Ridiculous Ridicule

You don't have to be religious to notice how more blasphemous the world is becoming. No, no, I'm not talking about drinking or smoking. I don't have enough experience in the outside world to rant on about those topics. What I'm talking about are things that are more apparent: sex appeal, language, censorship, etc.
The blasphemy that I would like to highlight right now is ridicule. I have noticed how the people around me mock their friends. The mocking is sometimes to a degree where it even irritates me - a bystander. Knowing that they are friends and friends shouldn't treat each other that way. I just don't understand why. Why do they say the things they do? What's their drive?
Let's turn our attention to television. With degrading shows, which happen to be popular, such as South Park, Family Guy, and The Simpsons, I really don't blame society for being so cruel these days. With a young audience, who conform more easily than adults, they pick up these things. Don't get me wrong, I myself occasionally enjoy Family Guy but I don't make it a ritual to catch it on T.V.
Taking a stab at why they say the things they do. They say it because they think it's funny, perhaps even fun. Their drive is to either laugh themselves or to make others laugh, just like on T.V. Whenever someone hurts their friend the viewer tends to laugh. They apply scripted life to real life. And that's when things go awry.
What people fail to notice is the damage that is being done. Being degraded doesn't exactly make one’s day a sunny day. People need to learn how to read in between the lines. Even though one’s lips have a rather dry smile their brain is suppressing their body from bringing up their right fist and connecting it with your face. Let's not forget about the heart too. Obviously, someone is friends with a person for a reason. That reason being their heart is fond of that friend and when their friend talks to them like dirt it tends to sting a little.
Treat others how you want to be treated. Perhaps if we all went back to the Old Testament; "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," people would get back into a straight line. At least a straighter one than it is now.