Is this blasphemous?
By Tom Quiner
I laughed out loud when I saw the cartoon above.
I thought it was brilliant in the way they depicted the potential orneriness of the Christ Child, who we Christians believe never gave His Mother a cross word .
The cartoonist surely had a twinkle in his eye as the gentle humor of his creation came alive on the page.
Some 26.5 million people “LIKED” this page on Christopher West’s Facebook page. Mr. West is a leading Catholic writer and speaker on human sexuality, with an emphasis on the teachings of Saint John Paul the Great’s “Theology of the Body.”
Mr. West said he received some 11,000 comments, some of which were critical, such as these:
“Thought it was funny a couple weeks ago & was gonna share it, but that’s kinda glorifying disobedience which suggests that Jesus was a sinner since birth when In fact he was the only perfect human to walk the earth.”
Humor is all about juxtaposing things that seemingly don’t go together. The cartoon humanizes Jesus, but it certainly doesn’t suggest Jesus “was a sinner.” The laugh comes in seeing his defiance juxtaposed against him standing on the water. Sadly, once you begin dissecting humor, the fun is gone.
Here’s another comment:
“This isn’t even funny if you knew your bible you would know it wasn’t factual and offensive.”
All I can say is, “lighten up.”
And of course, here’s the inevitable response from the atheist who uses comments like the one above to justify their own rejection of religion:
“I have come to realise why I am not religious. Reading some of the posts on this has proven how delusional some people are. Yes it’s your beliefs. Good for you. Don’t hate on ones that don’t believe. I don’t believe or care for religion, it starts and creates wars and kills people. Want to argue that? Shall I get the number of deaths by religions from round the world, and you can’t say they aren’t religious people cause that’s just a cop out and basically putting it under the rug, it’s a problem and has been for the past 2000 years. Even Jesus got killed on a cross. But some of the posts by very religious people reminds me of listening to my bipolar friend who thinks he’s an American spy. Gtfo over it. It’s a f**k**g joke. Your lives must be very sad.”
His life doesn’t exactly come across as a barrel full of laughs either.
True to form, by inference, he lumps Christianity into the same category as Islam, which is proactive in their desire to kill infidels at the same time Christians are proactive in their desire to forgive and love non believers.
I find one consolation in reading these comments from sour puss Christians and atheists: at least they’re not going to go out and kill people over it.
I’m about as orthodox, faithful and devout as it gets, at least I think so, and certainly endeavor to be, and I think it’s funny, not blasphemous. L
Thanks for weighing in. I respect your judgement.
There has been a lot of murder and violence done in the name of God. One only needs to read the Old Testament to see that. But the lack of religion is no better. Look at the 20th century. Hitler killed 6 million Jews in the Holocaust and several more because they were gay or Roma or handicapped, etc. Mao killed, estimated, 100 million in China. Stalin did similar things in Russia. None of these leaders were religious in any way. (Some suggest Hitler was a Christian, but given that he replaced the Bible with Mein Kampf in all of the churches, I’d have to disagree.)
You of course are correct, Shawn, but interestingly, the political left tries to ignore this in order to retain their narrative that all religions are equally bad.
I’m about as orthodox, faithful and devout as it gets, at least I think so, and certainly endeavor to be (sorry, too tempting to resist, lol), I enjoy clever humor, but I draw the line when it comes to making fun of /satirizing God and the saints because it does lead to a certain disrespect and irreverence which, I think, is very much the situation which the sexual revolution, the hippie revolution, the feminist revolution, and the homosexual revolution engendered. Do we really want to go that route? All of these movements have damaged civilization, have come about because we watered down the sanctity of God’s first principles of life, first. We became inured to their sanctity a little at a time. We could go too far. When we do poke fun at the most reverent of beings, then we attribute to them a humanity which is not of the sacred and we give license to those who eschew holiness, the likes of Letterman, Stewart, Behar, Maher, Eve Ensler (The Vagina Monologues), etc. The beauty and truth of God must remain sacrosanct. The lightweight approach to holiness has caused me to lose respect for at least one U.S. cardinal. When we bloggers indulge in this art form with the sacred, even though in and of itself satire is very clever, we become inured to that which is supposed to be on an elevated plane. You may not agree, of course, but what over-familiarity breeds is laxity and ultimately contempt.
Barbara, this is a thoughtful reply. I appreciate it, even if I don’t agree with your conclusion. I am extremely sensitive to criticism and satire targeting Christianity generally and Catholicism specifically. I have a particular reverence for the Blessed Mother and a passionate love for Christ. I found this particular cartoon very funny and not the least offensive. Thanks for sharing your contrarian position. Please come again.
Tom, perhaps we have to restrict these moments of levity to those who know our deepest devotion to the Trinity, Holy Family and the Church. We know absolutely that neither was Jesus a recalcitrant child nor did his mother sin. It’s unfortunate to keep gently suggesting “to lighten up.”
Actually, this could have occurred! Jesus, as depicted in the comic, was not yet at the age of discernment. So, if He balked at His mother’s directive, it wouldn’t have been a sin. Also, if Mary firmly, but lovingly, directed Him to get in the bath, it would have been out of charity and respect for the parent-child relationship. Again, no sin. 🙂
Good insights. Always good to get your perspective, Tony.
If they are truly blasphemous, then the artist and those who find the cartoons to be humorous would, presumably, have to account for it to God on the Day of Judgement. I think we begin to run into all manner of difficulty when someone takes offense and presumes to know the will of God as it involves the offending party. Certainly what is occurring throughout the world near daily is proof of this. Suffice it to say, judge not lest ye be so judged!
Thanks for sharing your perspective. I appreciate it. Please come again!