Re: Hustler v. Falwell

Is it true Christians don't have a sense of humor?

In my communications law class on Wed., we talked about some foundational Supreme Court cases, among them (because it’s one of my favorites), Hustler v. Falwell, a 1988 decision where august justices decided that a pornographer’s right to poke fun at a minister was more important than that minister’s hurt feelings.

At issue was the ad, below which ran in Hustler magazine (which was known as a poor man’s Playboy) in November 1983.

If you’ll recall, the Rev. Jerry Falwell was the force behind the Moral Majority, and Larry Flynt was the pornographer with a heart, as he characterized himself, who took great delight in puncturing hypocrisy wherever he found it.

He was also a great defender of the First Amendment.

It’s big fun to talk about this court case, which has been pivotal in protecting the satirists and political cartoonists and the rest of us, too. After class, as we were all packing up, a student mentioned as an aside that Christians could do with a better sense of humor.

I agree. I’m not all that great a Christian, but I am baptized and I like to think that I have a sense of humor. While I don’t necessarily laugh at jokes about a minister having drunken sex in an outhouse with his mother, I appreciate people’s right to share such jokes.

So here is my attempt to score a few for our team, using topical Jesus memes that made me laugh.

We are TOO funny:

Glory!