My hubby sometimes gets mad at me because he can't always tell when I'm being sarcastic and when I'm being serious. I guess it dawned on me that if he can be in the same room with me and not be able to tell, that sometimes people reading my written word will have that much more trouble discerning my tone. If I have said anything that just seems "off" to you, chances are I wasn't being serious. But if I have offended you by my sarcastic wit, please forgive me.
Maybe sarcasm isn't a Christian virtue, but sometimes I use it to make a point. I certainly don't want there to be any confusion...I'll try to indicate when I'm being sarcastic, but when in doubt, feel free to ask me...
Maybe sarcasm isn't a Christian virtue, but sometimes I use it to make a point. I certainly don't want there to be any confusion...I'll try to indicate when I'm being sarcastic, but when in doubt, feel free to ask me...
Honestly, though, I think there definitely is a place for sarcasm in Christian dialogue. Just look through the Old Testament and see how many places sarcasm was used to drive a point home. It's actually pretty funny...
ReplyDeleteThat's true, I neve really thought about that. So maybe there is a place for it...
ReplyDeleteI just want to make the effort to be sure I'm not being misunderstood when I am being sarcastic...so I will try to be aware of that.
Thanks Jim
Clarity of speech is always a good goal, one that I strive for, even when I'm being sarcastic. But you will, of course, have those people who will misunderstand. Jesus surely did. So, where necessary, clarifications sometimes need to be made. It familiar company, though, sometimes you don't even need to because your friends realize that anything you say that seems 'off' is probably a sarcastic comment. In the blogosphere, one can hope that people will ask for clarification, but of course that doesn't always happen, either. So, we strive for clarity the first time around and hope that the point is clear enough. It's simply a case of exercising such wisdom as we have in our writing.
ReplyDeleteI think you're right. I know that people will misunderstand sometimes...even when I'm being serious. I guess that's part of writing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your thoughts, Jim.