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rug

(82,333 posts)
Sun Nov 11, 2012, 12:04 AM Nov 2012

My Take: What all those Jesus jokes tell us

Editor’s note: Edward J. Blum is a historian of race and religion at San Diego State University. Paul Harvey is a history professor at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and runs the blog Religion in AmericanHistory. They co-authored “The Color of Christ: The Son of God and the Saga of Race in America.”

By Edward J. Blum and Paul Harvey, Special to CNN

Did you ever hear the one about Jesus being Mexican? Well, he was bilingual; he was constantly harassed by the government; and his first name was Jesus.

Or, perhaps Jesus was Irish? He loved a good story; he never kept a steady job; and his last request was for a drink.

Or maybe it’s possible that Jesus was Californian? He never cut his hair; he was always walking around barefoot; and he started a new religion.

You may not have heard these Jesus jokes, but you’ve heard others. They represent a comedic trend that has animated the United States since the 1970s. More and more comedy gimmicks hit on Jesus, his ethnicity and his relationship to politics. Laughing with (and at) the Lord is now fodder for major motion pictures, barroom comedy tours, graphic novels, t-shirts and bumper stickers.

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/11/10/my-take-what-all-those-jesus-jokes-tell-us/

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My Take: What all those Jesus jokes tell us (Original Post) rug Nov 2012 OP
I always heard the "Irish Jesus" this way dflprincess Nov 2012 #1
This is my favorite. rug Nov 2012 #2
No, the reason you could tell Jesus was Jewish SheilaT Nov 2012 #3
Interesting historical perspective on this, but not a lot of substance to explain it's cbayer Nov 2012 #4

dflprincess

(28,057 posts)
1. I always heard the "Irish Jesus" this way
Sun Nov 11, 2012, 12:09 AM
Nov 2012

"He was always hangning out with the boys, he didn't have steady employment, he lived with his mother until he was 30 and she thought he was God."

 

SheilaT

(23,156 posts)
3. No, the reason you could tell Jesus was Jewish
Sun Nov 11, 2012, 01:28 AM
Nov 2012

was that he lived at home until he was thirty, his mother thought he was God, and he thought she was a virgin.

cbayer

(146,218 posts)
4. Interesting historical perspective on this, but not a lot of substance to explain it's
Sun Nov 11, 2012, 01:08 PM
Nov 2012

rise and acceptance.

I find some of the "humor" actually humorous when it is clever and makes a good point. Otoh, some of it is meant only to ridicule followers of Jesus, which is, well, generally only funny to anti-theists.

For example, I liked this one kpete posted yesterday:

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