Should Christians write satire?

Tek7

Tek7

CGA President, Tribe of Judah Founder & President
Staff member
If you've ever tried to write satire, you've probably realized that it's hard to do it well without being mean. Someone may have found a way to stay nice and write quality satire, but I'm not at that level yet.

After multiple facepalm-inducing inaccuracies in popular "news" media, I'm sorely tempted to write up some of my own "news" articles. Imagine the headlines: "Elebits teaches children to vandalize homes and throw pets." "Rayman Raving Rabbids features scenes of explicit animal abuse." And so on, and so forth.

My concern is this: Even if people are so blatantly daft that they may deserve to be satirized, is it permissible for us, as Christian writers, to do so?
 
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I would not think so. It kind of deretes the purpose of being one. But then again we are all entitled to our opinions.
 
God definitely has a sense of humor. There's nothing wrong with having some good clean fun. Just as long as you don't lie or say anything malicious. You can make fun of people and situations without being mean spirited or sinfull.
 
Here you go:
"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31

I think writing a healthy satire now and then shouldn't harm you. ;)
 
I would say satire about other christians is permissble.

I would have to say I was not so sure about satire about non-beleivers.

If calling the relegious sect a "brood of vipers" and "white washed" tombs is not satire, well then I don't know my Hebrew so good.
 
Imo... The best way to look at satire is as a tool to get your point across. Sometimes the only way to effectively make your point is to harshly point our errors in someone else's ideas. It's worth enlightening those otherwise in the dark how illogical and baseless some claims can be. Where I would say you get in trouble is if you start using that tool to jab the person, themself, or make your own claims about the person based on their argument. Then (even beyond Christian morals) you're committing a logical fallacy of your own (ad hominem). :rolleyes:

In conclusion, I say satire away!!

-Chadley
 
The bible doesn't say we can't write satire. There's no laws against it. I see no reason why not. You can think of it as a way to reach people in a different medium. Paul said he became a Jew to get the Jews, and he became under the law to get those under the law. Why not embrace satire to get those that embrace satire?
 
tjguitarz said:
The bible doesn't say we can't write satire. There's no laws against it. I see no reason why not. You can think of it as a way to reach people in a different medium. Paul said he became a Jew to get the Jews, and he became under the law to get those under the law. Why not embrace satire to get those that embrace satire?
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Well said.:)
 
My point of view is, what's wrong with being mean some of the time?

the Bible talks a lot about being compassionate and patient and loving others. Yet none of those qualities preclude one from being mean at times. In fact, to love someone, sometimes you will have to be mean to them.

as long as you're proverbially not kicking someone while they're down, I see no reason not to write a biting satirical commentary about such things.
 
Kidan said:
My point of view is, what's wrong with being mean some of the time?

the Bible talks a lot about being compassionate and patient and loving others. Yet none of those qualities preclude one from being mean at times. In fact, to love someone, sometimes you will have to be mean to them.

as long as you're proverbially not kicking someone while they're down, I see no reason not to write a biting satirical commentary about such things.
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Agreed...
But remember that there is a very fine line between funny and overboard (overboard seems to have many fine line boundaries...), and too close to that line is dangerous...
 
I personally write funny works (well, I certainly hope they're funny XD) but I personally am a big fan of satire. I think it'd be hard to write it without being mean, though. :(
 
The whole book of Philemon is based on Sarcasm. Paul is reminding Philemon of all he did for him while at the same time saying he won't mention all he did for him.

It is an attempt for Paul to say, you owe me so I want you to do what I am asking you to do.
 
Paul also satirizes his own life when he lists all his accomplishments in a "boasting" fashion but yet points out that it all amounts to nothing.

It's a good question, though, Tek7. If you are writing to destroy, I would say abstain. If you are writing to build up, or reveal, I would say go for it.

And "yourself" is always a good place to start the satire.

Edit: Great examples of Christians writing satire: "Gulliver's Travels" and "A Modest Proposal." The latter was so nasty that some people still think of Jonathan Swift as an inhumane monster a la Hitler yet he wrote it in defense of the Irish people.
 
Neirai the Forgiven said:
Edit: Great examples of Christians writing satire: "Gulliver's Travels" and "A Modest Proposal." The latter was so nasty that some people still think of Jonathan Swift as an inhumane monster a la Hitler yet he wrote it in defense of the Irish people.
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I loved A Modest Proposal. People who thought Swift was being serious are probably on the same level of intelligence as Kevin McCullough (the guy who claimed that Mass Effect is a multiplayer porn game).

I once wrote a short tribute to A Modest Proposal, suggesting we replace political speechwriters with machines. In the end, I argued, no one would be able to tell the difference. It was one of my better college assignments.
 
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