No, I've never heard anyone actually say that, but I have no doubt that someone may have said it, or maybe just thought it. Considering the slippery scope of today's moral thread and how it's quickly unraveling, I could imagine why people would think faith at all is a joke. How so? Let's take a look at offense.
Back in the times of the Early Church, Christianity was easily THE most offensive lifestyle, before it was misrecognized as a "religion," when it was easily recognized for its revolutionary love. Nowadays, Christians are easily THE most offended people of most faiths. Us and Muslims seem to be equally offended, even if not quite about the same things.
More recently speaking, back a couple years ago, there was a video game being publicized, Dante's Inferno. It was already getting heat for making a fantastical action/adventure version of the epic classic poem from Dante, then they revealed their most touchiest Trophy/Achievement, when someone killed a set number of unbaptized babies, one would get what was named "Bad Nanny", sparking an outcry from the religious community. Then it went farther by having a fake photo of a "religious community" holding signs that condemned EA (who are always testing people's limits, anyway) to Hell. On the website objectiveministries.org (which hasn't had one update since 2009, thankfully), they took that picture and asked "Why would anyone do this?" That question was the very reason why, to offend.
Personally, I laughed, not because I hate the Church or Christianity, but because I knew Christians would go all up in arms and miss the big picture. Plus, it tickled my morbid funny bone. Many things that offend mainstream Christians simply don't seem to faze me, or, when they do, they simply get me to think about things, none of which are "They deserve to burn in Hell!" Nope, I save such judging thoughts for David Stewart (from jesus-is-savior.com) and Westboro Baptist Church, who are experts at that (and definitely experts at being misinformed and providing atheism with ammo to shoot down all Christianity for being "backward degenerates", great going, WBC, great going indeed!).
Not all that long ago, I made a post on jesus-is-savior.com's fb page about how, according to the page's admin, they're not David Stewart, so I said "This may not be run by David, but it sure has his hatred, nothing at all like Jesus."
I got backlash in one statement, about how I was "obviously" not following the right Jesus.
Not the right Jesus? He made it sound like there's more than one. There can be more than one self-proclaimed "Messiah", but none can follow through with all the Biblical predictions. More to the point, I told the page's host that I followed the Biblical Jesus and went into a long-typed (and one very long sentence) reply on who Jesus was in the Bible and ended with how I am glad to be a Christian Goth. That really confused him, so I explained how Jesus was the ultimate Goth since that doesn't deal with listening to Marilyn Manson and Cradle of Filth (which I don't, I have more refined tastes) and wearing trench coats (wouldn't mind, just can't afford one right now), or painting my face in a very creepy way (only on Halloween, and then just when I can afford it). It's all about counter-culture. In a society that constantly berates you, mocks you, hates you if you don't fit in to their own niche (even if it's a Christian school with STRICT regulations on how to look, talk, act, etc.), then the world gives one every reason to go against it. Is it any wonder why the Bible calls the world a place of rebellion?
As I say, if you go with God, you rebel against the world. If you go with the world, you rebel against God. Either way you go, in life, you'll be rebel. Who will you rebel for?
The church I'm a member of here in Huntington is the first really down-to-Earth Church that I've been to since I went to Valley Brook Vineyard Community Church. Meaning there's humor, worship, seriousness, and an in-depth look at what is being meant by every verse and statement in the Bible, not just going by surface text like so many American churches do. It's why I feel at home there. Christianity doesn't feel like a joke there, I feel welcome going there even though I read Stephen King and other horror authors, even though I tend to wear dark clothing (they didn't hesitate with me when I asked for a baptism), and all 3 pastors were glad to hear that I was interested in becoming a member. In Huntington, which is considered, with how many churches there are per square mile, the "most churched city in America", this one church I feel comfy going to.
Oddball fact: in dealing with the "joke" angle, besides Jesus, my other role model in life happens to be The Joker, who's a total anarchist. He doesn't need a leader, is totally unpredictable, has a strangely illogically convoluted past, and sees the world immensely differently than everyone else does. One would think he was a scorpio like yours truly. Though I consider him a role model and think of myself as a borderline anarchist, I'm seriously not as bad off as he is. Point is this: let's stop giving the skeptics a reason to think we're just a bunch of religious hypocritical losers that need a crutch and yell and snap at every single thing we immediately perceive to be an insult and actually learn from the Bible and find a way to adapt to the world without compromising our spiritual integrity. Otherwise, yeah, I think we'd be a horrible joke. What was it the Apostle Paul wrote?
"If Christ Jesus did not truly die and rise from the grave, then we should immediately disregard all we've been taught and continue on as we had been."
