Author: Bernard Schweizer
Bernard Schweizer is a professor of English at Long Island University (Brooklyn). He has authored several books, including Hating God: The Untold Story of Misotheism and edited collections like Reading Heresy: Religion and Dissent in Literature and Art. Schweizer is currently putting the finishing touches on a book about religion and humor titled The Way, The Truth, and the Laugh: Humor’s Triumph in Christian Culture.
The Keys to Irreverent Comedy
After a lifetime spent reading great works of literature, I could not help finally facing the question of why religious topics were so frequently made the butt of jokes. Whether it was the works of Aristophanes or Homer, Ovid or Lucian, Boccaccio or Chaucer, Voltaire or Mark Twain, again and again I encountered great writers’ …
This article is available for free to all.Social Science Research Supports Free Speech Take on ‘Offensive’ Humor
“In a civilized society freedom to offend should be protected.” —Nigel Warburton Offensive humor has become a hot-button issue. Roseanne Barr tweets a racist joke (or was it a “joke”?) and is exiled to the wilderness. Daniel Tosh makes clumsy rape jokes and unleashes a social-media firestorm. Michelle Wolf mocks President Trump and the partisan …
This article is available for free to all.