Recently Weekend Update on SNL has run some material I find a little…surprising.
SETH MEYERS: Christian and Muslim Britains joined forces yesterday to tell city officials to stop taking the Christianity out of Christmas, warning them that this simply fuels a backlash against Muslims. Also fueling a backlash against Muslims? Terrorism.
And several shows later:
SETH MEYERS: Muslim groups are concerned that the new season of “24,” which features Muslim terrorists setting off a nuclear explosion near Los Angeles, will foster hate against them and create a climate of Islamophobia. Also creating a climate of Islamophobia? Terrorism.
This is more than just unfunny. Given that we’re occupying Iraq and may be about to attack Iran, it’s the kind of thing that—thirty years later—ends up in museums as part of a display illustrating how a country went completely berserk and started a world war. If you don’t quite see this, rewrite the joke using another religion.
If you have any thoughts about this yourself—even thoughts that I’m wrong!—it’s being discussed over here at a new blog called “Rasputin Bigbodie.” R. Bigbodie is authored by alumni and staff of the Yale Record, Yale’s humor magazine, but everyone is welcome to come and chip in.