Our Laughter Says More Than We're Willing To Admit

What we laugh about speaks of our values. I've been getting a deep conviciton about this, recently. And so I write as one learning the lesson, rather than one giving it.

Some friends told me about how a visiting foreign dignitary was annoyed when people laughed when he commented about the ill state of Philippine poverty, as if they treated the issue lightly. Why people found his comment worth laughing about isn't my point; it's that laughter struck a sensitive chord. Otherwise the dude wouldn't have been irritated.

Our laughter says more than we're willing to admit.

I sat in an auditorium recently and a priest was giving a good talk, save for a joke that made light of womens' body parts. Many in the crowd -- made up of committed charismatic Catholics -- laughed with him. I thought they felt permitted to do so because he was a priest. But it struck me that even among "committed" Christians, we've given in to treating holy things such as the human body lightly.

We don't give humor enough credit because it feels trivial to make such a big deal out of it. But society's condition is reflected in what its people find humorous. Laughter serves as an unguarded stamp of approval upon something said or done. It is very honest because when we laugh, we are often caught off-guard, startled into an impulse. Our true colors and honest pleasures show in our laughter.

When we laugh at others' shame, it goes to show what we think about their comfort or feelings; we consider their feelings worth taking lightly. Likewise, when we laugh about sexual impropriety, we unconsciously approve of levity in regards to sexuality, when we should consider sex sacred and of great importance. When we laugh at degrading jokes about peoples' body parts, figures and physical attributes, it goes to show how little we respect the human body and the great dignity God has given us, His image and likeness.

People who don't know me well might think that I'm being a serious prude, which couldn't be farther from the truth because I'm quite silly. I just think that we'd do well to think about what we find funny, and examine if its a symptom that we treat certain things with less respect or dignity than they deserve.

Laughter is social commentary. It is an impulse-driven stamp of approval. Like it or not, laughter is an honest expression of what we deem to be a light or weighty matter. Our laughter says more than we are willing to admit. Let's laugh about the right things.



Our mouths were filled with laughter; our tongues sang for joy. Then it was said among the nations, "The Lord had done great things for them." Psalm 126:2