Poking fun at ourselves

A few years back, there was a pious Norwegian Lutheran lady named Lena who had dealt with alcoholism in her family for some time. As a result of those troubles, she became a rigid critic of any imbibing, to the point that her friends and even her pastor were getting tired of the constant ranting about the evils of alcohol.

Finally her pastor said to her, “You need to remember that even Jesus turned water into wine.”

“Ya,” Lena replied, “and dat’s vat I don’t like about Yesus.”

Maybe it’s not a true story, but it is a familiar one in Lutheran acquaintance, and in its wry, dry way it illustrates a trait of both Lutheran and Norwegian heritage that I have appreciated for a long time: these people can laugh at themselves.

In fact, people of Scandinavian background probably became suspicious of my tale the moment they read the name “Lena.” That’s because Lena and Ole and cousin Sven, invariably naïve and obtuse, have for generations been the bumbling butt of slightly disrespectful Norsky jokes ranging from G-rated to R-, anywhere Scandinavians gather to visit, work or worship.

To me, poking fun at ourselves, whether as individuals, institutions, or even nations, is a sign of maturity, self-confidence, sometimes pride. Of course, that kind of humor is best appreciated if told by those who are part of the in-group, or at least those not intending disrespect or hatred toward the in-group, especially where race is involved. Yet I will say that Scandinavians, at least those with whom I am familiar, do take it pretty well even from non-members.

That’s because Scandinavians know that while they are certainly flawed, they also have accomplishments both historical and recent that can stand with the best of what humans can do.

The flip side of my assertion is that individuals, cultures, nations, and particularly religious or political groups that cannot laugh at themselves, those who take immediate offense at tiny slights, or those who seek revenge for such slights, do so because they are intellectually or emotionally immature, or because they harbor secret doubts about their worth and must compensate by being defensive.

Some days I wish all politically active Americans were named Ole, Sven, and Lena, and had the same intellectual traits. We’d be a dumber country, true, but happier.

On the liberal side we have so many “identity-politics” groups that no one can possibly become knowledgeable about all their issues and vocabularies, nor can non-members intelligently decide whether to sympathize with or scorn each group. Nevertheless, each group demands sympathy, and outsiders are expected to be knowledgeable, and woe unto the insensitive jerk who happens to use the wrong trigger-word or ask an objective question. Social media will pounce upon him/her like a pack of Jack Russell terriers on a barn rat.

But conservatives can’t claim superiority. Questions about any of their (dare I say it?) laughably deluded social-policy or political or scientific theories are treated as signs of treason. There’s no joking around, from the current President on down, plus they’re heavily armed and darned eager to show it. They pretty successfully threaten a lot of legitimate disagreement into silence.

I don’t know whether the Brits are currently any better at this than Scandinavians. I do know that way back with Chaucer, and later with such satirists as Jonathan Swift, the Brits perfected humorous self-criticism, and that’s one reason that even without its empire, and with its current flaws, England is still a respected and powerful nation.

Like the Scandinavians, and unlike so many Americans, the Brits are all grown up.

Ron Rude, Plains