(Ir)religiosity

Hmmmm. Not so much.

This is something that crosses my mind every now and again.  I’ve watched many an episode of South Park and I’ve seen my fair share of risque comedians, movies, and television shows.  And, I’ll be honest.  I laughed at the jokes.  We all have at some point.

But I wonder where — in our post-9/11 world, as the cliche goes — the line should be drawn.  How, if at all, do we distinguish between humor and the perpetuation of hurtful and racist stereotypes?  For what its worth, in drawing out this line of thinking, I’m not so much interested in political correctness as much as I am interested in the implicit promotion of fear mentality, xenophobia, and cultural jingoism.

I bring this up because I was disturbed — and, a little angered — when I read this article about Adam Sandler‘s new cult comedy, You Don’t Mess with the Zohan (ironically, the article is titled, “You Don’t Mess with the Racism”).  Now, to be honest I haven’t seen the movie (I guess I’m being that guy, who critizes something without having watched or read it) so I’m giving the author the benefit of a doubt. Read the rest of this entry »

Walter Brueggemann on Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Word. This guy knows his stuff and is arguably the definite scholar on the OT, especially the prophets.