dewey@execu.UUCP (Dewey Henize) (11/24/88)
In article <192@bnr-fos.UUCP> hwt@bnr-public.UUCP (Henry Troup) writes: >Isaac Asimov is Jewish (I hope that's not news). His "Asimov's >Treasury of Humor" includes the joke that started this all, and >about 500 other Jewish jokes - none are rot13. >Henry Troup utgpu!bnr-vpa!bnr-fos!hwt%bnr-public | BNR is not >Bell-Northern Reseach hwt@bnr (BITNET/NETNORTH) | responsible for >Ottawa, Canada (613) 765-2337 (Voice) | my opinions Cute followup trick there... Remember, one of the big differences between Isaac Asimov and the person babbling the silly charges is that Asimov has been out and around a bit and has the sense to tell the difference between a joke that plays on a stereotype and the Holocaust. At least he (being Asimov) recognises that in the US and most of the civilized world there is the capability for people to make jokes and that quite often even the butt of the joke is able to see the humor of playing on a stereotype. I'd like to live in a perfect world. Someday I'll even know just what that means! But right now, I'd rather see the foibles of all the different people poked fun at than attacked - and I do believe there is a difference. I doubt there are a whole lot of people, including the ones screaming for Brad's head, who don't know the difference between attacks on people thru bitter, nasty putdowns and humor based on widely recognized stereotypes. Calling someone anti-semitic and then dragging up crap like the Nazi attrocities are much more nasty than anything I've ever encountered that Brad has posted. Finally, there's been a lot of heat generated with people typing the word politeness in caps. Yeah, Usenet is one of the least polite forums you could get. People here have felt free for a long time to post what they believe and what they know, freely intermingling the two. There is also, however, the responsibility on the reader to avoid what she or he really doesn't care for. Humor, both in the form of rec.humor and rec.humor.funny is just another case of the same thing. Humor pokes fun at something. A group, an animal, some anonymous travelling salesman, whatever. Every one of us needs to decide if we can separate the wheat from the chaff and go on about our business. If we can't, we're losing most of our opportunities at pleasure and happiness. Dewey Henize -- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- | There is nothing in the above message that can't be explained by sunspots. | | execu!dewey Dewey Henize | | Can you say standard disclaimer? I knew you could. Somehow... |