The joke’s on them


I hesitate to mention this, but I seem to be the target of creationist humor. It’s not being targeted that I mind, but that the ‘humor’ is so lame and the photoshopping is so bad. I would have thought that I’d be an excellent subject for lampooning, being easily caricatured and having views outside the mainstream, so why are they so pathetic at it?

Never mind, I looked around the site a little more — it’s all that bad, a kind of ham-fisted exaggeration of creationist misconceptions that really only makes the creationists look foolish, on a par with Dembski’s clumsy attempts at a joke. Don’t they know that good satire has to build on some grain of truth about the subject?

Comments

  1. Wes says

    They can’t even spell “progeny” correctly, so hoping for good humor from them is probably too much to ask.

  2. Chaoswes says

    I can’t decide if the site is trying to be funny or is just plain stupid. If an insult is intended toward PZ than, in my opinion, it failed miserably.

  3. says

    I did rather enjoy the fishbanana. That was a pretty good photoshop.

    Yeah, but I doubt the people running the site made it. Looks like it’s been on the net for a while.

  4. says

    I liked this line from another story about abortion.

    “Because we now have robots, reducing the population by a few won’t negatively impact the economy.”

    Sounds like a conservative argument.

  5. Keanus says

    Humor, well done, has its place. But this site is simply sad and, as PZ says, pathetic. No respectable college humor mag would even consider it.

  6. Hank Fox says

    The “Biological Research Institute for Theoretical Evolution Studies”?????

    Holy shit.

    This reminds me of those overstrained shows attempting to be youthishly cool on Sunday Christian radio. You know, the ones who “Rap for Jesus” and stuff.

  7. Steve_C says

    What’s funny about Mutation Paste? I don’t get it.
    And it’s the 3rd time they’ve used the lame idea.

    There’s one creationist with alot of time to kill and no sense of humor.

  8. Rey Fox says

    You suppose we should read anything into the way they exaggerated the size and color of your lips and eyes?

  9. bybelknap says

    I liked the part in the Progressive Abortion Law where it says a fetus can be aborted up to the time he or she receives it’s first college degree.

    I tell my kids that their mother and I reserve the right to have them aborted up until the 18th year. Usually when they are treating each other in an unpleasant and especially loud way.

  10. Vampire says

    Ah, but you admitted you were insane a few posts ago–and of course you must be always wrong like that lying vampire. I mean, given the freedom of trilemmic choice of lord, liar, or insane, you chose atheism.

    neener-neener!

  11. says

    … and they use my favorite student spelling pet peeve – “specie”

    If you don’t know that the word “species” is singular, you are not qualified to have an opinion on anything in biology.

  12. says

    Don’t they know that good satire has to build on some grain of truth about the subject?

    They’re creationists, they wouldn’t recognize truth in any quantity if it was thrown into their eyes.

  13. says

    I’m reminded of a column in one of the local free papers not too long ago about the author chatting up a girl in a lesbian bar. The girl complimented the author on her gloves, the author complimented the girl on her tattoos. And then suggested they should swap arms for a while just to see what it’s like.

    I guess what I’m saying is that the author probably found it incredibly funny, but to everyone else it’s baffling at best. At least it’s not strained like conservative humor (or the comic Apikoros linked — sorry, too blunt). It’s just… weird.

  14. says

    I have to say, when I ran into this web site several weeks ago, I thought it was a lampoon. (Anti-creationist). I’m not sure if I was wrong.

    If only these funny web sites would label themselves better….

  15. CortxVortx says

    Fishbananas
    Old pyjamas
    Mutton, beef, and trout…

    Can’t let a perfectly good Python ref slip by!

    — CV

  16. SnarlyOldFart says

    I see why you didn’t get it. Check the DSM for ‘disordered thinking’. These people probably don’t get knock-knock jokes and misunderstand fart jokes.

  17. Leon says

    Wow, you’re right about this one, PZ. That attempt was really crude, and kind of sad.

    Steve_C says:

    There’s one creationist with alot [sic] of time to kill and no sense of humor.

    Or maybe he’s had a lot of humor killed and has no sense of time?

    …Nah, your version’s probably better.

  18. Will Von Wizzlepig says

    I hear there’s a parody of the daily show, too.

    Apparently it’s of interest merely for its complete lack of interesting, funny or talented content.

  19. Mel says

    “What’s funny about Mutation Paste? I don’t get it.”

    See, it’s Mutation Paste, which is funny ’cause evil atheist Darwinists think that mutations actually happen and . . .

    Sorry, I guess you have to be creationist to get it. And retarded. Very, very retarded.

  20. says

    So, anyone else have a brief ick moment at that shop? Anyone? I’m slightly reminded of lotusboob, here.

    Say, I notice that nobody’s commented on their hilarious abortion jokes, like “Women need the ability to terminate a maturing fetus in order to maintain their stamina and guarantee their freedom to choose more important careers on a whim if they so desire.” Sheer comedy gold, I tell you, but probably not for the reason the author thinks.

  21. says

    Off topic:

    I just got back from the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles after renewing my license. The new Indiana license plates now have the words “In God we Trust” taking up about half the plate, and the word “God” is the biggest. I just got a one year sticker, not the new plate.

    Indiana is being taken over by Christianists.

  22. efp says

    I’ve noticed for quite some time that humor seems to be the purview of liberals. Think of all the great comics that generally take a liberal slant: Bloom County, Doonesbury, Boondocks, The Daily Show, etc. What’s on the other side? Family Circus? All conservatives seem capable of expressing is sentimentality or anger.

    This is because humor requires a shift in perspective. The perception of sarcasm, irony, and subtle contradictions, whereas any sort of perception is antithetical to the conservative credo: obey!

  23. says

    bybelknap:

    I liked the part in the Progressive Abortion Law where it says a fetus can be aborted up to the time he or she receives it’s first college degree.

    Heh. In college, I knew some people who could have greatly benefited society by submitting themselves to such a law.

    dr. dave:

    … and they use my favorite student spelling pet peeve – “specie”

    If you don’t know that the word “species” is singular, you are not qualified to have an opinion on anything in biology.

    Maybe they were talking about coinage, not animals.

  24. says

    efp:

    I’ve noticed for quite some time that humor seems to be the purview of liberals. Think of all the great comics that generally take a liberal slant: Bloom County, Doonesbury, Boondocks, The Daily Show, etc. What’s on the other side? Family Circus? All conservatives seem capable of expressing is sentimentality or anger.

    Don’t forget the greatest bastion of crypto-fascist humor: Mallard Fillmore.

  25. Steve_C says

    Dennis Miller slid to unfunny after 9/11.
    I think he got the humor scared out of him.
    Is rants are just sad now.

  26. Carlie says

    I heard about the new Indiana plate (at Shakesville, maybe?) but that it was optional and the standard one was still available. Regardless, it’s a lot of taxpayer money going for that option.

  27. frog says

    Why do conservatives lack a sense of humor?

    Well, let’s ask Dr. Freud (or in this case, wiki-Freud): List of Defense Mechanisms.

    We can see that among the highest forms of defense mechanisms are humor and sublimation: smart, healthy people are funny and do important work. At the other end, you have regression (see authoritarianism), projection (Jihadi Terror), and splitting (see God, Devil).

  28. Greg Peterson says

    I just glanced over the typing (I know writing when I see it) on this site, and it reminded me immediately of Steve Martin’s immortal words in “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles”: “By the way,when you’re telling these little stories, here’s a good idea: have a point. It makes it so much more interesting for the listener.”

  29. says

    Carlie wrote:

    … the new Indiana plate … it was optional and the standard one was still available. Regardless, it’s a lot of taxpayer money going for that option.

    You’re right. I was over reacting in my first post. I’ve now done a bit of research and I think it violates the separation clause because it’s being displayed and it’s free and it’s pushing religion. The lady at BVM was pushing it and I forgot about being given another option.

    I just blogged on it:
    http://normdoering.blogspot.com/2007/04/indianas-new-license-plate-in-god-we.html

  30. Doc Bill says

    Creationists as a species are incapable of humor. They lack the gene.

    They can’t dance, either.

  31. Mick says

    Personally, I plan on starting a pod of Darwin Scouts, hopefully taking the whole pod to Darwin Summer Camp, (which is apparently either on the outskirts of a town in Montana that doesn’t exist, or outside of the county Blaine, which would mean a different county, or Canada if it was north) where we’ll sing Do We Darwin, Yes, which all tongue-in-cheek aside, is a pretty good song.
    Then again, maybe DEVO was right.

  32. Larry says

    Based on my assessment, I’d say their gawd didn’t create much of a sense of humor or wit in the authors.

  33. CortxVortx says

    re: #49

    Oh, but it doesn’t violate the separation clause since “In God We Trust” is the national motto. And the Supreme Court has ruled that the “God” in the motto isn’t really a religious reference… Or some such excuse.

    Yeah, the motto plate is optional, but it’s not extra-cost like the education or environment plates. Hmph.

    Still, an awful lot of cars in southern Indiana seemed to have suddenly needed their plates renewed…

    — CV

  34. Eric Davison says

    “How bad could it really be?” I thought. “It can’t be nearly as bad as he made it out to be…” Then I clicked on the link. It was really that bad.

  35. lurker says

    I liked the part in the Progressive Abortion Law where it says a fetus can be aborted up to the time he or she receives it’s first college degree.

    I think the law should allow abortion up to the point where the fetus learns to conjugate the verb ‘is’.

  36. Mike says

    “Yeah, the motto plate is optional, but it’s not extra-cost like the education or environment plates. Hmph.”

    Alabama just started the same program (exactly) this year. I started seeing the new tags a few months ago. I’ve heard that several other states are doing the same.

  37. Rey Fox says

    Well, perhaps we can hope that they don’t cost extra because the extra money from education, conservation, etc. plates goes to education and conservation and etc., and we all know God and his representatives don’t need any more money. Still pretty obnoxious though. I’m becoming more and more a rebellion atheist every year. If I lived in Indiana, I’d be tempted to get one of the God plates just so I could put my registration sticker right over top of the offending word.