Mockery

Sometimes, it is good to mock people. It is good to point out that they are really really silly, take themselves far too seriously, and deserve to be laughed at. Some people think this is a rather unchristian sort of attitude to take, but that's mainly because they don't read the Bible themselves. The Bible is full of mockery.

One of the stories I remember from my childhood is from 1 Kings 18. In that chapter, Elijah challenges the priests of Baal to a trial by fire. Both sides were to place a sacrifice on a hill and pray, and see which sacrifice was devoured by fire. Like Daniel's nutritional trial, this was some sort of scientific experiment.

While the priests of Baal danced around unsuccessfully, Elijah mocked them and their religious practices. He said, "Cry aloud, for he is a god, and maybe he is busy talking or hunting or journeying or sleeping, and must be awakened!" When it came to his turn, he drenched his own sacrifice and its altar in water, and when he prayed, fire fell upon the altar and consumed everything including the water and the stones of the altar.

Mockery, you see, must be followed by action. It is good to laugh at silly people, but you have to show that you are not a silly person yourself.

Also, the target of mockery must be the right target. God is not mocked, and neither should you mock your parents or those who don't deserve it. But people who set up idols in the places of God and who have no idea what they are doing? Ah, those you should mock indeed.