Well, this is certainly going to have more than a few people totally pissed off.
A new book by author Kittredge Cherry and illustrator Douglas Blanchard puts a gay spin on the crucifixion of Mr. Jesus Cristo.
The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision features 24 stunning illustrations of a 21st century Christ figure, clad in designer jeans, as he is mocked by fundamentalists, tortured by soldiers, and, ultimately, reunited with God in a homoerotic homecoming. Along for the ride are Jesus’ eclectic mix of friends, who join him on his journey from suffering to freedom.
“A queer Passion is crucial now even for non-believers because Christianity is being used to justify discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people,” Cherry, a minister and art historian, says in a press release. “The book speaks not only to the LGBT community, but to everyone who is passionate about building a more just world.”
Blanchard, an art professor and self-proclaimed “very agnostic believer,” says his intention was to paint Christ as “one of us.”
“In His sufferings, I want to show Him as someone who experiences and understands fully what it is like to be an unwelcome outsider,” he explains.
Of course, one can’t release a book like this without receiving some sort of backlash.
Cherry and Douglas created a Facebook page to promote the book, which was allowed, but when they tried creating an advert on the social media site to promote the page, they were banned from doing so.
The ad featured one of the images from the book, which Facebook said was against site guidelines.
In a message, Facebook told them: “Your ad was rejected because the image violates the Ad Guidelines. Ads may not use images that are shocking. Prohibited images include: Accidents, car crashes, dead or dismembered bodies, ghosts, zombies, ghouls and vampires.”
Facebook has since reversed its stance and allowed the ad to be displayed, but only after Cherry accused the site of censorship based on sexual orientation, noting that other pages were allowed to show images of the crucifixion without being blocked.
Scroll down for a sampling of The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision. See more stunning images on the book’s official website and Facebook page.
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DonW
Oh, enough with the Jesus blather. We get it, the Christians hate us. No need to obsess over their fairy tales — just ignore them.
ingyaom
seconded
Billy Budd
I disagree. I like confrontation. There has to be confrontation. I could have written the book myself.
VampDC
Why?! As a gay christian it’s so hard having to live with two groups that seem to dislike eachtoher and this book doesn’t help bridge and gaps.
Also why did they have to make the jesus in this book so sexualized?
Saint Law
Never mind ‘morals’ – those illustrations should be condemned on aesthetic grounds. They’re terrible.
hex0
Tasteless rubbish, at least usually it’s women who write these awful books.
jmmartin
There’s just one problem. This idea was taken up a few years ago by the playwright Terry McNally. He titled it “Corpus Christi,” which he well knew meant “the Body of Christ,” having grown up in that eponymous city in South Texas. He did not, however, tell the story in modern dress. Although some of the illustrations are top drawer, the modern setting might distract from the message and allow fundamentalists, including evangelicals, to cast aspersions on “the gay agenda.” As if they did not have one.
Paco
@VampDC: “Also why did they have to make the jesus in this book so sexualized?”
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It would be of no interest and invisible to most if he wasn’t sexualized.
aliengod
Disrespectful, confrontational and unnecessary. Simply in bad taste.