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Brave New Schools

'Jesus with erection' ignites outrage
Student newspaper publishes drawings in
response to Muhammad 'toons

Posted: April 26, 2006 5:00 p.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

A Catholic activist organization has written to Oregon's governor and state
lawmakers to protest a University of Oregon student newspaper for having
published cartoons showing Jesus Christ naked and with an erection.

In its March edition, the Insurgent, an "alternative" student paper on the
Eugene, Ore., campus printed 12 hand-drawn cartoons of Jesus as a response
to rival paper the Commentator having published the controversial cartoons
of Muhammad originally published in Europe that sparked Muslim riots
worldwide. The Insurgent claimed it published the drawings to "provoke
dialogue."

William Donohue, president of the Catholic League, said the university's
president, Dave Frohnmayer, had been unresponsive to complaints about
the drawings, so he had written to the governor, every state legislators
and the chancellor of the Oregon University System, among others.

"The March edition of the Insurgent ... was one of the most obscene assaults
on Christianity I have ever seen," Donohue said in a statement. "To make
sure that the persons I wrote to understand how vile this attack was, I sent
a photocopy of the two most offensive graphics: one was a depiction of a
naked Jesus on the cross with an erection; the other, titled 'Resurrection,'
showed a naked Jesus kissing another naked man, both sporting erections."

Donohue also says there were other depictions of Jesus on the cross that
were "so gratuitously offensive that only the most depraved would defend
them." He also noted the paper published two commentaries attacking
Catholicism.

"That all of this appeared in a student newspaper, during Lent, on the
campus of a state institution, makes one wonder what is going on at the
University of Oregon," added Donohue.

While not describing the more sexual drawings, the main student newspaper
at the university, the Oregon Daily Emerald, also criticized the Insurgent.

"The Insurgent editorial indicates a desire to show Americans why the
original cartoons were so offensive to the Muslim world," wrote the editor
of the Emerald. "According to the editorial, 'What is "not a big deal" in the
US (sic) is apparently a humongous big deal to others. Why should we
assume it would not be?'

"However, printing home-grown cartoons depicting Jesus on a cross/pogo
stick or Jesus on a cross/hangliding apparatus are not inflammatory in the
same manner as the anti-Islam cartoons, and therefore fail to produce the
intended empathy from Christians to Muslims."

Added the paper: "Unlike the Danish cartoons, the Insurgent drawings seem
intended to simply incite controversy for controversy's sake rather than
making specific social commentaries."

A spokesman for Frohnmayer contacted WorldNetDaily after press time
to say that the university president had posted a statement regarding
the controversy surrounding the cartoons:

"I share your concern about the offensive nature of the content contained
within the publication.

"I understand why it may seem as if the University should have prevented
publication or should take some action against those responsible for the
publication. The Student Insurgent is not owned, controlled or published
by the University of Oregon and is funded with student fees. Therefore,
the University cannot exercise editorial control over its content.

"The best response to offensive speech often is more speech. ... I am strongly
opposed to speech that makes individuals feel that they or their beliefs are
unwelcome or belittled, and I can assure you I will use all permissible means
to respond to publications such as the recent Insurgent."

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=49925

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