Because sometimes, you cannot take it seriously

I love sarcasm. Many of you who read my blog will already know that. But I can wholeheartedly say that nothing brings me more joy than hearing or reading a brilliant *zing. It doesn't really matter if it's directed at a person, an organization, or a subculture; if it's a good one, I will laugh.

Myself, I'm a part of several types of groups that deserve to be made fun of on some level.

I'm a Librarian, for one. We deserve ridicule for our sensible shoes and our bad fashion (most of us, anyway--you should see what I'm wearing right now). We deserve to be mocked when we straighten everything in the Library and at home, on our desks and in our drawers (desk AND clothing drawers included in this comment).

I'm a Literary person. I prefer books to people most days of the week. I have written very bad poetry for years, which thankfully dried up after being forced to write so many stories and poems in my pursuit of a B.A. in creative writing (a degree I use 0% of the time). When I have nothing to do, you will find me reading. Whether online or a physical book, I'll be devouring words one way or another.

I'm a Christian. There are many, I could say myriad, reasons why Christians should be the butt of jokes. As an adolescent person, I had no sense of humor. So, when people ribbed my Christian-ness, I was always offended (I spent the majority of my develomental years being offended by everyone in my life--friend or foe, sibling or parent). In college, I had to get over that, because I found myself drowning in an ever-expanding sea of Christian subculture. If I hadn't been able to develop a sense of humor about the cliche and often ridiculous things that Christians say and do, I would have keeled over from overexposure. Or broken from the rigid lines of perfection and "we are perfect" mentality that I would have insisted were reality. By my senior year, I was mocking Christians more than joining them, which is okay, I think. It's part of spiritual development (no really, it is) and part of the whole owning up to the light and dark sides of my relationship with Jesus and the rest of Christianity. This year, however, my acceptance of all things redonk (short for ridiculous, or redonkulous) in the Christian realm has been fueled by a great blog I stole off of someone's Facebook comment: http://stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com/
I laugh at every new mini-essay the author, Jon, posts about Christian superficiality and the things we find ourselves doing and saying as a part of this subculture. I love it. I think everyone should read it.
So this is my plug for Stuff Christians Like.

These days, I try very hard to keep an open attitude toward sarcasm. I know sometimes it can be painful and sometimes inappropriate. I try to steer clear of those opportunities by biting my tongue, literally. It works, occasionally. If my wit ever does hurt your feelings, tell me. I don't like to embarrass or berate people. Mostly, I'm just searching for the funny or absurd. Those are my favorites.