system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
I think that the idea that analyzing jokes is somehow misunderstanding them is ridiculous. CMV

So a few days ago I was on facebook and a not that great friend shared a post that was a joke that equated atheists thinking that religion is silly or not true is the equivalent to reindeer shunning different parts of the reindeer community. I responded by saying that I was not shunning religious practices so much as saying there was no evidence to support them thus there is no reason to believe them. My friend responded that the joke flew over my head because I analyzed it.

Saying that I can not criticize parts of a joke without misunderstanding it is ridiculous. Think of a scenario where a person was telling a very racist joke that stereotyped a different race in a very offensive way that the joke teller was unaware of. Would it be missing the joke to point out this racism? Of course not. I could still understand the joke but still point out its horrifying implications. This had been bothering me as some of his friends also complained to me on exactly the same basis.
gpt
Mark Twain agrees with you, sort of:

>Explaining humor is a lot like dissecting a frog, you learn a lot in the process, but in the end you kill it.

So you aren't misunderstanding the joke necessarily, but it isn't really a joke anymore but a discussion.