Good Satire and Durable Ideas

I'm inspired by a few folks that I've seen recently, who take those sacred ideas we worship in Church on Sunday out into the harsh light of a street corner lamp on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday... I'm lucky enough to call some of these folks family.

But a note on good Satire...

In 1940, Charlie Chaplin made a movie to make fun of the Nazis. In 1940 he hadn't seen the full naked brutality of Hitler's Europe. But in 1940 he made jokes and asked questions. This is the closing speech of "The Great Dictator". It wasn't about hate, but love.

Charlie Chaplin Predicts the Future

Do you know that friend you can't rib, or poke fun at? We all know the guy. He's a bit too sensitive, can't take a joke, takes things a little personally, takes life a little seriously. Satire isn't just for Jon Stewart or Colbert Nation, South Park or Charlie Chaplin. Its for us.

Satire helps us keep our ideas and emotions in perspective, interpersonally. Satire isn't just about making fun or tearing people down. Satire seems to tear down the walls we build up around ourselves to fortify our fears, insecurities or peculiarities.

Satire doesn't start with hate. Satire starts with love, for something that's worth protecting. But like a kid who grows up, the things that are worth protecting have to stand up on their own, to take the blows that are sure to come.

Satire makes you think, "he was just joking. Right?" Satire makes you laugh. Sometimes it makes you wonder.

Satire is hitting everybody's sacred cow with a punch line right in the nose, and seeing who is left standing at the end of the joke.

So enough with the fear, and the hate that follows so close behind. If your ideas are worth saving, they will withstand the blows, the jokes, and the light. The greatest risk is not in a challenge, it is in not challenging. It's got to start with love.