Sexual jokes.. it maybe funny but it is a sin

[DanteAlighieri]

I’m sorry if I’m being annoying, but does this all mean that I sinned or not? I mean, did I sin (mortally or venially) when I laughed at a sexual joke on TV?

God bless!

Short answer: No, with an if. Long answer: Yes, with a but.



Seriously, I don’t think you sinned, but if you consistently seek out and partake of such humor, you could be setting yourself up for sin.

Peace,
Dante

 

[Greg27]

It depends. Sometimes someone may be in great emotional distress and pain, or may be very sad and depressed. Often the best way to lift such a person up can be to make a good joke which makes them laugh really deeply to their heart.

I never believe in making profane jokes merely for the sake of obscenity. However, sometimes jokes which involve even things such as bodily functions like passing wind, can make a very sad person feel joy and it can make it easier for what is distressing them to then come to the surface, so their sadness eases.

I don’t believe life was not meant to be lived without joy. But, one should not use gravely obscene matter for jokes simply to disgust someone (for example much of the material in ‘Borat’ is funny, but a lot of it is simply disgusting and not funny in any way because it is way over the top).

Therefore we should in our conscience look at what motivates a joke when it is made. Is a joke motivated by charity which aims to relieve another’s pain and distress by giving them joy? Or is it designed to damage someone’s reputation, hurt someone’s feelings, done in the spirit of vain gossip, or humiliate someone by removing their dignity?

I think any joke done in the spirit of charity has the right intention, but those based on the capital vices (especially pride, vainglory, wrath and envy) should be avoided.

 

[eponymic]

I’m sorry if I’m being annoying, but does this all mean that I sinned or not? I mean, did I sin (mortally or venially) when I laughed at a sexual joke on TV?

God bless!

If it’s bothering you, then I’d go talk to a priest. At the very least, you’ll put yourself at ease.

However, I’d say that it’s not a sin to hear and laugh at a sexual joke simply because it’s sexual. If there was some other component to it, such as a mean spirited jab at somebody else, then it’s not so much a joke as a taunt or mock. That could be sinful based on its intentions, not because of the sexual nature. Sex, in and of itself, is not a sin, but the context and intent play a much bigger role.

 

[otjm]

I’m sorry if I’m being annoying, but does this all mean that I sinned or not? I mean, did I sin (mortally or venially) when I laughed at a sexual joke on TV?

God bless!

The question asked this way can’t be answered. To answer it, you would have to say why you laughed at the joke, and without being prurient, wht the joke was.

There can be any number of reasons why we laugh at a joke, just as there can be many purposes of a joke. A joke can be made to perpetuate an unjust relationship; it can be made to wryly comment on our own foibles. To simply say that a joke had a sexual content, and presume that because it did that it is sinful would be to tar all acts with the same brush.

What was the purpose of the joke (beside to make one laugh)? Why did you laugh? what is humor? There are some who would paint all humor as sinful (interesting how such people can be absolutely humorless, particularly about themselves; which is to say that often they are so full of their own pomposity they cannot even admit their own foibles), and there are those who think there is no such thing as sin. The truth, as usual, is somewhere between the extremes.

And perhaps a better querstion is why are you wasting your time watching tv? OK, now you se my prejudices… but I consider it to appeal in general to the lowest common denominator and be one of the biggest wastes of time invented by the mind of man. "Nuf said.

 

[sanctamaria17]

I love Monty Python, am I sinning by watching The Adventures of the Holy Grail?

“If she weighs the same as a duck…”

 

[katy]

As long as we are talking about this, what about plays? One of my group of friends thought we should all see the Full Monty play. I asked around, nobody seemed to think much about it, the movie was cute and not purient at all. The play, as done here, was quite different. There was a lot that was funny, but quite a bit that was just plain crude, plus a positively portrayed gay relationship. I’ve just fairly recently decided to walk the Catholic talk and have no idea how to deal with this sort of thing. The others are Christian churchgoers who seemed to have no problem with the (truly) gross stuff.

 

[whatevergirl]

This is a great thread.

As I scroll through it, I recall times when I have howled with my husband to the antics of George Carlin.(does anyone have a bar of soap handy?) lol

Well…now, over the past several years…I no longer find him all that funny, because I suppose when I wasn’t attending mass regularly…praying as much…as devoted as now…my husband and I didn’t recognize the rampant disregard and disrespect towards God, in his stand up routines. It is glaring to us now. We’re not prudes in the least, but I don’t think poking fun at Christ…God…priests…is funny AT ALL.

Sex isn’t that funny, either. I mean…why is that funny? Some guy up on stage ranting about how he hasn’t been laid in a decade…how is that funny?

So…I think the more ‘moral’ we become…the more we try to live like Christ…the less jokes like this make us laugh. AND IT WON’T BE HARD TO TURN THE CHANNEL–YOU WILL NATURALLY TURN A BLIND EAR TO IT.

Ellen DeGeneres…she has a clean routine, and although I disagree with her lifestyle…her standup routine has always been clean as a whistle…and really funny!

 

[Penny_Plain]

Sex isn’t that funny, either. I mean…why is that funny?

It’s like the rest of life – it’s not funny if you do it right.

But who does anything right, really? And when you don’t, your choices are to weep or to laugh.

I choose to laugh. I laugh at others. I laugh at myself. And, yes, I laugh at sex jokes. Some of them are very funny.

 

[antimon]

I’ve heard some good jokes involving sex. it was about marital sex, btw.

and I haven’t heard a good explanation why such jokes are sin yet.

 

[Tweety]

I think we should take it a step further. We should never make jokes about anything that is sacred. Since life is sacred, we should never make jokes involving living things, or any part of God’s sacred creation.

Our Parish Priest and some other Parishes that i have gone to Mass to, put jokes on the last page of the weekly bulletin… So i can’t see that jokes about life are sinful…

 

[Tweety]

P.S. I have laughed at some funny Christian jokes too. They were clean and not disrespectful in any way - just plain funny. And i don’t think that i have sinned.

God does have a sense of humour too.

 

[jack_hawkins]

To my fellow Catholics and Non-Catholic Christians,

May the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

I like to discuss this openly. The media and the general public talk very sexually explicit jokes. I have heard it from soldiers, and the general public.

They joke about masturbation, sex life, etc. Even though the one who jokes about this, do they know the danger that this type of behavior is serious?

In my opinion, I believe sexually related jokes is a grave matter. Anybody else have an opinion and concern about this matter?

If you have know friends who joke about sex, do you tell them that it is offensive and how would you tell them in charity that sexual jokes displeases God?

They may tell you, you are too serious. How do we promote chastity to others?

have you read the Screwtape Letters?
there is a very pertinent point made in there - that jokes about sex aren’t necessarily sinful, it depends on why we like them
if we like them because they are sexual, that is sin
if we like them because they are funny, that is not sin

 

[Biblioassistant]

My parish priest is a wonderful joke teller. Not sexual ones, but his jokes are really funny. Then he builds on them to make a point in his sermon and I go away with lots of food for thought.

 

[Jay2]

Bill Cosby: Himself. One of the funniest routines of all time, and nary a curse word or lewd comment to be found.

Is that the one where he talks about “Having a quart of water pour out of his belly-button”??
I was rolling and nearly needed CPR!

As long as we can poke fun at ourselves and our actions, and have the ability to share our foibles with others and make them laugh (usually because they’ve been involved in a similar situation)… what is so terribly wrong if the context happens to include sex?
As long as the delivery isn’t graphic, and allows the listener to “fill in the blanks”, substituting their own similar situation… I mean really… how can a comedian on stage tell a story about their life to 1000+ people, and not have the audience in some way to relate to something that’s happened to them and laugh.

With the SINGLE exception of ONE person we know of, all of us are the product of sex…It is a core part of all living things, and the topic of varied discussion.

(and I’ll fathom a guess that 99.9% of us have had a sexual encounter with our spouses that is just downright hilarious (in retrospect)… 3 come to mind almost immediately for me, and my wife & I absolutely “lose it” when we think about it! … one of these “incidents” we’ve related in company, and caused nostril sprays from all around!)

 

[eponymic]

With the SINGLE exception of ONE person we know of, all of us are the product of sex…It is a core part of all living things, and the topic of varied discussion.

With all due respect, it’s actually three people who are not the product of sex, but the other two weren’t “born” in the same manner as everybody else.

 

[TerraChico]

Then comedy would cease to exist. Example:
“Didja hear the one about the boulder that rolled down the hill & hit another boulder??? They made gravel!”

All jokes, comedy, or things we find humorous involve living things… usually something stupid that a person or critter does.

Sex is an integral part of life. Without it, life wouldn’t exist. So there is an unlimited supply of material to look upon, and make a joke about.

One of my favourite comedians is Bill Engvall. He can do a 1-1/2 hour show without swearing/cussing, and have 1500 people rolling in the aisles… how? Because he tells stories about LIFE… Married Life…
(and if you honestly look back into your own history there are some pretty darn funny things you & hubby have done that’ll bring a smile to your face)
One of my favourite bits of his is when he’s describing a particular night when he & his wife were getting “frisky”. She’s hollering & yelling, and he’s thinking “Oh yeah, I’m da man”… until she belts out “BILL, YOU-ARE-ON-MY-HAIR-GET-OFF”!!!

Our ability to laugh at ourselves or actions (in retrospect) is another one of Gods gifts. Jokes of a sexual nature are just a part of our coping with our own imperfection.

I like jokes just as much as the next guy but certain subjects about sex are between a husband and a wife . Dirty jokes and euphemisms are definitely out of the question. I say that anything that feels uncomfortable telling a priest or a nun would prove it unsuitable for me…I think that ‘sex talk’ should be reserved for the privacy of the bedroom or when the couple is alone with each other. The problem is that there are no boundaries on the air waves which is why I 've given up watching tv, and download what I want to watch ie. suitable for the family. You’d be surprised what else there is to do besides tv…there’s my two cents.

chico

 

[Dempsey1919]

It’s great to know that there are like minded people out there. For some time, I have noticed how much vulgarity there is on the television.

I think the homosexual undertones on television is terrible. Take this as an example, I was watching the Friday Night Project yesterday and some of the jokes were horrible. One of the presenters is gay and constantly makes jokes about homosexual acts and mores. Then there is Big Brother. Some of the things they get up to is just disgusting. I’m starting to think shows of this type are just an occasion of sin.

Do I need to lighten up? I mean, I try not to take things too seriously but some of these television shows promote lifestyles and attitudes that are not conductive to good morals.

Do I need to get a grip, or do you agree?

 

[Kevin42]

It’s great to know that there are like minded people out there. For some time, I have noticed how much vulgarity there is on the television.

I think the homosexual undertones on television is terrible. Take this as an example, I was watching the Friday Night Project yesterday and some of the jokes were horrible. One of the presenters is gay and constantly makes jokes about homosexual acts and mores. Then there is Big Brother. Some of the things they get up to is just disgusting. I’m starting to think shows of this type are just an occasion of sin.

Do I need to lighten up? I mean, I try not to take things too seriously but some of these television shows promote lifestyles and attitudes that are not conductive to good morals.

Do I need to get a grip, or do you agree?

I don’t see any reason to “lighten up”. I mean, almost everything on TV is junk, and alot of it IS offensive to a sensative conscience. There is no reason to really watch anything on TV besides EWTN because the rest is almost always trash. The more you stay away from it, the less you have to worry. Perhaps others can deal with some of the things on TV better than me, and they don’t really damage their spirituality. However, I seem to fall into sin noticeably more when I watch alot of TV or listen to alot of secular music. I have to take St. Paul very seriously when he says to “make no provision for desires of the flesh.”

 

[TerraChico]

Originally Posted by Dempsey1919 View Post
It’s great to know that there are like minded people out there. For some time, I have noticed how much vulgarity there is on the television.

I agree that tv has lost it’s “innocence” and which is why I spend my time doing and thinking other things more edifying. I don’t need any help from commercial tv and that is an area of my life I can cut out if I choose. I can’t tell you how much freedom it is not to watch television, especially when they use our Lord’s in name in vain constantly ( even in the commercials)…I got fed up with it! I watch whatever I think is suitable or is allowed by our Church. I’ve curtailed most of my “viewing” activiities and have streamlined my holier activities with friends and EWTN/Catholic Answers the like. My prayer life has greatly benefited as well! And no, I don’t think you have to lighten up , when afterall , they are the ones crossing the lines , and not just with us , but with God! I say any occasion to sin would be a opening for the devil to come in or a chance for our own desires to take over. No I don’t think your thinking is too hard, especially when more and more people are beginning to notice the decline of morality in society.
-my two cents

 

[StandUp4Truth]

I don’t agree with the OP’s assertion that all sexual jokes are a sin. How do you define a “sexual joke”? There are some purely innocent sexual jokes out there that I’ve heard from the mouths of nuns and priests, although I’ll admit that these are few and far between.

I don’t think all of them are sinful, I’ll give you an example and you can correct me if I’m wrong: My wife and I were visiting another couple who recently found out that they would be blessed with a child. We congratulated them and my wife asked if they were surprised to learn this news. The husband replied, “Well, we were trying to have a baby, but I just wish we could have tried a little longer!”

The above joke contained nothing explicit, yet it did have to do with procreation. Was it sinful? I highly doubt it.

On the other hand, most of the sexual jokes that fall into the category of dirty jokes can be very explicit, and I do believe they can cause damage to one’s soul. I think it really depends on the joke, you can’t just label all jokes having to do with human reproduction as sinful. If you did, this would include most of the Adam and Eve material that many priests rely on!

Human sexuality is a beautiful thing, and there’s nothing inherently evil in talking about it. It’s just another aspect of the human experience, and there are ways to joke about it without degrading it.