Humor has a way of breaking down barriers, true. But humor if done in certain similarly minded groupings can actually strengthen hateful concepts. It really depends on the mind and values of the comedian. The phrase, "You should never take yourself too seriously" is true, however sometimes seriousness comes from making light of issues important to others. There is no exact right or wrong in this. You cannot assume humor is good or humor is bad anymore than you can consider people or groups of people fully good or bad. This is a misconception.
Granted, we should have a very broad sense of humor and challenge ourselves to see every other point of view. Humor at it's core is good for our system functions and potential happiness. But imagine you joke, making light of someones problems, they kill themselves, and then you feel guilty for the rest of your life. You could argue that that was their problem instead of yours, which in part may be true, but humor is powerful communication with the ability to persuade based on loose understandings without logical basis. As communication, you should always consider those with ears, despite how minority they may be. Majority has been responsible for wars, holocausts, and more. It has a way of drowning out the minority or ignoring them toward the majority goals, just as humor may. In a way, humor can be considered the voice of the majority. While Majority may feel correct and validated, feelings are not always an ethical source of information or an ideal reason to initiate an action, ask any murderer or criminal. Also in the end, was that humor good for you? For them? No, humor is not always justified, because society does not always provide justice. Topic though? Same grey area. With great power comes great responsibility, but topic itself should not be a restrictive element.
Last edited by zygote - on 19 February 2018
