Scott Tibbs
Jokes exist. Stop pretending otherwise.
By Scott Tibbs, March 4, 2024
A couple weeks ago, Jack Posobiec was "trending" because he promised to "overthrow democracy." Chaya Raichik of Libs Of Tiktok, meanwhile, is a "self-proclaimed stochastic terrorist." These two statements above are factually correct. But like many more factually correct statements one could make, those statements are also not true. You see, both Posobiec and Raichik were engaged in a novel practice that is apparently unknown to much of the political class and the news media: They were joking. Posobiec was poking fun at the rhetoric that conservatives are against democracy while Raichik was taking a label applied to her and owning it sarcastically.
Now, I do not think that many of the folks demonizing these two conservative "influencers" did not know they were joking. Some probably took them literally, sure, but most people are not unable to recognize jokes and sarcasm. They are lying. It is dishonorable to take a statement clearly intended as a joke and then pretend that it should be taken literally. In the end, it harms the "offended" people taking it literally more than it harms the person making the joke. The perpetually offended are seen as humorless scolds, because they are.
We should not pretend this only happens on the Left, though. Conservatives have also done this. And all of it needs to stop. It is no less dishonorable or shameful for a conservative to take a joke and pretend it was meant literally than for a Leftist to do it. Lying about someone is wicked. Scripture tells us
twice in Proverbs 6:16-19 that God hates lies, plus many other condemnations of dishonesty in Scripture.
People, just stop. Life does not have to be so serious all the time. There are plenty of real outrages in the world without fabricating an "outrage" from an obvious joke. Humor is one way we diffuse the tension when dealing with serious issues. Lightening the mood reduces anger and can even bring people together. Let people tell jokes. If you do not think it is funny, move on. Stop trying to make everyone else as miserable as you are. Who knows? Maybe you can start to appreciate humor and your life will be better.
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