Can a comedian be an occasion for sin?

[Rosarydevotion]

Hi guys,

I really love this particular comedian Louis Ck. But he can be pretty raunchy at times. And sometimes he jokes about God, heaven, and hell etc.

Is it sinful to watch and enjoy a comedian who curses and tell’s raunchy jokes? My guess is yes it is, but I wanted to post here to drill it into my head, so I can feel more determined to turn away from this.

Its hard to enjoy anything in pop culture anymore because everything is rooted in some sort of sinful behavior.

 

[pwlj_christ87]

honestly it can be funny but most comedians that ive noticed on television are not very good with what they say or what their doing. most are already drunk and looking to make some cheap jokes when you really look at them they arent even funny , its also about speech , you just have to work at it , you get better at morality and such, try really next time as a test maybe to sit through it and really take every thought to Jesus, be sober and just really think about what he’s saying, and you might have a totally different take, i used to laugh at all sorts of comedians back in the day i would never even watch now, and im not trying to say im better than you or that im any better but just think about the message, theres so much better stuff out there

 

[GEddie]

Honestly, for something like this, it would depend on the effect on each person.

IMNAAHO

ICXC NIKA.

 

[truetofaith]

It’s a shame a person who has the talent to make others laugh must resort to filth & bashing religious things.
I enjoyed Bob Hope, Rodney Dangerfield, Jay Leno and comedians who made you laugh without making you feel guilty.

My answer would be if you listen to this type of comedian for a long time, it will cause you to also lose respect for God and that will be sinful.

 

[Dorothy]

Hi guys,

I really love this particular comedian Louis Ck. But he can be pretty raunchy at times. And sometimes he jokes about God, heaven, and hell etc.

Is it sinful to watch and enjoy a comedian who curses and tell’s raunchy jokes? My guess is yes it is, but I wanted to post here to drill it into my head, so I can feel more determined to turn away from this.

Its hard to enjoy anything in pop culture anymore because everything is rooted in some sort of sinful behavior.

All I can do is speak for myself, and from what you describe it would disturb me that his form of entertainment could be enforcing wrong thinking.

 

[Rosarydevotion]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I was feeling guilty last night for watching him and laughing. I hadnt watched from him in a long while. I agree that its not a good idea to watch someone who has to resort to this sort of humor. I’m gonna work on avoiding this sort of thing in the future.

 

[Mystical_Seeker]

I’ve seen him in a few videos and I think he’s hilarious. I like comedians who are clean, but who speak to all different audiences.

I watch comedians of all sorts, including those who make fun of things I believe in. How can I possibly know whether I’ll “rejoice and be glad” when somebody makes fun of me? Some anti-religious comedians for example (which I do not consider Louis CK “anti-religious” particularly) are actually funny; other fade in and out like George Carlin who is funny most of the time but now and then tries to “dig in” a point and it’s kind of obvious his opinions are more important than his “being funny” for a few seconds here and there.

Like the “court jesters” of old who would attend the highest level meeting and say absurdities including completely opposite the king’s idea, so that the king could hear at least something other than what the yes men at his meeting would dare say and wish to keep their heads. This helped them make better decisions and those who didn’t have them were at a strategic disadvantage.

Another thing is I hear them talk to people who understand their language and it gives me insight. For example, if Chris Rock talks to a crowd he’s using all kinds of foul language and vulgar imagery, but he strikes true to the heart of so many. And what he says even in supposed jest about domestic violence, really makes more sense than anything you’ll hear from the liberal media. And when he talks to his audience about blacks v whites I feel like I’m hearing honesty I’d never otherwise hear, being a 50-something white male in a pretty “white” town. Maybe if I like in Brooklyn I could get that first hand, but not where I live now.

Also it’s part of loving my enemies. It helps me understand the beliefs and fears of others who are not like me, and find out how they react to things I could never possibly say to them. If I can laugh at myself, the groups I’m in, or even at the things I consider truth – whether political, philosophical, social, personal, spiritual, whatever – that helps me better take the Beatitudes into account and it helps me understand why other people hate the things I may love, so that I may love them better.

There is the issue of becoming offended. I wish to “be offended” at nobody’s ideas, whether or not I share them. It habituates me to diversity also so I may better operate in this age, clearly an information age like never before in the history of the planet. I don’t have to go to “other places” to meet people “not like me” or even that “don’t like me.” I can find them on Facebook every hour in my news feed, and practice how I react to it.

Last week my wife and I saw a video by a comedian we’d never seen before, and he was hilarious. After we watched it, she even remarked that it was nice to see how funny he could be without using foul language. I thought for a minute and realized, “hey yeah you’re right I don’t remember him using any.” Then we watched a couple other videos and saw him in a different context discussing issues with other comedians, and it turned out he was quite capable of talking like the others, and very naturally, and was still funny.

Here’s a link to that guy, Patrice O’Neil, just for fun. This video features him with no foul language. If you like him and follow him into other contexts, I only told you about the man; if you want to follow him into nefarious contexts you’ll have to do your own search.

 

[Rosarydevotion]

Thanks MS, Patritrice Oneil passed away, don’t know if you heard. God rest his soul. He was good friends with Louis CK. I have to check out his stuff though, I’m not too familiar with his work.

 

[AttendeDomine]

The problem is that a lot of entertainment media are riddled with objective sins, such as blaspheming God’s name, and when we watch such things, yes, we are detracting from God’s glory.

Imagine attending one of these shows, sitting in one of the front rows, and having your wife consistently made fun of by the comedian through the whole show. The comedian absolutely rips into her about everything he can think of and, after the show, your wife breaks down in tears and confides in you how much she was hurt by all of that and by your refusing to leave. Imagine furthermore that this was a big name comedian, and imagine that the show was broadcast on cable television, and that you owned a copy of it. Suppose you pulled it out every few weeks, and laughed hysterically at everything, including the parts that made your wife look absolutely horrible.

How do you think she would feel about that?

But yet, we can feel so comfortable having someone consistently mock Christ and blaspheme His name, and we somehow think God doesn’t care or He doesn’t mind. He’s a tough guy, after all! He doesn’t care how much He’s mocked, and whether or not you’re sitting there giggling your head off over it! Nonsense.

When you willingly watch something that has objective sins in it that offend God, you are offending God, and that’s never a good thing, even if you’re entertained to death over it.

Furthermore, if a movie or a song or a comedian’s act contain objective sin then, no matter how good they are in every other respect, the product is simply garbage. You’re not going to willingly eat a big bowl of alfredo just because it “only” has a couple of drops of antifreeze in it, and most of the food is okay. You’re going to toss it in the trash. Do the same with the junk the entertainment industry provides, which does far more bad than a couple of drops of ingested antifreeze would do.

 

[Rosarydevotion]

The problem is that a lot of entertainment media are riddled with objective sins, such as blaspheming God’s name, and when we watch such things, yes, we are detracting from God’s glory.

Imagine attending one of these shows, sitting in one of the front rows, and having your wife consistently made fun of by the comedian through the whole show. The comedian absolutely rips into her about everything he can think of and, after the show, your wife breaks down in tears and confides in you how much she was hurt by all of that and by your refusing to leave. Imagine furthermore that this was a big name comedian, and imagine that the show was broadcast on cable television, and that you owned a copy of it. Suppose you pulled it out every few weeks, and laughed hysterically at everything, including the parts that made your wife look absolutely horrible.

How do you think she would feel about that?

But yet, we can feel so comfortable having someone consistently mock Christ and blaspheme His name, and we somehow think God doesn’t care or He doesn’t mind. He’s a tough guy, after all! He doesn’t care how much He’s mocked, and whether or not you’re sitting there giggling your head off over it! Nonsense.

When you willingly watch something that has objective sins in it that offend God, you are offending God, and that’s never a good thing, even if you’re entertained to death over it.

Furthermore, if a movie or a song or a comedian’s act contain objective sin then, no matter how good they are in every other respect, the product is simply garbage. You’re not going to willingly eat a big bowl of alfredo just because it “only” has a couple of drops of antifreeze in it, and most of the food is okay. You’re going to toss it in the trash. Do the same with the junk the entertainment industry provides, which does far more bad than a couple of drops of ingested antifreeze would do.

Great way to put it! And your absolutely right.

 

[Mystical_Seeker]

The problem is that a lot of entertainment media are riddled with objective sins, such as blaspheming God’s name, and when we watch such things, yes, we are detracting from God’s glory.

I’m not sure what you mean by “objective” sin. I think it’s easy to assume too much about others’ mental states when we look at behavior we find troubling and attribute sin. Unless a person believes it’s sinful, at least it cannot be a mortal sin.

I don’t see how anything at all that we can do, can subtract from God’s glory.

Imagine attending one of these shows, sitting in one of the front rows, and having your wife consistently made fun of by the comedian through the whole show. The comedian absolutely rips into her about everything he can think of and, after the show, your wife breaks down in tears and confides in you how much she was hurt by all of that and by your refusing to leave. Imagine furthermore that this was a big name comedian, and imagine that the show was broadcast on cable television, and that you owned a copy of it. Suppose you pulled it out every few weeks, and laughed hysterically at everything, including the parts that made your wife look absolutely horrible.

How do you think she would feel about that?

She would not like it.

But yet, we can feel so comfortable having someone consistently mock Christ and blaspheme His name, and we somehow think God doesn’t care or He doesn’t mind. He’s a tough guy, after all! He doesn’t care how much He’s mocked, and whether or not you’re sitting there giggling your head off over it! Nonsense.

How do you know it’s nonsense? Jesus is the one who told us to rejoice and be glad when they do this. It takes a little more advanced thinking than the dualistic concept of “person says bad things about God so I must be upset.”

Furthermore, if a movie or a song or a comedian’s act contain objective sin then, no matter how good they are in every other respect, the product is simply garbage. You’re not going to willingly eat a big bowl of alfredo just because it “only” has a couple of drops of antifreeze in it, and most of the food is okay. You’re going to toss it in the trash. Do the same with the junk the entertainment industry provides, which does far more bad than a couple of drops of ingested antifreeze would do.

It’s nice imagery and if you don’t want to watch a comedian, especially if you think you are participating in sin by doing so, then by all means don’t.

But can you tell me where Jesus ever got on somebody’s case for talking smack on God? He spoke most harshly to those who would assume they knew that others were sinners and spoke against them on God’s behalf – kind of like what I’m concerned you may be advancing here when you use the term “objective sin” with respect to others’ behavior. It’s a over-s(name removed by moderator)lification IMO.

How do you reconcile your reactions with the Beatitudes where Jesus says rejoice and be glad? Under what conditions are we to “listen to Him” (our Father’s command to us) and “do what He tells you” (His mother’s last recorded words) after all? He gives us a specific condition and a specific strategy on how to deal with it. I’ll repeat it here for you:

Matt 5
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you [falsely] because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

In summary, if I think I have to protect God against others’ sinful actions, then I have bought into what the worldly version of Catholicism likes to promote and I believe contrary to the core teachings of Jesus. If you believe you are participating in sin by watching, then no I totally agree you should not watch it.

 

[dedo]

I like comedians, so I may be biased.

Our priest tells a joke before every homily, and I like him too. I think once God played a joke on me, so I think maybe God has a sense of humor as well.

I have yet to hear a comedian that offended me, or my belief system; however, maybe there is something wrong with me, since I don’t know everything. As far as the ridiculous example of a comedian attacking someone’s wife during a show – of course I would not tolerate that. However, comedians don’t do that. They do tease people who choose to sit in the front rows, and the people who sit there know that and expect it. I am curious though if I teased a comedian, could they take it as well as they dish it out?

Another thing I like about comedians is that they explore human nature. I like to study human nature as well, but mostly through study of science and theology. So comedy compliments these areas.

I am thinking of trying to hire a comedian couple as consultants for a project I am looking at – if I don’t chicken out. It would be a web series that would involve a lot of comedy. It would also carry a spiritual message. I don’t know the message, and the actors would figure it out as part of the series, in real time. The audience would quickly learn that the premise of the series (preventing the zombie apocalypse), is real, not comedy. So the audience can help figure out the “message” as well. The series and the spinoffs spread the message, and the science is embedded in the design of the series and the spinoffs. Then we all try to figure out the message together, in real time, with a lot of mistakes / foibles (comedy), along the way.

 

[ccmcmg]

We used to love going to comedy shows, although the few we’ve went to since returning to God and the Faith haven’t been as enjoyable.

We went last night, since we hadn’t been in a long time. All went pretty well, with the first comedian (host), and then the feature act wasn’t too raunchy or bad. However, the last comedian (Jay Phillips) mimed masturbation on stage, for both men and women, among other waaaaay over the line ‘jokes’. We were boxed in, so yes, I was that person checking my Facebook during these parts of his show, as well as cleaning/clearing our table and stacking dishes. Anything I could do to distract me from the words at hand.

Sometimes these types of things can lead to thinking of our own occasions of sin, or a longing for a sin. Overall, we had an okay time, but we won’t be rushing back again soon. Thankfully, we only go when we have comp/free tickets (we do purchase food and beverages though).

However, none have been as bad as Richard Jeni, whose comedy went waaaaay beyond any boundaries of even bad taste (before we came back to God); we again would have left had we not been ‘locked in’ to the area where we were sitting. I still wish we had left. The things he had said wouldn’t have even been allowed in most XXX movies. I can’t even tell you.

I hope to see Tim Hawkins when he returns to my area next year.

Clean comedy can still be funny comedy.