Beyond a joke

The Bishop of Bangor, Andy John, at  his Enthronement as Archbishop of Wales                            Source: Church in Wales

This photograph was published in Disaster looms closer after the bishop of Bangor, Andy John, was enthroned as archbishop of Wales in 2022. The picture was taken down from the Church in Wales web site after the archbishop was criticised as being disrespectful.

The Church in Wales had already become a joke, so much so that Anglican commentators such as Anglican Unscripted rarely mention it and its many 'firsts'.

The latest 'first' for the Church in Wales is History is made as Church appoints its youngest ever bishop. Emphasising his same sex relationship we are told that in his spare time, 'David enjoys spending time with his fiancé, Marc Penny, and his cat, Gordon'. Not a 'first'. That record goes to the bishop of Monmouth who lives with her same sex partner.

It was the new bishop who was responsible for first publishing the photograph used in Caption corner 22 December 2023 in his X (formerly Twitter) account which I see has also been taken down. No doubt another regret in hindsight.

Meanwhile the Dean of Llandaff who lives with his partner, Jim, is reportedly on sick leave while facing allegations of serious misconduct.

Not even the Llandaffchester Chronicles could have made this up. The Church in Wales is beyond a joke.

PC Causes Death of Humour

Do you find this funny?

“THIS WAS NOMINATED FOR BEST JOKE OF THE YEAR - WORTH SHARING

A Somalian arrives in London as a new immigrant to the UK .

He stops the first person he sees walking down the street and says ........ 'Thank you Mr. British for letting me in this country, giving me housing, money for food, free medical care, free education and no taxes!'

The passer by says, 'You are mistaken, I am Mexican!'

The man goes on and encounters another passer by. 'Thank you for having such a beautiful country here in the UK !'

The person says, 'I not British, I Polish!'

The new arrival walks further, and the next person he sees he stops, shakes his hand and says, 'Thank you for the wonderful Britain !'

That person puts up his hand and says, 'I am from Russia , I am not from Britain !'

He finally sees a nice lady and asks, 'Are you a British?'

She says, 'No, I am from Africa !'

Puzzled, he asks her, 'Where are all the British?'

The African lady checks her watch and says ...'Probably at work'

IF YOU DON'T PASS THIS ON TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS YOU WILL RECEIVE THREE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ABSOLUTELY FREE” [Copied as seen]

In the old days we may have heard a joke like this in the Music Halls or on television. Nowadays they are circulated on the internet or by mobile phone texts.

Intrigued to discover the origin of its nomination for best joke of the year a quick ‘Google’ showed that it had been circulated widely on the internet, especially on alternative humour sites. Then I discovered a report in the Guardian that two Tory councillors had been suspended over “racist email” for sending the joke to Tory MPs. Here are some paragraphs from the report:

“Two Tory councillors have been suspended from the party after sending a racist joke to an email list including Ribble Valley Tory MP Nigel Evans, the mayor of South Ribble, and fellow Conservative councillors. Simon Farnsworth, a Ribble Valley councillor, sent the joke on to Ken Hind, his fellow councillor and a former Tory parliamentary candidate in Selby and Lancashire West at the 1997 and 1992 elections. Hind then sent it on to a long list of Tories, including Evans; DW Parkinson, the mayor of South Ribble; and other South Ribble and Ribble Valley councillors.

A Tory spokesman said: "Simon Farnsworth and Ken Hind have been suspended from the Party. The contents of this email have no place in the Conservative party." Hind said he apologised to "all those people from the nations mentioned in the joke. It was not my intention to insult their racial origins, and I deeply regret passing on this item as I recognise now that it could cause offence." He added: "In my daily life I deal with many people of different racial origins in our diverse community and in our relationships get on well with them. I deprecate those who are racist. On many occasions I have been outspoken in my condemnation of those who incite racial hatred and am committed to developing an integrated tolerant community in which all races creeds and religions live side by side in peace.

"I am privileged to name amongst my friends and associates many who are of Asian or African origin. I wish to emphasise that any apparent insult or criticism contained in the joke does not reflect my views or those of the Conservative party." Farnsworth has also been contacted for comment but had not responded at the time of publication. David Eccleston, who received the email by mistake and passed it to the Guardian, said that many people thought David Cameron "seems like a nice guy and he seems to care", but "these jokes bring you back to Earth with a bang because you realise that behind Cameron's call for 'change' are the same old nasty Conservative party – and that's not change." ”

The Guardian was not shy about printing the joke.

In the General Election, Immigration was identified as one of the main issues that bothered the electorate with varied perceptions of the benefits and problems. Humour has traditionally been used as a legitimate tool for dealing with problems but in this politically correct society we appear to have lost the ability to laugh at ourselves. When was the last time you had a really good laugh? Have you heard the one about the Scotsman, Welshman and the Irish man…..? Not anymore. Such traditional humour has been killed for political correctness and not just by having to say ‘person’. The basis of ‘humour’ these days has shifted to the use of four letter words such as ****, ****, and even ****.

What a joke.