SATAN'S SPORTSMANSHIP

Sitting around the dinner table some time ago with the family and a friend of the oldest son (hereinafter known as "Spawn"). The conversation wanders around to some unknown-to-me teenager that both boys know.

Friend says "Oh, he's not allowed to have anything to do with our family because his mother thinks we worship the devil."

Surprised, we look at him for a minute and say, "What? Why would his mother think that?"

Friend says, "Well, we have this tile over over stove that says, 'It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game.' "

Spawn looks at his friend and says, "That's just sportsmanship! How did she get Satanism out of that?" Friend shrugs.

My son, still looking very astonished, says, "She thinks Satan is a good sport???"

That pretty much did it for all of us -- we couldn't stop laughing long enough to eat any more dinner.

And, yes, I live in a community where there is often more religion than sense, so this is a completely believable scenario.