"In a culture fueled by the endless friction of provocation and outrage, the "Jesus cartoons" were inevitable. Eager to cause a stir, a student newspaper at the University of Oregon, The Insurgent, published a series of inflammatory cartoons in March lampooning -- or worse -- Jesus Christ and the Resurrection. The cartoons, most of which are gleefully obscene, were apparently unleashed in response to the decision by a competitor, The Oregon Commentator, to publish the Muhammad caricatures unveiled last September by the Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten. "
I'm sure you have heard about the Muhammad caricatures and the uprising they caused. Should Christians react the same way? Some did, throwing comments out according to Duin such as "These blasphemers and those who support this nonsense will be judged. . . . Mark my words, when their flesh is burning and the devil is laughing they will cry out to the very man they mocked" and "We trust in a real, living God to exact his vengeance. . . . For that day, we can wait patiently.."
Yes, there can even be temporal judgment for insulting Jesus - an unnamed blogger in Singapore faces charges of sedition and possibly up to three years in prison and a $5,000 fine for posting cartoons depicting Jesus as a zombie for biting a boy's head and other unflattering depictions.
But there is a significant difference in Muslim reactions to the Muhammad cartoons and Christian reactions to the Jesus cartoons. Daniel Pipes asks What if a cartoon of Jesus had been published by the Danish paper instead? Could you imagine Christians:
- Calling for the cartoonists to be beheaded?
- Firebombing a mosque?
- Rioting in the streets?
- Retaliating by publishing vile cartoons about Muslims?
Well Duin goes on to reports that:
But now and then, between the bursts of brimstone, you'll see this: "As a Christian, I am -- yawn -- very upset. Actually, He can defend Himself quite well. He asked that my defense of Him is to love my enemies and forgive others. And the secret is I can't do it, so He does it through me!"
Those are the posts that change hearts, swing the debate, and put a cool towel on the fever of the moment. Those are the posts that put rage and outrage in their place and give love its everlasting due.
Now I haven't seen either sets of cartoons, but have read descriptions of both. From what I've read, the Jesus cartoons are patently and blatently offensive, and yeah - I woud definitely classify them as offensive and without doubt are blasphemous. But I don't have any desire to extract fiery vengeance on the artist. I think this person said it best:
"As a Christian, I'm deeply offended by this obscene mockery of my Lord and Savior. So in response, I'm going to unleash my religion's most powerful weapon: I forgive Them."
