The Religious-Oriented Meme Database is a research project seeking to document the range of religious memes found online. Memes in this study fall into one of two distinct categories: “memes about religion” and “religious memes”. Memes about religion tend to focus on religion as a general construct with a tendency toward negative framings of religious beliefs, practices and traditions. Religious memes are those which are focused around a specific religious tradition and community. They are often produced by individuals associated with this group and used to communicate associated beliefs or rituals that used humor in playful ways.
Image | Synopsis | Meme Humor | Meme Genre | Stereotypes & Stories | |
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"Shine"/Final Placement Memes | “Shine” is an original song performed by the Christian rock band Final Placement, which was first posted on the video-sharing site Vimeo in February 2010. The poor musicianship combined with the awkwardness of the video led to users remixing the song | Incongruity | Video | Christianity | |
#ThingsJesusNeverSaid | #ThingsJesusNeverSaid memes juxtapose traditional paintings of Jesus with "things Jesus never said" such as edited Bible quotes or Church teachings, followed by the hashtag #ThingsJesusNeverSaid. They generally affirm Catholic beliefs and lifestyles. | Incongruity | Religious Figure | Catholicism | |
4 Islamic Men | This meme highlights the differences in Islamic followers. | Reaction | Islam | ||
@christianmemes | @christianmemes is an Instagram page takes all types of memes, and puts a funny Christian twist on them. It is a lot of inside jokes that brings together the Christian community. | Playfulness | Christianity | ||
@ChurchMemes | @ChurchMemes is an Instagram page created by Christians who wanted to show the humorous side of Christianity. It includes inside jokes that represent the stereotypical church. | Playfulness | Christianity | ||
@HoodJesusYo | @HoodJesusYo is a Twitter account that uses humor as a ministry tool to reach Non-Christians, and Christians alike to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. | Playfulness | Christianity | ||
Advantages of Science | Advantages of Science is an image macro series which satirically juxtaposes various biblical stories and previously held views with with modern scientific achievements. | Incongruity | Parody | Unaffiliated | |
Advice God | Advice God is an advice animal image macro series featuring a portrait of an old man with grey hair and a long flowing beard. The images are typically captioned with text that denounces religion by pointing out apparent biblical contradictions. | Superiority | Religious Figure | Interfaith | |
Advice Jesus | an advice animal image macro series featuring a portrait of Jesus Christ typically captioned with text that denounces religion by pointing out apparent biblical contradictions and attributing mischievous behaviors to Jesus, God, or the bible | Superiority | Religious Figure | Christianity | |
Are You Serious Face | Are You Serious Face, also known as “Seriously?”, is a black and white drawing of a perplexed looking man or woman that is often used in rage comics. It is generally used as a reaction to overwhelming ignorance or stupidity. | Playfulness | Parody | Atheism | |
Atheist Adam | This is Atheist Adam. He is an Atheist first and a Frat guy second. | Playfulness | Stock Character Memes with Religious Themes | Atheism | |
Atheist Arya | Atheist Arya is an advice animal image macro series featuring a photograph of the character Arya Stark[6] (played by Maisie Williams) from the HBO television series Game of Thrones, accompanied by captions mocking religions and supernatural beliefs. | Incongruity | Stock Character Memes with Religious Themes | Atheism | |
Atheist Meme Base Facebook Page | The Atheist Meme Base Facebook page is a resource for the Atheist community through which members post and share memes that highlight the contradictions of various religions. | Incongruity | Atheism | ||
Atheist Memes Facebook page | Atheist Memes Facebook page is a venue where those who identify as an atheist, can share and post memes that reference criticisms and nuances of traditional monotheistic religions, primarily Christianity. | Incongruity | Atheism | ||
Austin Powers Muslim Meme | This meme highlights the notion of unconscious stereotyping towards Muslims. | Stock Character Memes with Religious Themes | Islam | ||
Bob and the Subgenius | The Church of the SubGenius is a parody religion that promotes slack, while in a meta-commentarial way, satirizing religion, conspiracy theories, UFOs, and popular culture. | Playfulness | Implicit Religion | New Religious Movements | |
Botched Ecce Homo Painting | “Potato Jesus”, refers to the failed restoration of a century-old Spanish devotional fresco, executed by elderly amateur art restorer Cecilia Jiménez. The result of the botched restoration spawned a photoshop meme, in which the ruined painting was edited | Incongruity | Parody | Christianity | |
Buddy Christ | Buddy Christ refers to a statue meant to represent a more user-friendly image of Jesus Christ. | Playfulness | Religious Figure | Christianity | |
Catholic Memes on Twitter | Catholic memes on Twitter utilize many different stock character macros and biblical images to underlay a textual message about the Lenten and Easter season. | Playfulness | Catholicism | ||
catholicmemes.com | The catholicmemes.com website is an online community comprised of memes, gif pictures, comics, and videos relating to Catholic community. According to the about me section of the webpage as intended to "share the Catholic faith with humor". | Playfulness | Catholicism | ||
Catollica/Satanic Pope | Catollica is a parody of the catholic church, especially with Pope Benedict XVI to give him a more satanic appearance than the normal puritan type image of the pope | Incongruity | Parody | Catholicism | |
Checkmate, Atheists | “Checkmate, Atheists” is an sarcastic expression used to conclude an illogical argument about religion, typically in a mocking attempt to prove the existence of the Judeo-Christian God. | Playfulness | Parody | Interfaith | |
Chris Stedman | Chris Stedman is an author and humanist interfaith activist from Minneapolis | Superiority | Religious Figure | Interfaith | |
Christian Memes on Facebook | Christian Memes on Facebook is target towards Christian interested in sharing and creating memes about their faith. | Playfulness | Christianity | ||
Condescending Christian | Most variations of Condescending Christian tend to address the contradictions brought upon in regular everyday conversations between Christians and secularists. | Superiority | Stock Character Memes with Religious Themes | Christianity | |
Condescending Wonka | The Condescending Wonka meme is a natural play on the patronizing nature of Willy Wonka and is used to sarcastically contradict Christian beliefs. | Superiority | Stock Character Memes with Religious Themes | Christianity | |
Crocoduck | Crocoduck is a fictional hybrid creature used as a creationist argument against evolution. | Playfulness | Video | Unaffiliated | |
Cruz and the Founding Fathers | This meme points to the difference in political opinion of Ted Cruz and the Founding Fathers. | Stock Character Memes with Religious Themes | Christianity | ||
Donald Trump and 2 Corinthians | This meme implies Donald Trump's disingenuous Christianity, through the mispronunciation of a Bible verse. | Stock Character Memes with Religious Themes | Christianity | ||
Donald Trump on Islam | This meme points to the controversy surrounding Trump's stance on radical Islam and the potential ban on Muslims many feared Trump would propose. | Stock Character Memes with Religious Themes | Islam | ||
Donald Trump, I’m a Christian! | This meme demonstrates the idea of Donald Trump's identity as a Christian. | Stock Character Memes with Religious Themes | |||
Donald Trump/Buddy Christ Spoof | The meme stresses Trump’s religious familiarity with Christianity’s sacred word, suggesting it informs his political actions. | Parody | Christianity | ||
Dorito Pope | Dorito Pope is a nickname given to gaming journalist Geoff Keighley following an interview between Keighley and LevelSave.com in October of 2012. | Playfulness | Implicit Religion | Unaffiliated | |
Doubleswee | the founder and figurehead of the religion Sweeology | Superiority | Implicit Religion | New Religious Movements | |
Easter 4/20 | This meme depicts a bunny to represent Easter, while smoking marijuana to highlight the occurrence of 4/20 on Easter. | Parody | Christianity | ||
Excuse Me Sir, Do You Have a Moment to Talk About Jesus Christ? | “Excuse Me Sir, Do You Have a Moment to Talk About Jesus Christ?” is an expression typically paired with images of overly persistent or intrusive animals or characters, as to poke fun at the door-to-door evangelism practiced by some Christian missionaries | Playfulness | Parody | Christianity | |
First World Christian Meme | First World Christian Problems memes encompass issues that Christians in developed nations experience. | Incongruity | Stock Character Memes with Religious Themes | Christianity | |
Flying Spaghetti Monster | The Flying Spaghetti Monster is a satirical deity for the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a parody religious organization with followers known as “Pastafarians.” The being resembles a large floating mass of cylindrical pasta with two large eyestal | Playfulness | Implicit Religion | New Religious Movements | |
Futurama Fry (Not Sure If) | Futurama Fry is a stock character meme that is used to emphasize uncertainty between two options with religious implications. | Incongruity | Stock Character Memes with Religious Themes | Christianity | |
Guido Jesus | Guido Jesus is an advice animal image macro series featuring a photo of a tanned man with long flowing black hair and chin-strap facial hair taken with his cellphone in a mirror. The captions typically begin with a biblical allusion to the Miracles of Jes | Playfulness | Religious Figure | Christianity | |
Hey Christian Girl | The Hey Christian Girl memes feature an attractive male celebrity along with a personable, flirtatious message, beginning with the tagline "Hey girl". | Playfulness | Stock Character Memes with Religious Themes | Christianity | |
Hey Muslim Girl | Hey Muslim Girl memes use different pictures of Ryan Gosling and witty phrases to connect ideas within Islamic marriage with today's popular culture in a humorous way. | Playfulness | Stock Character Memes with Religious Themes | Islam | |
Hipster Jesus | "Hipster Jesus" showcases the life of Jesus Christ, as taken from occurrences in the Bible, and presents it in the context of Hipster culture. | Superiority | Religious Figure | Interfaith | |
In This Moment I Am Euphoric | “In This Moment I am Euphoric” is a quote written by Redditor Aalewis in January of 2013, which became widely mocked as a cringeworthy example of self-important teenage atheist attitudes. | Playfulness | Parody | Atheism | |
Invisible Pink Unicorn | he goddess of a parody religion used to satirize theistic beliefs, taking the form of a unicorn that is paradoxically both invisible and pink. This makes her a rhetorical illustration used by atheists and other religious skeptics. | Superiority | Video | Atheism | |
Jesus and Bernie Sanders | This meme is aimed at a specific group of Christian voters and attempts to awaken their theological convictions in relation to political controversies. | Religious Figure | Christianity | ||
Jesus Christ How Horrifying | “Jesus Christ How Horrifying” is an expression associated with a webcomic panel that is typically used as a reaction image to a shocking or disturbing post, in similar vein to Tony Kornheiser’s Why and Mother of God. | Incongruity | Parody | Christianity | |
Jesus is a Friend of Mine | In the early 1980s, Sonseed released a music video for its song “Jesus is a Friend of Mine”. This viral video currently has over three million views and has been cycling through the internet with remixes and parodies since 2008. | Playfulness | Video | Christianity | |
Jesus is a Jerk | Jesus is a Jerk is a set of image explitives showing Jesus by average people doing everyday tasks. Hilarity ensues as it often involves funny and vulgar text that is added. | Incongruity | Religious Figure | Christianity | |
Jesus Take the Wheel | “Jesus Take the Wheel” is an expression that is often used in rage comics to summon Jesus to take the control of a moving car. It is a play on American country singer Carrie Underwood’s 2005 single with the same name. | Playfulness | Parody | Christianity | |
Jesusland | This meme highlights the idea that Republicans are often stereotyped as Christians. | implicit religion | Christianity | ||
Joshua Feuerstein Memes | Joshua Feuerstein is an American evangelist, internet and social media personality, who frequently uploads Facebook videos documenting his thoughts on a variety of subjects related to Christianity. | Superiority | Video | Christianity | |
Kopimism | Kopimism is an online movement espousing the benefits of free file-sharing that is officially recognized as a religious community by the Swedish Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency. | Superiority | Implicit Religion | New Religious Movements | |
LOL Jesus | LOL Jesus refers to a subgenre of image macros that are based on iconic paintings of Jesus and various captions that typically portray the central Christian figure as an irreverent and obnoxious individual. Some of the most notable LOL Jesus series includ | Playfulness | Religious Figure | Christianity | |
Marine Todd Memes | Marine Todd is a copypasta story about a United States marine who violently assaults a college professor for challenging the existence of God. | Superiority | Reaction | Christianity | |
Mark Driscoll's "Penis Home" Controversy | The Mark Driscoll Controversy refers to the ongoing online backlash against the American evangelical Christian pastor and author Mark Driscoll after a series of sexist remarks and quotes he had posted online in 2001 resurfaced and became widely publicized | Incongruity | Reaction | Christianity | |
Matrix Morpheus (What If I Told You) | Superiority | Stock Character Memes with Religious Themes | Catholicism | ||
May 21, 2011 Rapture | Playfulness | Reaction | Unaffiliated | ||
Mean Girls "Clueless Blonde" | This meme highlights an ignorant assumption of Muslim people through the use of a well known movie character. | Stock Character Memes with Religious Themes | Islam | ||
Mike Pence and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act | This meme depicts Vice President Mike Pence and his religious and political beliefs. | Stock Character Memes with Religious Themes | Christianity | ||
Muslim Memes page on Facebook | Muslim Memes on Facebook is created as a space for Muslims to create and post memes to laugh with one another as well as encourage each other in the faith. | Playfulness | Islam | ||
Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition | “Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition” is a memorable quote from the sketch comedy television show Monty Python’s Flying Circus uttered in reference to a Catholic tribunal established by the Spanish monarchy in 1481 to ensure Christian orthodoxy. | Incongruity | Parody | Catholicism | |
One does not simply | This meme highlights the idea that disliking Muslims is not the same as racism. | Stock Character Memes with Religious Themes | Islam | ||
Ordinary Muslim Man | Ordinary Muslim Man is an advice animal image macro series featuring a smiling man wearing a Muslim taqiyah hat. The images are typically accompanied by bait-and switch captions with an initial statement that can be perceived as anti-American, followed by | Playfulness | Religious Figure | Islam | |
Perry Bible Fellowship | http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/sites/perry-bible-fellowship | Incongruity | Reaction | Christianity | |
Philosoraptor | Philosoraptor is an Advice Animal meme that asks philosophical and intriguing questions. | Incongruity | Stock Character Memes with Religious Themes | Christianity | |
Pile Driver Priest | Pastor Pilão (“Pile Driver Priest” in Portugese) is a series of remix videos based on a sermon given by the pastor Marco Feliciano at the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God in late 2009. | Incongruity | Video | Christianity | |
Pope Benedict XVI's Resignation | Pope Benedict XVI’s Resignation refers to the 265th pope’s abdication from his papacy in February 2013. The pope’s resignation was widely covered by online and TV news media outlets and sparked various speculations surrounding his motive on social network | Incongruity | Reaction | Catholicism | |
Raptor Jesus | Raptor Jesus is a 4chan meme that mainly consists of a raptors head photo-shopped on to a picture of Jesus Christ. | Playfulness | Parody | Christianity | |
Rapture Bombing | Rapture Bombing is a flashmob prank that involves arranging clothes and shoes on the ground in public places to stage a fake scene of Rapture, the Christian concept of “being saved” by God before the arrival of the Doomsday. | Superiority | Reaction | Christianity | |
Religion Pigeon | Religion Pigeon is a part of the "advice animals" stock character macro series that highlights contradictions of Christianity in a satirical way. | Superiority | Religious Figure | Christianity | |
Republican Jesus | The meme uses the figure of Republican Jesus to expose and highlight the conflict between conservative policies and Christian values, specifically Jesus’ teaching about caring for the poor. | Religious Figure | Christianity | ||
Scumbag Christian | Scumbag Christian is a meme series depicting hypocritical Christian beliefs and contradictory actions using Christian actor Kirk Cameron wearing a Scumbag Steve hat. | Superiority | Stock Character Memes with Religious Themes | Christianity | |
Sean Matuszak Jesus | The "Sean Matuszak Jesus" meme portrays the idea that everyday people can also become heroes or gods. | implicit religion | Christianity | ||
Sheltering Suburban Christian Mom | The Sheltering Suburban Christian Mom is a part of the "advice animal" image macro series featuring Carly Phillips as a symbol of a hypocritical Christian. The meme's text portrays lived religion, beliefs, and values of Christians in a negative light. | Incongruity | Stock Character Memes with Religious Themes | Christianity | |
Starbucks Holiday Cup Controversy | This meme highlights the controversy surrounding Starbucks' holiday cup designs. | Parody | Christianity | ||
Story Time Jesus | Story Time Jesus portrays Jesus Christ as a storyteller who retells Biblical narratives with a contemporary flair, making Him seem more user-friendly and accessible to insiders and outsiders of the Christian faith. | Playfulness | Religious Figure | Christianity | |
Success Kid | Success Kid Christian is apart of the "advice animal" image macro series featuring a young boy exemplifying an image of success. The meme's text portrays the Christian religion and beliefs in a positive likeness. | Playfulness | Stock Character Memes with Religious Themes | Christianity | |
The Last Supper Parodies | The Last Supper Parodies are photoshopped or redrawn images that play off of Leonardo da Vinci’s[1] painting depicting the last supper of Jesus and his twelve disciples. | Playfulness | Parody | Christianity | |
The Laughing Atheist | a picture of a man laughing while reading the bible. | Superiority | Stock Character Memes with Religious Themes | Atheism | |
The Most Interesting Man in the World | The Most Interesting Man in the World Meme uses its template to jokingly poke fun at the ritual of prayer. | Playfulness | Stock Character Memes with Religious Themes | Interfaith | |
Trump, Clinton and the election | This meme depicts the two 2016 presidential election candidates, Donald Trump and Hilarie Clinton. | Stock Character Memes with Religious Themes | Christianity | ||
Unpopular Opinion Puffin | Unpopular Opinion Puffin is an advice animal image macro series featuring a photograph of a baby puffin[1] and various captions conveying opinions that are thought to be unpopular | Incongruity | Stock Character Memes with Religious Themes | Unaffiliated | |
Westboro Baptist Church | Westboro Baptist Church is an American church founded by Pastor Fred Phelps known for promoting anti-gay and anti-Semitic views. The church often organizes protests in which members hold signs reading “God Hates Fags” and praising various tragedies and di | Superiority | Reaction | Christianity | |
Where is Your God Now? | “Where is Your God Now?” is a popular catchphrase associated with various interweb sightings (images, videos, sites, etc) that defy the logic of human understanding to the point one can no longer resist but to ask him/herself: Does God Really Exist? | Atheism | |||
Why I hate religion, but love Jesus | This meme portrays a contradictory statement regarding religion. | Reaction | Christianity | ||
Wololo | Wololo is the sound made by the Priest unit in the 1997 game Age of Empires. It is used as an interruptor, causing the color of something to change colors between red and blue. | Video | Unaffiliated | ||
Yeezianity | http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/people/kanye-west | Superiority | Implicit Religion | New Religious Movements | |
Zombie Jesus | Zombie Jesus is a joke that pokes fun at Christianity by mocking Jesus’ rising from the dead. According to this, this only way jesus could have possibly resurrected is if he was a zombie. | Incongruity | Parody | Christianity |