Sacred Cows Make the Best Burgers

By
Mel
 – March 7, 2011Posted in: The Wayfarer

We can blame it all on Ben Franklin. Starting the trend for using artistic satire to editorialize, his “Join, or Die” cartoon was the first of its kind to be published. Depicting the original American colonies as pieces of a snake, he attempts to illustrate the importance of unity to their goals.

Since then, editorial cartoons have been used to criticize politicians, corporations, movements and even churches. It seems that there are no limits to satire: from rape scenes to racism to mocking the sacred. And the LDS faith has not been immune. From Pulitzer Prize winning former Mormon Steve Benson to “retired Mormon” Pat Bagley, shots have been taken at Mormon culture and leaders.

But what used to limit this expression was artistic ability. You at least had to be able to draw to pull off an editorial cartoon. With modern technology, that is no longer the case.

A site called mormongags.com recently came on the scene revisiting satire and the sacred as pictures are coupled with captions to get a laugh and make a point. Its subtext says “edu-taining mankind since the foundation of the world.” Some are funnier than others, using more subtlety in wit or choosing a less sensitive subject. Some leave a bitter aftertaste.

They’ve been accused of being mean-spirited and sacrilegious and they’re getting a lot of laughs and some criticism as they’re shared on Facebook.

In the more mild, there’s a poke at Mormon culture with this one:

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There’s a reference to the potential inconsistency in Mother of Heaven doctrine:

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But then they start getting a bit more edgy. Shots comparing the Jimmer phenomenon to Jesus and Joseph Smith and the plight of gays to that of blacks:

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And then, they start pushing some real boundaries suggesting current LDS projects are greed motivated and criticizing the past mistakes by leaders and questioning their prophetic ability (and these are all from the “Celestial Gallery” said to be “MormonGags so pure in heart, even Grandma might laugh! (Rated G for ‘Golly Gee, that’s clever!’)”

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I dare say these wouldn’t make my grandmother laugh, and she had quite the sense of humor. Some of them even cause me to wince. Where is the line between comedy and commentary? Are these just Anti-Mormon jabs or could they be compared to an editorial cartoon? Are there lines that should not be crossed in satire?