You know what, Stingray? I don't know! I have heard some spiritual jokes in my time (Like: Why doesn't God sit on His throne? Answer: Because people don't have to go to the bathroom in Heaven...) Sick joke, but you see what I mean. It is as if it is sick-religious (pardon the pun!) to joke about God...God is serious and means business and could zap you any minute if you make jokes about Him....

But Jesus said, "Unless you are like one of these little children, ye shall not enter the Kingdom of Heaven" And who carries around joke books? Kids. Who likes slapstick comedy the most? Kids. What have they got that we haven't got? Courage...no, I mean simplicity!

Really, God must have a sense of humor! To whit: kittens, the hippopotamus, The God-inspired AMC Gremlin...oh and, the Pacer auto, too....and so on.Jesus must have liked a good time...Why else would His first miracle be to turn water into wine???? I bet He was the life of the Wedding Reception!

I try to add humor to my posts...and once, it got edited out! I saw a great clip about Buddha on the subway. He gets on this subway car full of serious people...and He starts to giggle..before long, he is roaring with laughter...and before you can say "manifestation", the whole car is roaring with laughter...about what, they do not know...I tried to find the link, but could not. (Hint, hint- if you editors can get it, load it here>>>>>>>>>>>>: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jedd2FiZTqM !) Spiritual people can, and should be, funny! That's just my humble (who am I kidding???) opinion.....LOL, Jaianniah

People of faith take their faith seriously because it is important to them.

There's nothing wrong with humor, unless that's all there is. Then it just gets irritating. Humor for the sake of humor suggests triviality or meaninglessness, and most people do better when their experiences are meaningful. Otherwise, what's the point?

Think about all of the movies that made an impression on you. Without exception, I would suggest that those movies (even those that include humor) were all thought-provoking in some way. In other words, they were meaningful to you.

Things don't have to be humorless to have meaning. The funniest things I can think of are funny precisely because they are both true and absurd. That's meaningful. The humor demonstrates the absurdity, and changes your perspective (perhaps to one that's a little less serious).

To answer your (presumptive) question directly, I don't think people insist on stamping the humor out of spirituality and religion at all. I do think that they are a bit weary of having to deal with non-believers who don't care to improve their own understanding of the faith, but who merely seek to disprove it or to trivialize it.

If you are using humor on the faith-full, they may be interpreting your humor as having a trivial attitude toward their faith. That doesn't necessarily mean that their viewpoint is justified. If a person is secure and confident in their faith, they ought to be able to appreciate the person for their humor, and not interpret it as an attack on their faith. The benefits of their faith should be so tangible to them that it shouldn't matter when a little humor or skepticism is thrown their way.

The person of faith should be able to put their life on display as a shining example (and proof) of what the benefits of their faith are, and how their faith has transformed their lives, and how it can transform others, not by proselytizing, but by being a living example.

I would imagine that such a person readily appreciates the value and pleasure of humor.

I think a lot of the time and I am referring mostly to religious people here, we treat God as a 'Prankster God'. In other words, we think that God is always testing us and our faith and if we fail him in any way, he will punish us in some way or the other for it.

So, I think for a lot of people, humour implies making fun of the religious beliefs and teachings which God has created and surely God will not be happy if we make fun of him or his creations and we will be punished in that case.

It is a similar concept to committing sins. So, a lot of religious people out there believe that God has put drugs and other illegal things on earth to test us and if we fail the test, then we will be punished by the 'Prankster God'.