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{"id":1037,"date":"1998-07-29T08:00:00","date_gmt":"1998-07-29T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tmatt\/1998\/07\/29\/ship-of-fools-laughing-or-crying\/"},"modified":"2013-01-30T13:29:08","modified_gmt":"2013-01-30T18:29:08","slug":"ship-of-fools-laughing-or-crying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/1998\/07\/ship-of-fools-laughing-or-crying\/","title":{"rendered":"Ship of Fools: Laughing or crying?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The Christian\u2019s Guide to Small Arms site shoots straight with World Wide Web users, offering information on safety, ammunition, marksmanship and photos of 40-plus weapons.<\/p>\n\n

Clicking on another icon leads to Bible-study materials arguing that it isn\u2019t just \u201cthe right, but in fact, the DUTY of Christians to be armed.\u201d After all, Jesus told his followers: \u201cBut now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

This site is dead serious. But is it also funny?<\/p>\n\n

Stephen Goddard thinks so. So do the other editors of \u201cShip of Fools: The Magazine of Christian Unrest,\u201d a new \u201ce-zine\u201d based in Liverpool, England. They\u2019ve included a salute, and an Internet link, to the small-arms site in their \u201cFruitcake Zone\u201d page \u2013 along other sites such as \u201cLive chat with God\u201d and the \u201cChristian Naturists\u201d home page, with its biblical defense of nudism and the obligatory photos.<\/p>\n\n

Goddard couldn\u2019t make up this stuff, yet he also knows that one man\u2019s satire is another\u2019s sacrilege. But humor also can be a sacrament, he said. The online publication has claimed as its patron St. Simeon the Holy Fool, who left his Dead Sea cave to throw nuts at clergy, blow out candles during liturgies, cavort with dancing girls and live on a shockingly bean-intensive diet.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cGod uses humor a lot. In the Book of Job he is almost sarcastic,\u201d said Goddard, a veteran publicist and former editor of a British magazine for Christian young people called Buzz. \u201cJesus is not above ridiculing some people\u2019s opinions, but he never ridicules people. So we are trying to walk that thin line. We want to hammer things that deserve to be hammered, but we don\u2019t want to demean people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

The site \u2013 at http:\/\/ship-of-fools.com<\/a> \u2013 opened in April and last month received 10,000 \u201chits\u201d from readers, including what Goddard said was a rising number of letters and humorous tidbits from the United States. In Britain, the site has received coverage from The Times of London, The Guardian, BBC Radio 1, The Daily Telegraph and the Church Times.<\/p>\n\n

But the Ship of Fools crew received a rockier reception when it contacted a Christian site called The Magazine Rack to request a listing in its guide to 100-plus free online publications. That site\u2019s webmaster wrote back to say that he didn\u2019t laugh when he examined Ship of Fools.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cTo our regret, we were unable to find any social, moral, or redeeming value,\u201d said David Parsons. \u201cInstead, we discovered sarcasm. I would like to bring you to remembrance that we are suppose to build up the Church and not destroy it.\u201d He also reminded Goddard and company that Jesus once said, \u201cwhosoever shall say, \u2018thou fool,\u2019 shall be in danger of hell fire.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Ship of Fools does contain waves of foolish stuff, such as a \u201cMystery Worshipper\u201d page offering reviews of services in major churches. Coming soon: Christian \u201curban legends\u201d and outrages from the theological left. Other regular features include:<\/p>\n\n

* Gadgets for God, such as the \u201cJesus Saves\u201d air freshener, a JC\/DC shirt, a Burning Bush necktie, Share the Good Chews snacks, Hot \u2018n\u2019 Holy pepper sauce and lots more.<\/p>\n\n

* John Calvin\u2019s Newsround, featuring strange news stories. For example, a Polish computer programmer has created a software package for those preparing for confession. The Ship of Fools crew dubbed this Penance 2.1.<\/p>\n\n

* Signs and Blunders, offering bizarre images from advertisements, church signs, bumper stickers and the world at large. In one Brazilian ad, soccer superstar Ronaldo is posed atop Corcovado Mountain overlooking Rio de Janeiro, taking the place of its famous statue of Jesus.<\/p>\n\n

Goddard stressed that the site\u2019s ultimate goal is constructive.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cWe are actually very orthodox,\u201d he said. \u201cBut what we are discovering is that there are lots of people like us. They feel like they are on the fringe of the religious establishment or in the cracks. But they are believers. They are not liberals. They are not secularists. Whether we want to or not, we are ministering to these people by letting them laugh at this crazy world, rather than just cry about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"