Oh, very sorry if that upset you. Didn't mean for you to think the funny part *was* the Rainbow Bridge. No no no. Only the spiders with wings part really.
I'll explain. I am a compassionate zoo, but it's not the "Rainbow Bridge" that gives me anxiety, which I do understand as a euphemism for death, of course I do. And as for death, I promise you I had great, great anxiety and torment and guilt over having to put my Lab down. You see me explain that in the Rainbow thread (not this one).
I'll explain how the joke came about, so you understand it's not the Rainbow Bridge that's funny. Just the idea that we should realize if there is one, it isn't just for pets. See, I killed a clothes moth today, and said out loud, "Sorry to send you across the rainbow bridge, buddy." And it made me stop and think -- If there is an afterlife, and there *is* a Rainbow Bridge, *all* animals would cross it, right? Not just our pets. It would be for ALL animals. The ramifications hit me, and I started wondering would even insects be there? Sure. Why not?
When I got to spiders -- the old meme about "if spiders had wings" hit me, and I burst out laughing, because, you see,
angels get wings. Spiders with wings, that would freak out arachnophobes. That struck me as pretty funny! -- Not that spiders actually do get wings. But that two different concepts of the afterlife, they collided, came together like that. Humor is often based on the sudden incongruence of surprise juxtapositions. That's what this is here.
It was funny, I think. Well, it's funnier if you tell it without having to explain it. But can see how that would be funny, now?
The Rainbow Bridge may be a sacred concept and still be funny, I think. Unless, you know, you just put down a dog *today*. (I wouldn't have wanted to see this post if *I* had put down my dog today. Maybe later on, though. When I was done mourning.)
I think you can believe in the afterlife and still make jokes about it.
Here's one from Christianity, told to me by a minister:
Guy says to his friend: So... Peter was complaining to God one day that people just don't believe anymore. He told God, "Traffic's getting slow at the gate, and the quality of souls coming through it going all to hell... so to speak. The very best candidates are starting to give up on us, losing faith."
So God asked Peter, "What can we do to fix that, Peter? Any ideas?"
Peter thought and thought and thought... "I've got it," he said. "We'll write a letter and send it to every good, kind and caring person. Something encouraging so they'll keep doing what they're doing, not lose faith. Thanking them for believing in us and being decent folks. Maybe a bit about how we have a special place for them up here and want to reassure them, we're anxious to have them join us up here some day. We'll keep the light on for them, so to speak!"
God said: "That's awfully long. Can you say the exact same thing, but do it in fewer words, and without the Motel 6 copyright violation? Show me what you come up with and we'll send it right out"
Guy asks his friend: "And you know what the letter said, of course."
Friend asks: "No. What?"
Guy looks horrified: "Oh, geez. Sorry. So, like, then... you didn't get one?"
--- See? Not disrespectful. Funny. People who believe there is a Peter and a God don't for a second think they'd have a conversation like that. But that's not the funny part. The funny part is that the guy set his friend up, pretending he knows because he got one (meaning Peter and God think he's worthy of heaven) and his friend did not (implying he's not worthy of heaven). Funny.
