I wonder why you don't hear many jokes about Buddhists and other less familiar religions. But people make jokes about Catholics and Jews and Mormons all the time. Is it because Buddhism just isn't funny? What makes it okay to make fun of a religious group? What makes a religious group funny? Do we make jokes because we're comfortable with a certain group or because we're uncomfortable with it? If the latter, does this mean that Buddhists are non-threatening? If the former, do we not have many Buddhist jokes because few of us are familiar with the religion?
(The odd thoughts that run through Jenny's mind) Posted by celia60 (Member # 2039) on :
a zen buddhist says to a hotdog vendor: make me one with everything.
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
Its hard to make a good joke about something you don't know about.
What would a Buddhist Joke be? I wore a leather jacket into the Buddhist Monestary. The priest came up to me and said he had a beef with my choice of attire. Then he paused, thougth it over and said he didn't know if he was mad at me or worshipped me.
Posted by A Rat Named Dog (Member # 699) on :
That's Hinduism. Which explains our problem with Buddhist jokes Posted by aretee (Member # 1743) on :
quote: Its hard to make a good joke about something you don't know about.
I guess "good joke" is the key phrase. I've heard many bad jokes about religion from people who have no idea what they're talking about.
And, a Rat Named Dog just made my next point. Thanks. Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
Most of the religious jokes I know exclusivley use Heaven and Hell, which always makes for good fun. Eastern religions don't have anything similar to that concept (or similar enough to make jokes), maybe that's it.
Hobbes Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote: a zen buddhist says to a hotdog vendor: make me one with everything.
He hands over a five. The vendor hands him his hotdog, but no money. "What about my change?"
"Change comes from within."
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Well, there is a series of "Zen Judaism" koans (I think that's what they're called?), but they more poke at Judaism (or Jewish culture) than at Zen Buddhism.
[ October 10, 2003, 03:41 PM: Message edited by: rivka ]
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
There's a Hatracker on a mission right now who declared himself a Zen Mormon.
Posted by Morbo (Member # 5309) on :
"Change comes from within." I've never heard that follow up to the hot dog joke, I like it.
Hobbes is right, Heaven and Hell make an ideal vehicle for jokes.
Speaking of vehicles and Heaven, here's one a homeless alcholic told me.
Three best friends are killed in a terrible car crash. When they get to Heaven St. Peter tells them their wheels in Heaven will be determined by their fidelity to their spouses.
After several days, the review of their marital infidelity is final. The friend who never cheated on his wife gets a chauffered stretch Hummer to tool around in. He invites the second friend, who had one brief affair and received a VW Rabbit, to drive around Heaven in his limo.
Soon they come upon their 3rd friend, a notorious skirt-chaser who was widowed before the accident, sobbing on the side of the road next to a beat-up old Chevette. "Awww, sorry buddy, looks like you got what you deserved though. Come for a ride in my limo, it'll cheer you up," says the first friend.
"You don't understand--sure I deserve a crappy car. But I just saw my wife go by on roller-skates!!"
[edit:Kat that Ghandi joke is priceless--best word-play joke I've seen in a long while. I bet Moose would love it.]
[ October 10, 2003, 04:29 PM: Message edited by: Morbo ]
Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
Seems I recall a joke I heard a long time ago that managed to poke fun at both Unitarians and Jehovah's Witnesses...
But I don't recall it that well - sound familiar to anyone?
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
A Hindu joke:
Mahatma Ghandi walked barefoot everywhere, to the point that his feet became quite thick and hard.
He also was quite a spiritual person.
Even when he was not on a hunger strike, he did not eat much and became quite thin and frail.
Furthermore, due to his diet, he had bad breath...
He came to be known as a super calloused fragile mystic plagued with halitosis.
[ October 10, 2003, 04:23 PM: Message edited by: katharina ]
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
Perhaps you don't know many Buddhism/Hindu/Other jokes because you don't associate with a lot of Buddhists/Hindus/Whatevers? Not being sarcastic, just pointing out that you're more likely to hear jokes that affect your circle of influence, otherwise there's not much point in telling them or remembering them.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
"a zen buddhist says to a hotdog vendor: make me one with everything."
Thank you! I couldn't remember that joke, but I knew there was one rattling around in my brain.
I wonder if it is THE Buddhist joke?
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Ha! You guys are quick.
Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
quote: I wonder why you don't hear many jokes about Buddhists and other less familiar religions. But people make jokes about Catholics and Jews and Mormons all the time.
Because, in America, presidents don't pander to the Buddhist agenda to get elected.
In America, representatives of Buddhism aren't invited to the White House the way, say, Falwell or Pat Robertson has been.
In America, Buddhists don't have trillions of dollars in assets with which to influence people. They don't own whole networks.
In America, Buddhists don't 'force' their views on other people through politics.
Put simply, Buddhists and the other small or tiny religions are insignificant to people because they don't really have an effect on them. Christians are a major force socially and politically in this country and thus are going to be the target of jokes.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
Speaking of Mormon jokes, I was just wondering how many non-members would get this:
Why it's easier to go to the temple than to BYU
10 The Temple won't make you go home and shave. 9 You only get interviewed every other year. 8 Always enough parking. 7 Finished construction 100 years ago. 6 Temple workers won't get in trouble if everyone passes. 5 Temple wants you to come back year after year after year... 4 Temple cost the same every year: 10% 3 The final exam in the temple isn't for a very long time yet. 2 The temple doesn't care where you live. 1 If you can't go yourself, someone else will do the work for you.
[ October 10, 2003, 05:02 PM: Message edited by: katharina ]
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Well, no said they wanted to see the Jewish Zen stuff. But OTOH, no one said they didn't.
Hmm. I'll post my favorite one, and y'all can follow these for more, if you like.
quote: Whenever you feel anger, you should say, "May I be free of this anger!" This rarely works, but talking to yourself in public will encourage others to leave you alone.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
*laugh*
rivka, the first site was blocked for me. What was on it? Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
*jaw drops* Yikes, did I paste that wrong? It's just more of the same. No images, nothing.
Hmm, it works for me. It's just text, too. *scratches head in puzzlement*
Posted by JonnyNotSoBravo (Member # 5715) on :
posted for Katharina, because blocking has to be against the first amendment (and it's not like there's porn or anything on the site).
"JEWISH ZEN Sent by Jennie Kramer on July 7, 2003
JEWISH ZEN
*Take only what is given. Own nothing but your robes and an alms bowl. Unless, of course, you have the closet space.
*Let your mind be as a floating cloud. Let your stillness be as the wooded glen. And sit up straight. You'll never meet the Budhha with posture like that.
*There is no escaping karma. In a previous life, you never called, you never wrote, you never visited. And whose fault was that?
*Wherever you go, there you are. Your luggage is another story.
*Do not let children play contact sports like football. These only lead to injuries and instill a violent, war-like nature. Encourage your child to play peaceful games, like "sports doctor."
*To practice Zen and the art of Jewish motorcycle maintenance, do the following: get rid of the motorcycle. What were you thinking?
*Learn of the pine from the pine. Learn of the bamboo from the bamboo. Learn of the kugel from the kugel.
*Be aware of your body. Be aware of your perceptions. Keep in mind that not every physical sensation is a symptom of a terminal illness.
*If there is no self, whose arthritis is this?
*Those who know do not kibbitz. Those who kibbitz do not know.
*Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Forget this and attaining Enlightenment will be the least of your problems.
*Do not kvetch. Be a kvetch. Become one with your whining.
*The Tao has no expectations. The Tao demands nothing of others. The Tao does not speak. The Tao does not blame. The Tao does not take sides. The Tao is not Jewish.
*Whenever you feel anger, you should say, "May I be free of this anger!" This rarely works, but talking to yourself in public will encourage others to leave you alone.
*Drink tea and nourish life. With the first sip, joy. With the second, satisfaction. With the third, Danish.
*The Buddha taught that one should practice lovingkindness to all sentient beings. Still, would it kill you to find a nice sentient being who happens to be Jewish?
*Enter into your inner self and behold the eye of the soul. Gaze upon your original face before you were even born. Shocked? Remember, this was before the nose job.
*Be patient and achieve all things. Be impatient and achieve all things faster.
*In nature, there is no good or bad, better or worse. The wind may blow or not. The flowering branch grows long or short. Do not judge or prefer. Ask only, "Is it good for the Jews?"
*To Find the Buddha, look within. Deep inside you are ten thousand flowers. Each flower blossoms ten thousand times. Each blossom has ten thousand petals. You might want to see a specialist.
*Be here now. Be someplace else later. Is that so complicated?
*Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have?"
Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
How many Zen Buddhists does it take to change a lightbulb?
Two: One to change the lightbulb, and one NOT to change the lightbulb.
Yesterday an atheist witness knocked on my door and said: "Uh, Nothing."
Changed my life.
Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
I like this Glenn Arnold fellow. Posted by wieczorek (Member # 5565) on :
quote: Is it because Buddhism just isn't funny?
I would say it's because Buddhism seems more reasonable (to me) and realistic than other religions. Buddhism doesn't involve an mysterious meeting with any "god", and Buddha isn't a personal name, it's a title that means, "awakened", "enlightened". Buddhism is the worshipping of a Buddha - someone who is omnicient and knows all. This seems, to me, realistic when compared to other religions requiring you to believe in a god.
I think it's funny to joke about things you find impractical.
[ October 10, 2003, 10:09 PM: Message edited by: wieczorek ]
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
kat--I got the BYU/Temple joke. Posted by Maccabeus (Member # 3051) on :
I must go look up the Theophilus comics and post a link...
Theophilus used to appear in a lot of our bulletins, but over the last few years the comic has been going in a direction many people don't like. It's been a long time since I've seen him other than on this site.
[ October 11, 2003, 07:10 AM: Message edited by: Maccabeus ]
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
*shudder* I have to admit, Mac, that those Theophilus ones elicit little more than blank stares from me; they're like the "B.C." comics about Jesus that always run around major Christian holidays, but never actually contain amusing jokes.
Posted by Maccabeus (Member # 3051) on :
Hmm. I was afraid of that. I find some of them funny, but even those are mostly "insider" jokes.
A professor and historian--I forget his name at the moment--wrote about an interview the students had given him a few years back. At the end of it, the interviewing student asked him to tell the readers something funny about the churches of Christ. He thought for a while--asked that the recorder be turned off--thought a while longer--and finally admitted that he couldn't think of _anything_ funny about the churches of Christ. (Kind of a funny story in itself.)
As he pointed out, we tend to take our faith with deadly seriousness. A sizable portion of us just don't have much sense of humor--at least not about our religion. What humor writing we do have tends to be satire, and more about other churches than ourselves.
Also, after carefully studying the site, the early, more humorous cartoons seem not to be there anymore (though I may have missed them). I suppose perhaps God told him to take them down. [/sarcasm]
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Eastern religions don't have anything similar to that concept (or similar enough to make jokes), maybe that's it.![[ROFL]](graemlins/rofl.gif)
I've never heard that follow up to the hot dog joke, I like it.![[Evil Laugh]](graemlins/evillaugh.gif)
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