Humor
In the ancient Greece, humor, playfulness, and jokes were considered as something proper to children and slaves but not appropriate for free men. Plato wanted to drive away the comedians from his Republic. The Christian Church inherited this view on humor. Accordingly, laughter was deemed as superfluous, if not sinful. Jesus is not told to have laughed, and in monastic rules (e.g. the Rule of St. Benedict) laughter is prohibited for monks and nuns. It is worth noting that laughter in the Bible has usually the touch of scorn, as "He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord has them in derision" (Ps. 2,4). Even God himself seems occasionally lack the sense of humor when He asks: "Why did Sarah laugh?" (Gen. 18,13) Later, Thomas Aquinas had an interesting discussion on humor in Summa Theologiae II-II, quaestio 168 . He asks, whether the "lack of play" ( defectus ludi ) can be viewed as sin. Typically, Aquinas begins with an argument against play and laughter...