’t like’ crushes not only the lame attempts, but the great ones, as well. “
Yes, I fully got your point. Satire is relatively harmless in my opinion, and sometimes even helpful. My point was just that even as one who is more prone to laugh than other members, Hardy’s calendar was unfunny enough that it seemed more intellectually honest and charitable not to consider it satire in the first place, but something else. I think the Church was smart enough to catch that as well. I suppose if someone wants to make satire that exposes some weaknesses of the Church and its members in hopes it will evoke improvement, they’ve got to do it in a way that won’t inherently damage the consumer (As an example, some of Bagley’s and Grondahl’s early LDS cartoons left me laughing most often, feeling a little zinged at times, but also recognizing some need for improvement without feeling I or the Church was in the crosshairs). But if they’re seeking to damage the member/consumer and the Church as a whole for its own sake but want to retain their membership in the process, then they’ll have to be a lot stealthier about it, and not cry foul when disciplinary measures come their way. Whatever the three cases (satire, educational satire, or damage device with full membership retention) Hardy would appear to have failed at all three. If he was just attempting a grand exit or couldn’t care less of what the Church thought, then I think he succeeded. I don’t think Hardy’s example would necessarily drive away greater and cleverer attempts, and I do think the Church makes at least some rudimentary attempts to ascertain original motivation.
I also think the Church is a little less trigger happy than we give them credit, and growing less so. I find myself looking at material and stories and saying “How did they get away with that?” more and more often (not just referring to humor). And although I’d be naïve to say the Church doesn’t care about publicity, I think their bigger motivation is protecting members. I’ve found that on some of these member- publicized disciplinary councils or excommunications, one finds that with a little digging, what’s going on is often deeper than the member or media is reporting. You’ll never hear it from the Church, since they make great efforts to keep it private, but there is another side that the member in question is therefore free to manipulate as they see fit. I realize this isn’t always the case.
But even as publicity goes, as far as most major U.S. news outlets and their readers are concerned, I think most people already have their mind made up already. You read the comments section on these stories, and most of them can be categorized into “More proof Mormons are a cult” or “A private organization has a right to enforce their rules as they see fit,” with a few “It will be interesting to see how this plays out” sprinkled in. I don’t think that will change drastically in the future.
@squidloverfat – We might have to take the initiative on having fun. I have a neighbor who is known for having game nights. They invite me and other families in the neighborhood, as well as friends they have from former wards that like to play games. I go when I can. I’m glad they have taken the initiative because if they hadn’t, I doubt the game nights would occur. It’s kind of a “if you build it, they will come” idea. Having said that, I do believe that there has been a general movement away from the activities you suggested (BBQs, game nights, community events), but I also believe that there is a core-group of people who still enjoy these types of activities. We may just have to take the initiative, plan some things, and invite people.
John W: I saw David Cross’s show here in AZ for my birthday, and I have to say that him wearing garments as a joke doesn’t sit well with me. It doesn’t feel funny. Are garments weird? OBVIOUSLY. But so are a lot of religious things. It just feels like mocking someone who values them (and I’m not a fan of them on any level and think they clearly didn’t consult any doctors or underwear manufacturers in designing them). To me, that’s humor that doesn’t land. I don’t find it funny.
I tend to think that the lack of humor is a personality trait vs. a cultural issue. Many of the Q15 have a sense of humor. I sat behind E. Oaks at a hilarious performance at the Shakespeare Festival and he practically fell out of his seat laughing (it was one of the funniest bits I’ve seen in a play ever). He peppers his talks with jokes and funny stories. However, I completely found his humor callous when he took aim at women who feared eternal polygamy, and he shrugged it off by making a joke. That’s the problem with humor. It’s only funny to people who don’t feel like they are being dismissed by it. It’s always a risk.
Any GA who thinks it’s completely inappropriate to use humor is basically the worst, though. If Church is boring, we won’t learn. We will tune out.