Is it possible to talk about very serious things in a funny way? Can humor help you illuminate and recognize latent aspects of yourself? In fact, is it allowed to theologize jokingly and allude to the pathologies of human behavior and the church space with humorous stories?
We believe that of course you can! From the time of Archilochus and Aristophanes to the most brilliant moments of modern satire, we have many examples where serious issues of society were commented on in an entertaining way, casting a lighter look at the sad deviations of human peptoky nature.
Adopting such a view and using humor as a vehicle as a distillation of the juices of the body and the soul, with the intention of enlightening the hearts and at the same time commenting on wrong opinions and mischievous attitudes, we created the book Cute theologies . A book, which we wrote with a lot of fun and a lot of love for all the well-intentioned readers, who dare to confess that... they are probably harmonizing wrongly. On the pages of the book, in the form of vignettes, small everyday stories unfold with familiar faces as protagonists - relatives, neighbors, friends, colleagues. Faces (or guises?) that each person actually is in their interpersonal relationships. That is why we are essentially all protagonists. Mrs. Vasiliki, Isidoros, Ilias Stergiou, Elenitsa, Michalis, Evangelos Oikonomou with fantastic names but very realistic attitudes and inner thoughts, reflect passions that oppress us, as well as basic issues that plague modern society but also the ecclesiastical community: childish zeal, secularism, superstition, dependence on material goods, uncatechism, formalism, grumbling, ingratitude. In a light way, they remind us how easily we can forget, unconsciously adopt Pharisaic attitudes, pretend to be something other than what we are, let our vanity take the form of humility, cover ourselves behind our delusion by criticizing others.
Without empathy, with a mood of self-mockery and with a satirical style, we wanted through these cheerful texts to feel the paths, which lead us to simply circle around ourselves deviating from the path of truth. A jolt in the muddy waters of self-deluding morals and religiosity is our book, which we hope will awaken our mental sluggishness and refresh our lives thirsty for joy and grace.
Source: https://diastixo.gr/aprosopo-2/17623-despina-zamani
Cute theologies
Cheerful essays on morals and self-deluding religiosity
Despina Zamani – Sotiris Kollias
Prologue: Father Christodoulos Bithas
