- Religious satire
Religious satire is a form of
satire targeted atreligion and religious practices.Examples of religious satire and satirists
* " [http://www.stallman.org/grav-mass.html Merry Grav-mass] " by
Richard Stallman
* " [http://www.sancairodicopenhagen.com/tbpmd.html The Banjo Players Must Die] " by Josef Assad
* "The Door (satirical Christian magazine) "
* [http://www.holyobserver.com The Holy Observer] is satirical Christian news and self-proclaims to be "God's #1 source for Christian news."
* The film "Life of Brian" byMonty Python
* The film "Dogma" byKevin Smith
* The film "Saved! " byBrian Dannelly
* The play "Tartuffe " byMolière .
* Several works byDouglas Adams contain examples of religious satire, particularly the "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy " anthology.
** Particularly well known is the story of acomputer created to determine "the ultimate answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything." After several million years of computation it arrived at the answer of 42.
** The sentient puddle was an analogy used in an extemporaneous speech, also included in the posthumously published "The Salmon of Doubt ".
* "", a novel byRobert A. Heinlein
* "The Simpsons " contains some examples of religioussatire .
* In the "Futurama " episode "A Pharoah to Remember ", a religious ceremony is depicted in which a priest chants "Great Wall of Prophecy, reveal to us God's Will, that we might blindly obey!," and celebrants answer, "Free us from thought and responsibility."
* "South Park " has satirizedChristianity ,Catholicism ,Mormonism ,Judaism ,Scientology ,Islam and other religions
* In "Drawn Together ", the characterPrincess Clara is a devout Christian who is often used to lampoon conservative Christian viewpoints.
* ""
*Voltaire
* "A Tale of a Tub " byJonathan Swift
* The controversial Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons
*Invisible pink unicorn : (IPU) is thegoddess of a satiricparody religion aimed at theistic beliefs, which takes the form of aunicorn that is paradoxically both invisible "and"pink . These attributes serve to satirize the apparent contradictions in properties which some attribute to a theistic God, specifically omniscience, omnipotence and omnibenevolence.
*Discordianism is aParody religion centered around the ancient Greco-Roman goddess of chaos, Eris, but drawing much of its tone fromZen Buddhism , Christianity, and thebeatnik andhippie countercultures of the 1950's and 1960's (respectively). Its main holy book, thePrincipia Discordia contains things such as a commandment to "not believe anything that you read", and a claim that all statements are both true and false at the same time.
* TheFlying Spaghetti Monster : (FSM) is aparody religion directed atintelligent design .
* TheChurch of the SubGenius pokes fun at many different religions, particularlyScientology ,Televangelism (and its associated scandals), and other modern beliefs.
* "John Safran vs God " was a satirical documentary mini-series on the Australian television network SBS in 2004.
* "" by Christopher Moore.
* The play "A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant "
*Saturday's Voyeur , a parody of life inUtah andMormon culture.
* "Jesus and Mo ", Jesus and Mohammed's body double comment on contemporary life
* "Holy Willie's Prayer ", Robert Burns Poem based on Willie Fisher during Gavin Hamilton's trials.
* "Sinfest ", an internet comic strip byTatsuya Ishida
* The kickass press's "Sex with THE Virgin Mary" by Charles Webb has Mary's virginity for sale on earth to be sold to the highest bidder.
* The "LOLCat Bible Translation Project ", awiki -based project by Martin Grondin.Criticism and censorship
Religious satire has been criticised by those who feel that sincerely held religious views should not be subject to ridiculeFact|date=February 2007. In some cases religious satire has been censored - for example, Molière's play "
Tartuffe " was banned in 1664.The film "
Life of Brian " was initially banned in Ireland, Norway, some states of the USA, and a few provinces of the United Kingdom. In an interesting case of life mirroring art, activist groups who protested the film during its release bore striking similarities to some bands of religious zealots within the film itself. [Dyke, C: "Screening Scripture", pp. 238-240. Trinity Press International, 2002] Like much religious satire, the intent of the film has been misinterpreted and distorted by protesters. According to the Pythons, "Life of Brian" is not a critique of religion so much as an indictment of the hysteria and bureaucratic excess that often surrounds it. [citeweb |title= The Secret Life of Brian |date= 2007 |url= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDCAJTrF1gg ]The issue of
freedom of speech was hotly debated by the UK Parliament during the passing of theReligious Hatred Bill in January 2006. Critics of the original version of the Bill (such as comedianRowan Atkinson ) feared that satirists could be prosecuted, but an amendment by theHouse of Lords making it clear that this was not the case was passed - by just one vote.Fact|date=October 2007In 2006, Rachel Bevilacqua, a member of the
Church of the SubGenius , known as Rev. Magdalen in the SubGenius hierarchy, lost custody and contact with her son after a district court judge took offense at her participation in the Church's X-Day festival.Notes
ee also
*
Anti-Catholic satire and humor
*Parody religion
*Freedom of speech versus blasphemy
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