Started as a site to poke fun at the Christian subculture Twitter suspended The Babylon Bee's account on March 22, Read more

Richard Hunter, communications director for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Pacific region has questioned why Mormons were frequently the butt of jokes about religious groups.

"The opportunity for the offence is everywhere but the razor-sharp satire never feels cruel in its attacks," says the New Zealand Herald's entertainment reporter, Ethan Sills.

By targeting every taboo with the same ceaseless disregard, Mormon manages - just - to get away with its unhinged mockery,"

Sills says that it feels like a divine miracle that something as infectiously funny and uproariously entertaining as The Book of Mormon exists.

"Leave your morals at home, open your mind and settle in for what is undoubtedly the funniest musical this century. So far."

"It is "almost impossible not to be offended by the Book of Mormon," Emily Brooks the writer of an opinion piece on stuff believes.

"It's offensive. It's very, very funny, but it's offensive," she says.

Brookes says the musical's target is less specifically Mormonism than fundamentalism.

These are parodied most explicitly in the song I Believe: "I believe that God lives on a planet called Kolob/I believe that Jesus has his own planet as well/And I believe that the Garden of Eden was in Jackson County, Missouri,"

"The song's refrain runs: "I am a Mormon/And a Mormon just believes."

"Swap out "Mormon" for "Jew" or "Muslim" and it works just as well, says Brooks.

"Every religion requires a level of blind faith from its followers; Catholics believe in transubstantiation, Buddhists believe in reincarnation."

"Imagine if a play that was a satire and a parody and in the same vein as this one was based on Judaism or Islam or Catholicism or Anglicanism," he said.

"Would people react (in) the same way? I just think it's an interesting thought as to why we're kind of a little bit of an easy target."

"Dealing with parody and satire is always a tricky thing for churches," writes Michael Otterson, "We can easily appear thin-skinned or defensive, and churches sometimes are. "

"Somewhere I read that the show's creators spent seven years writing and producing "The Book of Mormon" musical. As I reflected on all that time spent parodying this particular target,

I also wondered what was really going on with Mormons in Africa during those same seven years.

The Book of Mormon has cut short its first New Zealand run in Auckland, effective immediately because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• nzherald.co.nz
• newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org
• Image: mormonwiki.com

The Catholic News Agency (CNA) says they have found him and he lives in New Zealand.

CNA's Joe Slama tweeted: "After months of mystery, the author of the account agreed to step out of the shadows and reveal his identity."

He is Samuel Harris, a stay-at-home father of three and a graduate student living in the Bay of Plenty.

In addition to @VaticanGoogles, he also tweets as himself under @SamHarrisStory.

After CNA traced @VaticanGoogles to Harris, he agreed to a chat and to allow his identity to be revealed.

He is studying creative writing and had been trying to think of a gimmick for a parody.

Inspired by another popular account, "Aus Gov Just Googled" (referring to the Australian government),
he initially tried to make a New Zealand version of the same.

He frames his posts as hypothetical and humorous Google searches from somewhere in Rome.

"The setup is already done, the joke work is done with the name of the account, so then in the body of the tweet you're cutting straight to the punch line."

He told CNA he's "having a laugh, and if other people like it, that's great."

Harris carefully describes his angle as "gently affectionate satire."

"I wanted it to have a bit of bite" when he was developing the account's approach, he said, particularly in light of the scandals.

He made clear that he loves the Church, adding that "what you love most is also what you criticise," he said.

And along the way, "I hope that there's a few well-aimed punches that land."

"The lofty aim of satire is a corrective cultural form."

Source

• catholicnewsagency.com
• twitter.com
• Image: twitter.com

Stamping of feet and shouting of slogans - unity - is a woefully inadequate response.

We are not Charlie

We are not Charlie, and we need to explain why.

Soon after the tragic event in Paris I was reading the coming Sunday's gospel reading and was struck with how different our Christian understanding of unity is from that of French politics.

The passage described the emergence of the first disciples.

They stood out from the crowd through their recognition of who Jesus is which they expressed with titles: Lamb of God, Rabbi, Teacher, Messiah, Christ, the anointed one, Son of God (Jn. 1:35-42).

The titles are not rewards or achievements.

In fact they point beyond Jesus to an external source of authority which lay outside Jesus himself; the Father in heaven (cf. Mt. 28: 18).

Why is this important?

It reminds us that unity is not achieved through slogans, policy statements, or decrees.

It also reminds us that unity is not primarily about uniformity or conformity let alone assimilation.

True unity in fact respects diversity and places within a dynamic of dialogue widely differing values.

How?

By recognizing that the source or principle of unity lies beyond individuals or groups or nations in God the Creator, in whose image and likeness every man and woman is created and endowed with inviolable dignity.

An authentic understanding of unity is of particular importance in an increasingly globalized society.

Most migrant communities are "welcomed" because of a perceived economic advantage to the host country.

Often the welcome is accompanied by a twist of exploitation, and exaggerated individualism and nationalism emerge as the doomed principles of unity or integration. Think of seasonal workers in NZ who are legally paid below the minimum wage and welcome only for certain months of the year.

And in Europe, Muslim migrant workers and their families are being welcomed as long as they adopt European values (whatever that means) with the implication in France being that freedom of speech is far more important than respect for a religious leader or a religious community's sensibilities.

Satire has its place; but it's not an absolute right

The right to freedom of speech is certainly a good to be cherished and protected. And, yes, satire does have a long and even noble tradition in the pursuit of democracy.

Think of the conscience and satire characters in 15 th and 16th century morality plays, or the role of the Jester in many of Shakespeare's works.

But freedom of speech is not an absolute right.

Freedom of speech sits within something beyond itself, something deeper, something truly unifying, namely, the principle of the common good, which stands at the heart of Catholic Social Teaching.

Liberte, égalité, fraternité

This it seems French President Monsieur Francois Hollande and the je suis charlie campaigners do not understand or certainly do not accept liberte, égalité, fraternité , are not in the first instance political achievements or legislators' milestones (cf. Book of Wisdom chapter 6).

Rather, liberte, égalité, fraternité , stem from the inherent God given dignity of every man and women which corresponds in every human being to a duty to respect and desire the common good of society; something which transcends individual, group and even national interests.

The principle of the common good places rights, like the freedom of speech, and goals, like unity, in correlation with duties by which every person is called to assume responsibility for his or her choices made always in relation with others in the community in which we live.

• What contribution does crass mockery (hardly satire) make to the freedom, equality, and community of everyone?
• What common good is served by arrogant provocation of the Parisian Muslim community many of whose members are already suffering from sub-standard housing and unemployment?
• What kind of leaders exploit a tragic and violent event in the community for individual political self- interest?

Among others parading on the streets of Paris were political leaders from Egypt, Turkey, Russia, and United Arab Emirates which according to the organization 'Reporters Without Borders' are ranked (out of 180) 159th, 154th, 148th, and 118th for press freedom of speech.

Tui's billboard writers might well have something satirical to say about that. And vive our National and Diocesan interreligious faith groups and commissions who drawing on the treasure of our social teaching endeavour to help build authentic unity in our multicultural land.

+ Charles Drennan
Bishop of Palmerston North
Originally appeared in Welcom and submitted to CathNews by + Charles

A law firm in the German city of Bonn was contracted to act for the Pope against Titanic magazine for front and back covers that, in the words of a spokesman for the Catholic Bishops' Conference, "overstepped every measure of decency".

A state court in Hamburg issued a temporary injunction against the magazine, banning the magazine from distributing the issue any further or allowing the covers to be published on the Internet.

The German magazine sued by the Pope had satirical covers that referred to the recent Vatican scandal in which private papers were leaked to the Italian media.

On the front cover of Titanic, an apparently incontinent Pope Benedict appears in a cassock that is soiled yellow below the waist. Above the picture is the headline "Hallelujah in the Vatican: The leak has been found!"

On the back cover the Vatileaks satire continues, with the Pope shown from behind, this time with brown stains on his cassock. A headline reads "Another leak sourced!"

Titanic editor-in-chief Leo Fischer contested claims that the pictures damage the Pope's personal rights. He said they merely show that the Pope spilled his drink when celebrating with a glass of soda after the Vatileaks scandal was solved.

"Everyone knows that the Pope is a big fan of Fanta," Fischer said.

He expressed disappointment with the Hamburg court ruling, but said his magazine is prepared for a long court battle.

Titanic's website now shows the issue with its Vatileaks satire blacked out. A new front cover depicts a stain-free Pope clasping two foaming bottles of Fanta. The new headline reads "Titanic banned — Pope overcome with joy!"

Sources:

Spiegel Online

The Independent

Image: The Independent

This longest-running cartoon series on American prime-time network television since 1989 recounts the animated adventures of Homer Simpson and his lower-middle class family who live in the city of Springfield. The father, Homer, is a lazy, unintelligent, beer-drinking safety inspector for the local nuclear power plant at the fictional city of Springfield. Marge, his wife, is a somewhat spacey woman with a huge beehive hairstyle and Bart, their ten-year old son, is a borderline juvenile delinquent. Lisa, the middle child, is a gifted, sensitive and perceptive saxophone player. Maggie is the voiceless toddler, observing all while sucking her pacifier. In addition there are other equally dysfunctional members of the community.

Though the program first appeals to children because the cartoons are immensely funny, like Dean Swift's Gulliver's Travels it is a biting satire on reality. One of the program's writers comments: "We're really writing a show that has some of the most esoteric references in television…We're writing it for adults and intelligent adults at that."

Thus, it is richly laced with satire, sarcasm, irony, and caricature as the authors seek to expose reality as it is, namely chaotic and violent. Hypocrisy, the incompetence of pop psychology, modern child-rearing, commercialism, consumerism, fundamentalism in religion, environmental abuse, corporate greed and deceits of American education are all uncovered in stark and often parodied ways. Homer tells his daughter Lisa that it is quite alright to steal things "from people you don't like." Reverend Lovejoy lies to Lisa about the contents of the Bible to succeed in an argument. There are plenty of disreputable characters in Springfield, but the most loathsome is Mr Burns, the owner of a nuclear power-plant and a cruel example of the worst form of contemporary neo-capitalism. Speaking to a group of school children he said: "Family, religion, friendship: these are the three demons you must slay if you wish to succeed in business."

The spectacular emphasis on violence is especially evident in the television show that Lisa and Bart regularly enjoy, namely "The Itchy and Scratchy Show". The interaction between a cat and mouse is not confined to slapstick mixed with a little violence, but the violence goes to extremes of stark gruesomeness.

The creators of The Simpsons get away with it because it is in the form of a cartoon and, more particularly, because viewers condone violence in many areas of contemporary life. The writers know this and are focused on mirroring back to their audiences what society has come to accept as normal, namely that violence is condoned even for children provided it does not affect the interests of individual viewers. Bart says to Lisa at one point, when she is becoming squeamish about the violence they see on television: "If you don't watch the violence, you'll never get desensitised to it." The show appears to condone in comedic form pervasive and blatant violence, such as bullying in all its ghastly forms, but in fact it is morally critiquing the social, capitalistic and physical brutality that American (and others) people accept as normal. Yet, unlike much contemporary literature and films, this series, while accepting the evil in the world, recognizes that people are capable of goodness at times.

While uncovering hypocrisy in religion, it recognizes the indisputable role it has in American life. Homer does go to Church and he speaks to God from time to time, but his image of God is rather confused. God for Homer is like a parachute that he hopes he will never have to open, but he needs God just in case. Homer's God is a more forgiving and compassionate than the God of Homer's local minister. Lisa and her mother Marge at times do become the social conscience of the family and others (including viewers), reminding them that in the midst of a neo-capitalist world of greed the fundamental virtues of compassion and justice can and should be lived.

________________________________________

Gerald A. Arbuckle, sm, is the author of Laughing with God: Humor, Culture, and Transformation. Foreword by Jean Vanier (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2008).