Peter Berger is one of the world's best known sociologists of religion, having made significant contributions to the theories of the social construction of religious worlds and secularization theory. He is also a lay theologian who has never been shy about putting forth his religious interpretations of modernity and combining his theological concerns with his sociological insights. This article considers the role of humor in Berger's overarching theoretical framework, demonstrating its consistency over a thirty-six year period in his writings from The Precarious Vision (1961) to Redeeming Laughter (1997. After outlining his theory, Berger's arguments are criticized for their theological elements and a corrective is offered from the sociologies of humor and knowledge. The article concludes with a consideration of Berger's potential contributions to a sociology of religious humor and an invitation to future research on the topic.

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As globally syndicated television programmes that are celebrated for their biting satirical content, The Simpsons, South Park, and Family Guy are popular culture phenomenons. Furthermore, they are programmes which have consistently featured a wide variety of religious traditions, including a significant selection of new religious movements (NRMs). This article provides an overview of the different movements depicted in the programmes, categorizing them as accepted, annoying, misguided, untrustworthy and dangerous. It concludes with a discussion of this pattern’s significance, and suggests avenues for future analysis of NRMs’ humorous depictions in popular culture.

This article discusses the merits of a sociology informed by humour, linking these merits to sociological issues of representation and the ways in which humour has pedagogical and epistemological relevance for the depiction and construction of the everyday lifeworld. The works of Erving Goffman, C. Wright Mills, and Peter Berger are treated as exemplifying the use of humour in sociological work. Significantly, while having different perspectives on the social world, they all worked within a particular milieu (post-war American sociology) and enjoyed a readership beyond the confines of academic sociology. We argue that humour is an essential element of the everyday lifeworld and that sociology’s task is to highlight the contradictions, paradoxes and ironies in which ordinary social actors live.

Through an examination of how generic “cults” are presented in three specific episodes of The Simpsons, South Park, and King of the Hill, this article illustrates how humorous prejudice is reproduced through popular entertainment. It argues that a generic “cult” stereotype has developed over time in mass media and is reproduced in these programs for comedic effect. After demonstrating how specific correlations between historic fears about specific groups have found their way into these programs, it concludes with a discussion of the political significance of these programs’ satire.