Article from The Roanoke Times
http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/5...
Cartoons depict Jesus, cause stir at Radford University
University officials will meet with students to discuss balancing free speech and good taste.
Cartoons depicting Jesus in a Radford University online student magazine have created controversy just weeks after Danish cartoons of the prophet Muhammad touched off violent protests throughout the Muslim world.
In his "Christ on Campus" comic strip, sophomore Christian Keesee has satirized the hypocrisy of some churchgoing students, the greed of some televangelists and the commercialization of Christmas, among other things, in 12 cartoons he's published on Radford's Whim Internet Magazine.
He's made his points with images of a cartoon Jesus being stabbed by Santa Claus, playing poker with other religious figures (including Muhammad), punching a heckler who referred to him as a "glorified Easter bunny" and wondering if he has the requisite male body part during a sexual encounter with a woman.
Those depictions have sparked anger among many students, both Christians and non-Christians, and concern among administrators.
In a statement Friday, Vice President for Student Affairs Norleen Pomerantz said a meeting between student affairs and student media about how to balance First Amendment rights while maintaining good taste will be held sometime next week.
The magazine is affiliated with the university and funded through student fees. But the university exercises no editorial control over it.
"Radford University respects the First Amendment rights of university students to engage in expressive activities through student-controlled media," part of the statement reads.
"However, the student affairs division of the university ... encourages these students to consider the tastes and sensibilities of others. ... Some of the cartoons published by Whim fall short of these standards."
Keesee said it's a given that some people are going to be offended when you publish a cartoon with Jesus as a main character "if it's not from the Bible or it's not from a Sunday school handout."
Putting Jesus in the role of a modern human being is absurd, and that's part of the point, he said.
"I could draw Jesus and put in a Bible Scripture at the bottom with the point I'm trying to make and that wouldn't be interesting," he said.
"Everything about religion doesn't have to be so cut and dry and plain."
Keesee said he was unaware of the Muhammad cartoons when he started "Christ on Campus" in October. He came up with the idea while talking with his roommate.
Like the Muhammad cartoons, which were first printed in September, his strip gained attention months after first being published.
Two months after the cartoon's debut, a Radford student started a group on Facebook -- a popular online student networking site -- for critics of the cartoon.
Radford freshman Blake Fought, a former member of the Whim staff, started the Facebook group.
He said he understands the point Keesee is trying to make in many of his cartoons, but the artist is offending people while doing it and misrepresenting Jesus Christ.
"While there's good intentions, they're coming out the wrong way. It's sick humor," Fought said. "The question here is the method."
A message board that allows people to comment on each cartoon and have a dialogue with Keesee is running mostly in favor of his humor. Keesee and Whim Executive Director Andrew Lent said faculty feedback on the cartoon has been positive.
But a handful of students, not all of them Christians, have voiced their displeasure with some of the things the cartoon Jesus does, such as punching a doubter in the face.
"That's not the Jesus I know and that's not the way Jesus was," said Fought, a member of First Baptist Church in Blacksburg.
Keesee said he had no idea the cartoon would make people so angry and is a little uncomfortable with some of the anger directed at it.
But he has no plans to stop drawing it.
Fought, sports editor of Radford's student newspaper, would like to see the cartoon stopped or at least vetted by a third party before being published to keep the rancor on campus from turning ugly.
He said he understands the freedom of speech issue, but said a line needs to be drawn, especially when the media lampoons something as personal to people as religion.
"I don't like the ones about Muhammad either," he said.
Fought added that it's hypocritical of the magazine to categorize the cartoon as a free speech issue when he was fired from Whim after starting the Facebook group.
Lent said Fought was let go because of three behavioral issues, the last one being the Facebook group.
When Lent saw some of the language of the group talking about taking the cartoon down, he felt it best that they should go their separate ways.
Lent said most of the cartoons are pro-Christian, such as one where two students are moving into their dorm. They decide not to help Jesus because "he's only carrying one thing."
The next cartoon shows an exhausted Jesus carrying the cross.
"Yeah, just one thing, but he's carrying the weight of the world there, and no one is helping him," he said.
Likewise, the cartoon of Santa Claus chasing and stabbing Jesus is a commentary on commercialization taking over the religious holiday.
One cartoon, a parody of the famous painting of dogs playing poker, is an equal opportunity offender. It shows leaders of four religious groups (Muhammad, Buddha, Jesus and Vishnu) playing poker with the devil in a battle for souls.
Keesee, who is from Salem, considers himself a Christian. Though he admits he's not a regular churchgoer, his parents are.
"My mom and dad, they look at it every week," he said. "They see some of the points I'm trying to make. They're very supportive."
Brian Erskine, chairman of Radford University's College Republicans, writes a column for Whim.
While he said he would "fight tooth and nail" for Keesee's right to publish his cartoon, he describes it as crude.
"I don't understand how someone who claims to be a Christian ... could do something like this," he said. "Do I think that Christian needs a lesson in morality? You better believe it."
Keesee has no problem with the criticism, but thinks people who get angry because his cartoon Jesus does things their Jesus wouldn't do are missing the point.
"I just want to tell them to lighten up," he said. "Most times, there's a point to it."
Did you notice no Christians rioted over this "Jesus " cartoon.?
OMG, what a long "question" by the time I got to the end I forgot what I was reading.
Reply:That's easy because christians are loved by God... Report It
Reply:There is no need to riot it will only push the lost further away. God Bless!!
Reply:Do you see a ****** bomb attached to him i dont think so..its not really making fun of jesus..your really lame preaching on here. and you dont have to post the whole article we can read on the site..
Reply:Maybe we should to illustrate a point...
Reply:It doesn't have the readership of the danish cartoon, and it isn't as inflamatory. The danish political cartoon said muslims were all radical extremists, whereas the one you pointed out is more satirical than political. It is at the most attacking individuals not the religion as a whole.
Reply:That's because christianity doesn't promote martyr-ship. The right-wing muslims feel that dying for your religion gets you a one way ticket to a bunch of virgins in heaven. What they forget though is that most martyrs in history did a little more than strapping a bomb to their chest and blowing up yourself firstly and then a bunch of innocent people, which gets you a one way ticket directly to hell. Muslims think that if we offend them then it is their right to correct us with violence or whatever means necessary to get their point across. Again they forget that we are not supposed to judge our fellow brother even if their beliefs differ from ours. We are all God's children. I'm not saying that all Muslims feel this way, just the extremist ones. Extremist christians would rather broadcast on their TV shows they think we should assasinate the pres. of venezuela instead of running around like fools setting churches on fire because they think he's wrong. Religion is all about how you interpret the religious text.
Reply:Christians didn't riot, either, when that "artist's" works were in an art museum, which included a crucifix in a jar of urine.
Another "work", although I'm not sure it's the same guy, had a crucifix smeared in feces.
The Christian populace did renounce these "works of art", but by no means did they re-act in the same violent way Muslims do when their religion is mocked.
Reply:Why no, I hadn't yet. And hey, did YOU notice how many Christians participated in mass-mass-mass slaughters of innocent people throughout history? No? Well, that's probably because there are way too many to count. Funny huh? All them Jesus-loving good samaritan Christians, burning people at the stake and torturing people during the inquisition, such a fantastic bunch of Godly men and women. Ah, what a fine and flawless religion Christianity is, with no bad deeds to its credit, except of course for all the aforementioned murders and tortures as well as a good healthy dose of pillaging (what, you do think the Church obtained its millions of exotic treasures by asking politely?). Yep, thank the lord us good Christians bear no resemblance to those barbaric rioting muslims. Now, who's up for invading Iran...?
Reply:We are more civilized.
Check out the ethnicity of the guy doing this...
Reply:I would think that those with strong faiths would remain unaffected by Christian-bashing in any way, albeit music, art, literature, what have you. Jesus asked God to forgive those who were persecuting him. A cartoon seems childish in light of this. The whole thing seems pretty petty to be taken seriously, and I can't see Jesus whipping himself into a frenzy over it, or even batting a divine eye. Why should his followers?
Reply:This question is extremely long.... I fell that I lost the time.... if someone tries to attack or humiliates Jesus Christ, well he attacks and humiliates love and sacrifivce, he should be told so and be advised not to do such a thing but if he insists and unfortunately found a space for publishing his cartoons .... what shall we do?
Reply:Chrisitianity is not a religion of violence. Islam is a religion of fear
Reply:I think it's obvious from the reactions what the religion is like.
Reply:Your posts are always a bit wordy, so I'm just going to answer the header question.
Because we don't need to riot! The muslims rioting right now are not only making themselves look crazy, they are crazy! God has a sense of humor. Nobody is going to win anybody over to the faith with tactics like that unless you induce guilt, and that's wrong.
Reply:"Cartoons depicting Jesus in a Radford University online student magazine have created controversy "
I copied this right from the website you listed. notice how it says "created CONTROVERSY". hmmmm....one step away from riot. just give christians some time and they will fulfill their duties. they will kill these jesus cartoon drawers in the name of god. you just have to wait.
Reply:To quote comedian Dennis Leary, "I'm going to hell for that bit, and your all coming with me."
Reply:is rioting exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit?
I will answer a question with a question
Reply:There were no riots because it is not considered heretical, in Christianity, to portray Jesus. In Islam, it is considered a sin to portray Mohammed.
Reply:Here's another point - your questions are too long and who cares what most Christians think because they are alot of the people destroying the earth. Maybe instead of complaining that they are having trouble cramming their religion down peoples throats they should get out and clean up the trash on the highways and plant some of the trees they have cut down to build those fancy churches.Christianity is to blame for alot of murder and wars and people still kill over other peoples beliefs.You all need to go to the poor Indian reservations and give them some of that money from the churches that get out of paying real estate taxes while people loose homes because their taxes are too high.And don't give me that crap about income tax is already paid when given to the church. That's like saying I paid tax out of my pay now I have to pay tax on all my utilities. I said REAL ESTATE Tax ! To me churches stand for one thing Greed ! I don't drive anywhere that's not nessasary to save on fuel- hence think of all the fuel people could save if they just stayed home and did their worship.My land is my sancuary and My air would be cleaner to breath too if you all stayed home to worship.
Reply:it is not offensive . just satire. and that too of christ and by christians. so it was a family matter.
you should be thanfull hindus do avoid riots otherwise both christians and muslims have been giving them enough provocation.
Reply:I believe most people start a riote because they have deep anger with someone.
I believe people who resist getting angry at any cost, is the true followers of God. How do you think?
Reply:do u think pin jesus to the cross would be a good easter game?
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