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<DIV>You're right about the stereotypes Lance, and of course part of the humor
is that it applies stereotypes to an absurdly improbable situation. But to
really grasp a stereotype, you have to know what you are typing. The best
"Catholic jokes" are told by graduates of RC parochial schools, the best "Jewish
jokes" are told by people born and raised in Jewish families, etc. The author of
this joke was more familiar with Christian practice, and could stereotype them
more accurately, while relatively ignorant of Jewish practice, except that they
circumcise males. Many gentiles are circumcised for reasons of hygiene, which in
my opinion is a good thing.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Siarlys</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>On Mon, 2 Jul 2007 08:11:21 -0700 "Discussion of the Good, Clean Funnies
List" <<A href="mailto:gcfl-discuss@gcfl.net">gcfl-discuss@gcfl.net</A>>
writes:</DIV>
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style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 10px">
<DIV>Or written by anyone with a strong sense of stereotypes without the
fine-ite knowledge of the deeper details about each religious group, just
their stereotypes.<BR>~Lance</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=gmail_quote>On 7/1/07, <B class=gmail_sendername>Discussion
of the Good, Clean Funnies List</B> <<A
href="mailto:gcfl-discuss@gcfl.net">gcfl-discuss@gcfl.net</A>>
wrote:</SPAN>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=gmail_quote
style="BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex">Funny,
but of course there is a reason most clergy do not spend time<BR>trying to
save bears. Bears are not people, do not have souls, and are <BR>not
promised eternal life. (Sorry kids, your newly buried puppy will not<BR>be
in puppy heaven, but you will understand that better when you get
to<BR>heaven, which hopefully will not be for many decades.)<BR><BR>I also
note that MANY Protestant churches DO baptize by sprinkling water <BR>on a
new-born baby, including some that ALSO provide for adult baptism
by<BR>immersion. Jesus is not known to have expressed a preference, or
given<BR>any detailed instructions on the matter. It is even possible that
John <BR>poured water over him, rather than dunking him under the
Jordan.<BR><BR>Finally, a rabbi would not have been involved in the
experiment at all<BR>because, as greenBubble has noted, Jews are not
evangelical, and do not <BR>try to convert. The bear could have volunteered
for conversion, but would<BR>have had to go through at least 18 months of
instruction before<BR>circumcision was an issue, and if the bear gave up,
everyone would have<BR>sighed with relief. Obviously the story was written
by a Christian.<BR><BR>Siarlys</BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>
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