Beyond the meme: A Christian’s guide to navigating digital mockery

The other day, I received a barrage of memes and cartoons that mocked Christian beliefs. I ignored them, and the sender messaged me again with an assertive and condescending tone.  I still didn’t reply, and it ended.

The sender’s apparent confidence comes from knowing that ridicule can be effective. Digital memes can portray something as laughable, and the mocked perspective gets berated automatically, albeit without intellectual rigor.

Christians should remain grounded and recognize ridicule as a psychological play that is bereft of intellectual warrant. Ridiculing content can lead to fruitless and emotionally draining conversations. As Paul cautioned, “Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels” (2 Tim. 2:23).

The psychology of ridicule is very real, and it also entails a fallacy of ridicule whereby a view is allegedly refuted by satirical force. Let’s unpack it with a useful explanation:

“Ridicule is a psychological attack, not a logical one. It works because humans are social creatures. Nobody wants to be associated with something that’s seen as ridiculous. If you can make an idea look silly, you don’t have to prove it wrong – people will naturally distance themselves from it. (As Terry Prachett once said), ‘Laughter can kill reason faster than a knife.’”

Christian belief is often made to “look silly” by ridiculers who know that the discomfort caused by laughter will discourage people from taking it seriously. This berating tactic is subtle in cultural thought and has the potential to deter Christian confidence.

For example, in the popular cartoon "The Simpsons," who are the next-door neighbors? The Flanders – a typical Evangelical family that lives out their Christian faith. The Evangelical views of Ned Flanders are often satirized and laughed at by Homer Simpson, but in culture, the comedic value goes beyond laughter. I remember when “The Simpsons” were gaining cultural awareness, and I was at a social event with a mix of people. In conversation, I answered that I was engaged in ministry, and a good friend who wasn’t a Christian added for support, “but Marlon is a thoughtful Evangelical Christian.” The people before me smiled and commented politely, “You mean you seriously identify with Ned Flanders?” And they laughed innocently enough.

Cultural pressure by ridicule can make it extremely awkward for social Christian confidence. Satire has the potential to transfix views culturally so that truth becomes immaterial, and it influences people to disassociate from what is being ridiculed.

Subtle mockery of Christian faith is found at every level of society, even among professionals who should know better. The fallacy of ridicule is particularly vivid in the universities of Western countries, where mocking Christian faith is normal. Kelly Monroe Kullberg is a Christian who founded the Veritas Forum at Harvard, which is now reaching over 200 universities internationally.

Decades ago, she began as a graduate student at Harvard and journaled her experiences from the very first day she arrived on campus. She wrote, “But by the end of an orientation lunch, I gathered that one was not to speak of Jesus or the Bible without a tone of erudite cynicism. I quickly learned that subtle mockery trumped reason ... Though there were exceptions, the attitude at the luncheon proved to be the norm.”^[1]

Cultural thought has now graduated from expressing itself in sitcoms and on university campuses to the digital world, where satire is colorfully memeified for snap impact. Christians should realize that we cannot be immunized from the phenomenon of digital memes. What we can do is develop our discernment skills and control our reactions. Paul’s inspired depth of human understanding remains indispensable for these times: “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14). Ridiculing Christian faith emanates from a fallacious attempt to undermine without intellectually fair negotiation. Yet it can still perturb and dampen the confidence of believers, but only if its fallacious import is not discerned.

Nevertheless, Christians should avoid responding in kind with memes that ridicule unbelievers. I always discourage it. Our focus should remain on the standard playbook, “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith” (Heb. 12:2). The school of Jesus will reward spiritually and intellectually by increasing discovery “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this so that no one may delude you with plausible arguments” (Col. 2:3-4). Christian faith can continue to persevere confidently even in this digital age, and by wise discernment, it can withstand the culture’s satirical intimidations. As I have written on Christian confidence and worth repeating, “it is not the human component that is confident, but God’s grace within that is unassailable and strengthens a Christian’s faith and practice.”

Altogether, I am not implying that Christians should not enjoy comedy, for humor has its place. Ridicule and humor are not interchangeable. Sometimes, laughter can serve as a medicine for the soul.

So let me leave you with a good laugh. Do you know who the greatest comedian is in the Bible? It’s Samson, because he brought the house down! 

1. Finding God Beyond Harvard: The Quest for Veritas (InterVarsity Press: Downers Grove, Ill., 2006), 24-25.