Am I right to be offended by this? Muslims,please reply

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mrajax

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So today I wrote a small joke on facebook that in all honesty was only meant in good fun. I didn’t mean to offend anyone, nor is the nature of the joke actually offensive as it doesn’t ridicule anything having to do with religion per se. It went exactly like this and I quote:

“What’s a Muslim man’s biggest moral dilemma? Free bacon.”

That was it. I usually make other jokes relating to black comedy which I stopped doing as I felt thatpeople were getting sick of them only to have three of my otherwise non-muslim friends and a sensei call me out on it. I asked one of them if they were serious and he said yes, because it’s not what I tihnk but what others think. I agreed, because the same thing applies in regards to sexual harassment etc…

The thing is I actually deleted that status once they told me but what is actually making me angry is that other friends get to post a lot of stuff ridiculing religion, particularly the Catholic one, with me actually going out of my way to call them out on the offensiveness of their ‘jokes’. Just yesterday I berated one of my friends for taking an article about some ‘masturbation cross’ seriously and sharing it on facebook. The thing is, despite being an atheist, these things still tick me off to no end and they still post them except they never really get called out on it.

Am I taking things to personally? Am I blowing this thing out of the water or thinking too much about it? Am I right to be peeved that people got offended at so easy a target?
 
I don’t know- I’m not muslim- but would you be offended at this?

Q:Why do Christians feel sorry for athiests when they die?

A:Because they are all dressed up with no where to go.
😃
 
Also not Muslim, but don’t fret over it, it will blow over. Yes, it’s not fair that some jokes cause more butthurt than others, but that’s just how it goes sometimes. I wouldn’t lose sleep over it.
 
There are two ways it can be taken as offensive, primarily because of the word “biggest”.

The first is that it could be taken to imply that if a Muslim can only observe exterior ritual laws, such as the rules of halal, then that’s the only morality a Muslim gets very cranked up about.

The second is that the rules of halal themselves are something to be made light of or that Muslims are so enslaved to the attraction of getting something for nothing that they don’t care what it is until they take it and have no use for it.

It would be like saying the biggest moral dilemma of a Catholic would be the really great free doughnuts that always seem to be available in a situation where we would have to break the Eucharistic fast to eat them. Sure, a Catholic could find that funny, and might even tell a joke like that. Others might not be amused. Are you saying that the Eucharistic fast is funny or pointless, or are you saying that we care about that kind of thing but the rest of our moral life doesn’t worry us too much? That it kills us to pass up free anything, because we’re so cheap? Said by someone from an ethnic group that has historically had truly serious problems with an ethnic group that 110% Catholic, the joke would be taken differently than if a fellow Catholic had said it, too.

I think you’d be wise to not make up jokes about other religions. Let them make fun of us in your jokes. Self-deprecating humor is far more attractive in those who’d like a reputation for humility.

For instance, there was a joke about the ministers of three religions, all of whom complained to their fellow in their town that he had bats in the attic of his congregation’s house of worship that were causing all sorts of damage. The first two had tried traditional cures, to no avail. The priest says that he had gotten rid of his. How? the other two asked. Oh, easy. He’d had his bishop come and confirm them, and he never saw them after that. You see, a Catholic can get away with telling a wry joke like that about us, but not a non-Catholic. (Our archbishop told it to our confirmandi, and said he’d rather It have no ring of truth in it where they are concerned.)
 
mommy_k said:
I don’t know- I’m not muslim- but would you be offended at this?

Q:Why do Christians feel sorry for athiests when they die?

A:Because they are all dressed up with no where to go.
😃
Click to expand...
This is one that points out our differences, and either a Christian or an atheist might tell it (provided the atheist didn’t believe in an afterlife; some believe in an afterlife, but no deity there, either!)
 
My rule is to not tell or listen to ethnic or religious jokes. If I hear someone start one I always interrupt and tell them I’m not interested in hearing it. To use your example, would you feel offended if someone made a similar joke about a Catholic’s dilemma about free bacon on Friday during Lent? It’s not so funny when the shoe is on the other foot. Do unto others…
 
I’ve never seen anyone who is a Muslim on these forums so I don’t think you will get an answer from one
 
_Gemma said:
I’ve never seen anyone who is a Muslim on these forums so I don’t think you will get an answer from one
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Well, maybe on the non-Catholic religions forum, but it was probably just as well that as few Muslims as possible read that joke.
 
EasterJoy said:
This is one that points out our differences, and either a Christian or an atheist might tell it (provided the atheist didn’t believe in an afterlife; some believe in an afterlife, but no deity there, either!)
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Yes Easterjoy-I tried to keep it balanced here. I knew someone would notice…

To the op-The moral is what sscott said… Do unto others, and stay away from jokes that may offend anyone for whatever reason, as the joke may be about you sometimes.
 
mrajax,

I know you’ve had difficulties with making close friends in the past.

If you want to build your friendships, I would definitely encourage you to cut down on the “humor” until you are quite sure that you have an appreciative audience.
 
mrajax said:
…
… The thing is, despite being an atheist, these things still tick me off to no end and they still post them except they never really get called out on it.
…
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It sounds like you need to set an example and NOT post potentially offensive jokes. Posting something like this destroys your credibility when criticizing others for making crude jokes about religion.
 
EasterJoy said:
There are two ways it can be taken as offensive, primarily because of the word “biggest”.

The first is that it could be taken to imply that if a Muslim can only observe exterior ritual laws, such as the rules of halal, then that’s the only morality a Muslim gets very cranked up about.

The second is that the rules of halal themselves are something to be made light of or that Muslims are so enslaved to the attraction of getting something for nothing that they don’t care what it is until they take it and have no use for it.

It would be like saying the biggest moral dilemma of a Catholic would be the really great free doughnuts that always seem to be available in a situation where we would have to break the Eucharistic fast to eat them. Sure, a Catholic could find that funny, and might even tell a joke like that. Others might not be amused. Are you saying that the Eucharistic fast is funny or pointless, or are you saying that we care about that kind of thing but the rest of our moral life doesn’t worry us too much? That it kills us to pass up free anything, because we’re so cheap? Said by someone from an ethnic group that has historically had truly serious problems with an ethnic group that 110% Catholic, the joke would be taken differently than if a fellow Catholic had said it, too.

I think you’d be wise to not make up jokes about other religions. Let them make fun of us in your jokes. Self-deprecating humor is far more attractive in those who’d like a reputation for humility.

For instance, there was a joke about the ministers of three religions, all of whom complained to their fellow in their town that he had bats in the attic of his congregation’s house of worship that were causing all sorts of damage. The first two had tried traditional cures, to no avail. The priest says that he had gotten rid of his. How? the other two asked. Oh, easy. He’d had his bishop come and confirm them, and he never saw them after that. You see, a Catholic can get away with telling a wry joke like that about us, but not a non-Catholic. (Our archbishop told it to our confirmandi, and said he’d rather It have no ring of truth in it where they are concerned.)
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See, this is my problem: I never intended anything so, serious or deep. Honestly, you have to dig really deep in meaning in order for someone to draw that conclusion when it comes to my joke being offensive. I do make Catholic jokes all the time BTW but never ones that would be borderline blasphemy or relating to the sex abuse crisis. The former are just an annoyance and cruel, the latter disgusting. I’m an atheist yes but I’ve learned to respect all rleigion in general due to my time as a deovut Catholic.

I just felt that my friends fretted over this unnecessarilly when other friends post downright mean spirited content. feel the same way, if you were to tell a Muslim a joke like that in general they wouldn’t take offense unless they were extremely sensitive and fanatical or unable to laugh at themselves as flawed people. I wasn’t ridiculing individual Muslims, just making fun of the fact that yes, bacon is loved by EVERYONE. It was notihng to fret over.
 
EasterJoy said:
This is one that points out our differences, and either a Christian or an atheist might tell it (provided the atheist didn’t believe in an afterlife; some believe in an afterlife, but no deity there, either!)
Click to expand...
I don’t find it offensive in the least. In fact, it’s pretty funny because yeah, if heaven existed, we would have no where to go XD. Besides, I’ve become dysenthisized to atheists bullying Christians. I’m not such a farcically sensitive dude that I can’t make fun of my own flaws.
 
The way I look at it is, if you never say anything you can never be misunderstood.

And the joke you’re trying to tell only works as a jewish joke, just FYI.
 
mrajax said:
See, this is my problem: I never intended anything so, serious or deep. Honestly, you have to dig really deep in meaning in order for someone to draw that conclusion when it comes to my joke being offensive. I do make Catholic jokes all the time BTW but never ones that would be borderline blasphemy or relating to the sex abuse crisis. The former are just an annoyance and cruel, the latter disgusting. I’m an atheist yes but I’ve learned to respect all rleigion in general due to my time as a deovut Catholic.

I just felt that my friends fretted over this unnecessarilly when other friends post downright mean spirited content. feel the same way, if you were to tell a Muslim a joke like that in general they wouldn’t take offense unless they were extremely sensitive and fanatical or unable to laugh at themselves as flawed people. I wasn’t ridiculing individual Muslims, just making fun of the fact that yes, bacon is loved by EVERYONE. It was notihng to fret over.
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I think a person with your social challenges should avoid trying to make jokes for a large audience (which is what Facebook is). As you’ve seen with your friends, it’s very hard to do so without giving offense.

A lot of times, people don’t get the point when you’re putting the shoe on the other foot. They say something offensive, don’t realize it, but then when you say something offensive, they see that immediately and think you’re being a jerk. It’s not fair, but that’s the way the world works.
 
Burt_Macklin said:
…the joke you’re trying to tell only works as a jewish joke, just FYI.
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Why, because Muslims don’t labor under the stereotype that they’re greedy?
(You do know that pork is no more halal than it is kosher, right?)
 
sscott said:
would you feel offended if someone made a similar joke about a Catholic’s dilemma about free bacon on Friday during Lent?
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To the contrary, I think that’s funny. 🙂

It needs a set-up, and I have one in mind but won’t share it because it might offend people.

Bottom line is, there are people who are conditioned to be offended, or to use the slightest offense as an excuse to make a mountain out of a molehill.
 
EasterJoy said:
Why, because Muslims don’t labor under the stereotype that they’re greedy?
(You do know that pork is no more halal than it is kosher, right?)
Click to expand...
No, they don’t labor under the stereotype that they are cheap. I think it is the Arabs, what with their indoor snow parks and pet cheetahs, that kind of ruin that stereotype. There are Muslim stereotypes you could riff on but I will not mention them here as I don’t want this thread to blow up. Anyway, Ramadan Kareem to any Muslims reading this.
 
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