Theological Humor

Bizarro is made possible in part by a grant from the E. Madge Anarie Foundation for Religious Studies.

When I wrote this cartoon, I wasn't certain how people would interpret it. When I write a cartoon, I have no way of knowing for sure whether most people will get the joke, of course, and I suspected this one would be open to various interpretations.

Surprisingly, I got no mail about this from "believers," but a number of emails from atheists who loved it and were happy to see their point of view presented in the mainstream media.

However you take this cartoon, I think it's an interesting idea. If God is only in the minds of humans, how is he looking at the sign? If He actually exists and someone did this to Him as a joke, why does it make Him mad?

Because I frequently use traditional Bible themes in my cartoons like Heaven, Hell, the Garden of Eden, Noah's Ark, etc., people often ask me what my beliefs are. Some Christians suspect I am one of them, while others have chided me for making fun of their faith. Atheists have assailed me for using mainstream media to promote Christian mythology, others have assumed I'm in their camp.

My own beliefs or lack thereof aside, the reason I use Bible themes so much is simply because humor often comes from common knowledge. Bible stories are a veritable library of common knowledge, most of which has to do with human nature, and is therefore an incredibly rich vein from which to mine humor.

Even though I don't go out of my way to piss people off, I've always thought that as long as I'm making somebody mad, I must be doing something right. My 7th grade art teacher, Judith Miller of Tulsa, Oklahoma, told me on the first day of school that the worst reaction you can give an artist is none.