Saturday, February 25, 2006
Cartoons depict Jesus, cause stir at Radford University
University officials will meet with students to discuss balancing free speech and good taste.
Courtesy Whim Internet Magazine
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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."
