The Ethics of Mockery

Two fundamental questions:

1. Is mockery ever morally permissible?
2. If yes, under what conditions?

In answer to the first question, we must answer with yes. For our Lord Himself engaged in mockery (cf. Matthew 23:24). Since, therefore, our Lord is utterly without sin (cf. Hebrews 4:15), it follows that mockery is not intrinsically sinful and therefore can be morally permissible.

Answering the second question is more difficult, but if we follow the example of our Lord, we can identify various conditions under which mockery is morally permissible. When Christ engaged in mockery, the chief reasons for doing so were to combat error and to teach truth. Christ engages in mockery in order to repudiate the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees, and to teach the truth that the interior life is more important than the exterior (cf. Matthew 23:27-28). So, using mockery for these purposes is morally legitimate. Purposes for engaging in mockery that are obviously not morally legitimate would include, for example, wanting to calumniate someone or wanting to simply manifest cruelty by inflicting emotional pain on someone.

With respect to any human act, however, the moral quality of the act is determined by three things: (1) the object of the act (i.e., the essential end of the act towards which it intrinsically tends), (2) the purpose or intention of the act (on the part of the agent performing the act), and (3) the circumstances in which the act is performed (cf. CCC 1750, Moral Theology: A Complete Course, Vol. I, pg. 43). We’ve seen that the object of the act of mockery is at least intrinsically indifferent (for if mockery tended towards an evil by its very nature, then it would be intrinsically sinful and, we’ve demonstrated that this is not the case), and we’ve seen at least some intentions for performing the act of mockery that are morally legitimate with respect to the moral quality of an act of mockery. But how might the circumstances affect the moral quality of the act of engaging in mockery? It seems clear that there are some circumstances in which engaging in mockery, even with the right intentions, would be morally illicit.

For example, suppose that I want to mock transgender ideology in order to refute its errors and to teach the contrary truths with respect to gender, sex, self-identity, autonomy, etc. The intentions here are morally legitimate. However, suppose that I am mocking transgender ideology right in the face of a transgender individual who is emotionally troubled and feels a sense of shame and persecution. Given these circumstances, it seems immoral for me to engage in such mockery. For one, such mockery, given the circumstances, would seem to constitute an act of cruelty and bullying on my part and would thus be an offense against the virtue of charity. Additionally, such mockery would seem to be a failure in the proper exercise of the virtue of prudence, for I am unlikely to convince the transgender individual of the errors of transgender ideology by way of mockery (honey tends to catch more flies than vinegar). Arguably worse still, I may cause scandal by inadvertently causing the transgender individual to have scorn towards Christianity as a response to my mockery, thus leading the transgender individual even further astray by my perceived cruelty. The warning of our Lord ought to ring loudly in our ears here (see Matthew 18:6 and Mark 9:42). In this case, my intention is good, but my method is, with respect to these circumstances, bad.

In contrast to these circumstances, the circumstances that Christ found Himself in rendered His mockery appropriate. For Christ was not trying to correct emotionally troubled people who were confused and ignorant; on the contrary, Christ was correcting those who were in places of power and honor and who should (and perhaps did) know better. In this way, it is useful to observe the contrast between Christ’s method of correcting the scribes and Pharisees and His method of correcting other sinners such as the woman at the well (see John 4:7-29) and the woman caught in adultery (see John 8:2-11).

There are interesting cases to consider such as the use of mockery in the context of satirical videos that are presented to the general viewing public. To build on the example involving the mocking of transgender ideology, one question that arises with respect to a public satirical video that mocks transgender ideology is whether such a video is morally licit given the fact that a troubled transgender individual might view said video. There are many factors to consider here, but I will not pursue this issue any further in this post.