Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Opens New Theme Park

 

Apparently so. According to reports, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has opened a new theme park, “Heaven Time,” which is-- bizarrely and ironically-- designed to give visitors an up-close and personal experience of the torments of hell. The oddly named Heaven Time theme park is located at the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps base in the northern Iranian city of Fouman. Iran International, a Persian-language satellite television channel, recently reported that the exhibit is meant to “offer a visceral experience of the afterlife—particularly the torments of hell.” Doesn’t that sound fun, kids?! I wonder how many rials it costs to get in?

Upon further reflection, the theme park seems redundant. I mean, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and the IRGC have made certain Iranians are already living in hell. They don’t need to go to a theme park to see what it looks like.

Speaking of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini himself famously railed against fun, saying: “Allah did not create man so that he could have fun. The aim of creation was for mankind to be put to the test through hardship and prayer. An Islamic regime must be serious in every field. There are no jokes in Islam. There is no humor in Islam. There is no fun in Islam. There can be no fun and joy in whatever is serious.” 

“There is no humor in Islam.” Really?  Next, he’ll be telling me there is no beer or wine, either. What’s that you say?! Holy crap, I’m out!!

Christians worship life, radical Islam worships death. We are fond of humor, too often Islam is fond of violence. “Great good humor” is a very good thing, indeed. The ability to laugh, especially at oneself, is a sign of emotional strength and maturity. Humor is one of God’s greatest gifts. Laughter is not biologically necessary, yet is often “the best medicine.” It can be a catharsis, a reliever of pain. And a revealer of truth. Each laugh inherently contains a glimmer of hope. Surely, the Holy Spirit recognizes humor as essential to a well-rounded life. Faith, hope, and love are divine. To those, however, I would add humor. Faith, hope, humor, and love, these four we should adore. We can see the hunger for (good) humor—and its connection to the divine-- by the extraordinary success of the Babylon Bee, a Christian site.

So go ahead and laugh—with me or at me, I don’t care. Because, in the final analysis, the joke is on the humorless.