Christian Philosophy of Comedy: Satire

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Satire is “a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn” [1]. This definition can be extended to all forms of communication and media, not just literature, so we can modify the definition to make it this: communication that holds up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn. So, how can satire be used to glorify God, or to make the truth about Him known (Luke 23:47)?

Satire can glorify God in this way: demonstrating how sin and godlessness are worthy of ridicule and scorn. Satire, by definition, points out people’s vices and follies. So, for Christian satire, vice and folly need to be defined Biblically. Vice is “moral depravity or corruption” [2], while folly is a synonym for foolishness, or failure to rightly apply knowledge (Matthew 7:26-27). Moral depravity and corruption, from the Christian standpoint, are abandonment of God’s commands in His Word. Folly, Biblically speaking, is failure to obey God’s Word, especially, if not exclusively, while knowing it. So, Christian satire holds up man’s rebellion against God to ridicule and scorn, glorifying God by, against the backdrop of why man’s vice and folly deserve mockery, showing,[3] indirectly, why God and godliness are praiseworthy. There are some vital notes I need to make here: 1) Christian satire shows how God is great, not the satirist; 2) Christian satire is motivated by love for God and love for one’s fellow man, so satire, if it is truly Christian, must attack sin in such a way where those trapped in it are spiritually helped and not hurt by the satire; and 3) Christian satire excludes communicating any false things, including about God and one’s fellow man (though this is an extension of Note 2).

So, how does Christian satire look practically? What is an example of it? Say that a Christian filmmaker makes a satirical film. It is about a country that was once dominated by Biblical morality. However, over time, most of the population came to perceive this Christian influence as oppressive. So, the now anti-Christian majority population rises up and overthrows the Bible-influenced government and establishes a new government where opposition to Christian practices is written into the new legal code. Over time, the nation suffers as it, over a certain period, suffers from the fallout of the government’s anti-Biblical policies. Meanwhile, the country’s Christian community, which is now a minority, simply follows God and His Word just as they did before, including by ministering to the spiritual, physical, and material needs of their fellow citizens. Learning of this and fearing the threat, the new government becomes more authoritarian and cracks down even harder on Christian practices. For a long and grueling time, the Christian community strives to protect itself from this persecution through nonviolent and peaceful means, as well as striving even harder to protect their non-Christian countrymen from the harmful fallout of the government’s policies. Eventually, seeing what true Christianity looks like in practice, the population becomes receptive to the Bible’s influence again, the anti-Christian policies are revoked, and liberty is restored across the land. The end. Such a hypothetical satirical film would hold up anti-Christianity to ridicule and scorn by demonstrating how, despite all its good-sounding pretensions to human liberty and flourishing, it is as authoritarian in practice as it criticizes Christianity for being. And, of course, this is just one example of how Christian satire can work! And it’s also a picture of how irony can be utilized in a Christian and God-glorifying way!

Here is how God can be glorified through satire!

[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/satire (accessed April 14, 2025)

[2] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vice (accessed April 14, 2025)

[3] Emphasis on “showing,” rather than telling