COARSE jokes about religion, sex and race are simply no laughing matter, says the Bishop of Burnley, the Rt Rev Martyn Jarrett.

He warns the continual coarsening of life's deepest moments risks trivialising the very things that call people to a better vision of the world.

He adds: "If we are not careful, we destroy our sense of wonder."

The Bishop makes the point in the May edition of The See, the Blackburn Diocese monthly magazine.

He states: "The whole point of an outrageous joke is that it dares to cross strictly observed boundaries.

"They are no longer there, even to be occasionally crossed in humour. We have, instead, a situation where the profound experiences of our lives too often cease to be moments of mystery.

"We are sadly all too aware of the visible effects of vandalism, but there is a more intangible vandalism."

He says nothing is sadder than to meet people without a sense of wonder.

"Such a lack is a prime cause for the diminishing sense of spiritual awareness in much of our western world.

"Reverence for creation, especially for other human beings, puts us more firmly on the path that stops us from destroying each other."

He adds: "We can start to fight back by not cheapening those things which, in our heart of hearts we know are precious mysteries."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.