Why Every Man Can Use Dad Jokes

I went out on a family camping trip with my in-laws in New York State last summer. It was a blast, we were hiking, eating great food, playing sports, and having good family time. One evening during the trip while we were all sitting around the campfire, I cracked a dad joke. Now to be honest I don’t even completely remember what I said, but dad jokes are my favorite type of jokes. I think they are hilarious! My lovely wife sometimes gets annoyed with me when I use a good dad joke and her family challenged if I was even qualified to use such jokes, since my wife and I don’t yet have children. “Of course!” I said, dad jokes are for everyone after all. At the time though I had no evidence to support my claim which led to a great idea. I’m going to build a theological argument for why any man can use dad jokes! So, without further ado I present my case below.

Pope St. John Paul II in his writing makes it really clear that the purpose of being a man is fatherhood. Every adult man no matter his state in life is called in some way, shape, or form to be a father. Dr. William Newton, a Theology Professor at Franciscan University of Steubenville quoted Pope St. John Paul II saying, “A woman who becomes a religious does not lose her prerogative of motherhood.” Obviously, the inverse would be true as well, a man who becomes a priest does not lose his prerogative of fatherhood. Here is the full (less than 2-minute) clip, if you’re interested. That word “prerogative” is important, because it essentially means an exclusive right. One could re-phrase the sentence this way: “Every man has a right to fatherhood and every woman has a right to motherhood.” If this is true, then every man by his right of fatherhood can use dad jokes! So, congratulations dad joke fans, you no longer have to wait until you have children to use dad jokes. Just to make it really clear I’ll lay out the argument below step by step:

1. Only fathers can use dad jokes.
2. Every man, regardless of his state in life, is called to be a father in some form.
3. Therefore, every man can use dad jokes.

There it is, three easy steps and you’ll be cracking dad jokes like nobody’s business. To help get you started here is a link to some great Catholic dad jokes, just in time and appropriate for your Father’s Day family celebrations — for all men everywhere!

Written by, Tyler Saxton,
Studio Videographer/ Video Editor
for Ruah Woods Institute