God's Pottery Part 2

Well at least they wear their virginity rocks shirt in public. Seriously I saw that all over the festivals and wondered aloud is there any one of these kids that would wear that anywhere else?

Mocking Jesus is something that you "personally don't find funny"?

Why can't you just say that mocking Jesus is wrong?

Hi, Chris! I'll see if I can clarify my comment. In addition to my work here at Beliefnet I'm also managing editor at the Christian humor site, www.NewChristianVoices.com, so I spend a lot of time thinking about this balance between irreverence and funny.

Mocking the Christian community means poking fun at the way we interact with each other or focusing on differences in behavior. For example, this joke from "The Prairie Home Companion Pretty Good Joke Book": "Jews don't recognize Jesus, Protestants don't recognize the Pope, and Baptists don't recognize each other in the liquor store." The joke being the fact that some Baptists drink but don't admit it. Yes, drinking is a legitmate doctrinal issue open for discussion, but it's not the crux of the faith.

Mocking Jesus is totally different, and yes, I would say not only not funny but wrong. Here's another from the same joke book that I don't think is funny and I think mocks the core of my Christian faith: "What's the difference between Jews and Christians? ... Jews get really angry, but Christians just get a little cross." It's a witty play on words, but to me, the cross and Christ's sacrifice are at the heart of my faith. And that sacrifice isn't something to mock.

What I find funny about God's Pottery is that they're really just giving back to us what we put out there. Yes, I agree that abstinence is the best way, but unless you understand the Christian faith it can sound absurd to the rest of the world. Their other song, A Brand New Start WIth Christ, is more on the edge for me. That's a lot closer to mocking the heart of the faith.

But they were just very witty in their interactions with everyone else on the show, in situations that didn't have anything to do with faith. That's why I enjoyed them on that last episode.

As for references in the Bible, the first that comes to mind is when Elijah is with the prophets of Baal and they're trying to call down fire. Elijah suggests to them that maybe their god is "on a journey," which I've read was an ancient euphamism equivilent to us saying, "in the bathroom." He was essentially poking fun at them. And let's not forget one of my favorite moments: Baalam's talking donkey. I really do think God has a sense of humor.

I hope that helps, Chris!
Joanne

christians seriously need to take the stick out of their butts and have a sense of humor. these guys are being relevant in the most unique way you could ever be: by being completely irrelevant. to a non beleive we are loony, stuck up fanatics with no sense of humor. the reason for that is that there are people like you out there chris. weather these guys are beleivers or not they will reach more people in the world than any trac or street corner witnessing could ever do. and honestly i dont beleive they mock christ in anyway. i saw something on l.a. ink a few months back that really hit it home for me. the lead singer of the christian metal band, as i lay dying (they play ozzfest and cornerstone)got a tatoo of jesus playing a crazy riff on a flying v, and the way he explained it was, " this is what jesus would be doing if he were here, thats what he did when he was here 2,000 years ago. he hung out with the scum of the earth. the prostitutes, tax collectors, and the theives, and in todays culture thats what metal is." all this relegious crap just pisses me off. too many christians are sitting in their churches teaching that the world is terrible and evil yet they do nothing about it. they go home say their prayers and turn on point of grace. doesnt the bible say to be in the world and not of it? that is the number one problem with christians today everyone is too scared to do anything about the problems around them. us conservatives are against welfare and helthcare but yet we sit in our pews and watch widows starve. its our responsibility to do something as the church. not some washed up rockstar, movie star, or our government. so get out of your pew and go and do something about this sick world we live in, and leave guys alone like gods pottery who are simply showing the world how christians are not stuck up bible thumpers that care only about forcing the beleifs on the world.

I feel bad. I'm a christian, and I first episode with God's Pottery that I saw was the elimination one. I saw their "positive interaciton" in the house and their "positive" "your mama jokes" and I was like yay these guys are turning things around. I got sorta worried when they showed the clips of their performance, which seemed like mockery to me. So I then got mad. But i'm kinda angry with myself that I didnt realize it from the beginning. I dunno. Like even when they said they dont gamble except on Jesus I was like, "yeah! Although I wouldn't say I ever gambled on him, but we've won!" Which now i think is bad cus they were mocking him, but the fact is we christians are correct. They may try and mock and satirize our belief but we know what we have is gold and is precious. I dunno, im stil bummed though that i didnt realize it til the song and some googling but im gonna be more careful about people taking the Lord's name in vain.