Satire: Why?
Many of my published articles take the form of satire.
Satire is defined as: "trenchant wit, irony, or sarcasm used to expose and
discredit vice or folly" (Miriam Webster). Satire is meant to be funny,
can sometimes be pointed and even painful, but in the end serves a healing
and redemptive purpose.
I posted this comment on a
message board regarding this topic:
I love satire, and I write satire.
People have said that my satire seems too sharp.
If satire is not sharp, the surgery it seeks to perform will be that
much more painful.
People have said that my satire should only be
aimed at “the world,” not the Church. I believe that when the Bride has
mustard dribbling down the corner of her mouth and onto her immaculate
white dress, it is a favor beyond measure for some brave soul to point
it out before she meets The Groom at the center aisle.
In addition, the world is destined for hell, which
just isn’t funny at all. The Church is destined for heaven, in spite of
herself, and has, over her millennia of existence, needed to be nudged
to stay on the narrow road.
People have said that satire is arrogant and
presumptuous. I agree, if it is done in a spirit of casual bitterness.
The surgeon who works with a sense of awe and wonder and humility as he
meddles with the miracle of the human body - that surgeon can be
trusted. If your surgeon doesn’t work this way, hop off the operating
table and run screaming from the room.
For good reading of or about Christian Satire, go to
the links on left bar above.
For interesting quotes regarding satire, click on
Satire Quotes.
