Does Ridicule Have a Place in Catholic Discourse?
Last week I commented on the blog of a popular Catholic apologist when he seemed to ridicule Vice President Biden. Though it appears I misunderstood his blog post, the comment began a brief discussion about the place of ridicule in public discourse. I wrote, “I’d like Biden out of office, too, but not by ridiculing him out. Let’s raise our level of discourse and not lose our souls to gain the whole world.” Here is what he had to say in response:
…I guess I have to disagree with you about the ridicule aspect. He certainly is worthy of ridicule, and given his egregious antics and un-Catholic behavior while in office, I believe it’s well worth drawing attention to that.
Can anyone be worthy of ridicule? If we as Catholics believe in the inherent dignity of the human person, how can we also believe that someone deserves to be mocked or made fun of? As a junior high teacher in a Catholic school, I deal with teasing, mocking and ridiculing all the time. No one is “worthy of ridicule,” even if, according to this apologist, the Church Fathers were “masters at using satire, ridicule and mockery as rhetorical tools to both rebuke the wayward and warn the faithful.”
Satire is different than mockery and has its place. Mockery and ridicule, however, exist for the sole purpose of denigrating an individual, and as such are antithetical to the Good News. The Church Fathers may have used these methods, but perhaps they also asked God to forgive them for resorting to such tactics.
On June 3, 2010, Bishop Gabino Zavala, Chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Communications Committee gave an excellent address titled “What Does it Mean to Be a Faithful Catholic Media Organization in the 21st Century?” In his address, Bishop Zavala describes three qualities the bishops expect from a Catholic media organization when it tells “difficult stories”:
- “Speak the truth in love.”
- “Proceed with humility and civility.”
- “Present Church teaching fairly and accurately.”
I am concerned that the first two expectations are being so overlooked that the last characteristic is rendered irrelevant. If Catholic bloggers and news organizations do not speak with love, humility or civility, the gospel will not be heard. Resorting to angry diatribes or mocking those who disagree with our views flies in the face of Christ’s teaching to “turn the other cheek.”
I have been guilty of standing on the sidelines and letting uncivil, hubristic articles, blog posts, Facebook updates and tweets take place. I do not intend to stand quietly by any longer. When I see mockery or ridicule from Catholic bloggers, or on sites like Facebook and Twitter, I plan on politely but firmly asking the writer to change their approach.
No doubt some people will see this as naive or idealistic, and they will say that Christianity needs bold witnesses, or that we need to fight fire with fire. But the end never justifies the means, and we can be prophets without denigrating our listeners. If we truly believe that Christ has conquered, then we know that God does not need us to attack those who disagree with us. God needs us to love them.
What do you think? Will you join with me in calling people out when they cross the line of civil discourse? Or am I missing something in my analysis of the situation?
