As is with many other books I've read for Introduction to Political Philosophy, Democracy in America blew my mind, offering a different perspective on the relationship between state and religion. It had always been deeply ingrained in my mind that church and state should be very separated. Yet, in Democracy in America, Tocqueville portrays religion as a facilitator of democracy. Now that I have let down my previous notions, it kind of make sense. That's the thing about religion- it influences believers and society in so many different ways- some overt, and some discrete. To look at religion from another perspective, what do religion-related TFLNs tell us about the role of religion in America?
(215): i got kicked out of Barns and Nobles cuz i put all the bibles in the fiction section
This text probably comes off as disrespectful to people who do follow the bible. Do only non-believers find this funny? Yet if people still laughed, they will have proven Tocqueville, who claimed that in America there is a moral "tyranny of the majority" so that there were only believers and people who pretend to believe. Does laughing at this joke mean that we have surpassed that? In some ways, it does. There are multitudes of beliefs in America and moreover, freedom of expression (or is that just an illusion, according to Tocqueville). Some people might find it disrespectful and wrong. Some people might find religion to be off limits for jokes. Some might just find it funny. At the same time, in our contemporary society, there is still the concept of political correctness, which imposes a social etiquette and unspoken rules about what is socially acceptable and what is not. But even these standards are stretched because uploaded on the TFLN website, this is suppose to be a source of humor. This goes back to the concept that humor provides a medium almost immune from criticism (in most cases) about being politically correct. Consequently, in this comfort zone of humor, people can laugh at potentially disrespectful material just because they think it's funny. On the other hand, we have unknowingly validated Tocqueville. If we felt that we need the comfort zone to escape political correctness, then there is a "moral tyranny of majority" that wields influence over our judgments about how to act.
Having already established this comfort zone, I found this joke to be similar to be a remote cousin of the sucker joke because it reminded me of Scully Bradley's idea that American humor is anti-romantic in that it taking down illusions. (This could just be because I'm not a believer. Forgive me, if I have offended you). By putting all the Bibles in the fiction section, the person is essentially saying to believers that everything in the Bible was made up. Even though illusion is not the right word to describe the situation, the action still follows the style of puncturing a vision, or just a firmly held belief.
(513): You tried to wear your Jesus costume into Family Christian stores and say it was a book signing.
Similar in its hint of disrespectfulness, this joke also pokes fun at religion. After all, religion is all about the spiritual experience and way of life which has to come from within. Yet, if this person just puts on a Jesus costume, which is this superficial and probably exaggerated, he undermines (admittedly in a humorous way) everything religion stands for. In essence, the person in the costume is mocking the Family Christian store and all the people in it.
P.S. While writing another post, I re-read The Rise and Fall of American Humor. While discussing topics of American humor, Biers mentioned conformism and also that "the pieties of religion suffere steady attack." While these could be unrelated as there undoubtly are a variety of religions in American, atheists are still in the minority. I wonder America's affection for mocking conformism and appreciation for uniqueness that also contributes to the humor of these race jokes. Because in both of the jokes, the pranksters are mocking religion in a setting where religion, if not promoted, is respected.
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