Not being a christian, I was not in church on Easter Sunday. Instead, I was at my computer, practicing Google that morning. Curious, I Googled "Jesus." What I found, frankly, appalled me.
The no. 1 Google spot for "Jesus" on Easter Sunday 2006 was slick, sick Jesus parody site, offering a kind of online game in which you use your mouse to move Wizard of Oz paper-doll-style outfits over the body of the crucified Jesus on the cross.
I know the christian churches are responsible for their share of oppression of marginal groups (Crusades, Inquisitions, witch burnings), but this kind of mockery is beyond the pale. I don't see what good--what dialogue--a site like this could engender. It just pisses people off (This site is also offensive in the sense that it makes light of torture and capital punishment, both of which Jesus suffered, at the hands of the state).
I will go on the record as saying that I think it was an incredibly bad idea to print caricatures of Mohammed in newspapers, when it is well known that such depictions are patently offensive to a sizeable religious community (approx. 1 billion muslims), who might be expected to respond violently (which many did).
Freedom of speech is great, but so is cultural and religious sensitivity. I think there is plenty of room on this planet for muslims, christians, jews, zoroastrians, etc. and our planet (re: population) is increasingly cosy. We need to learn to play and pray without offending other people who are quite sincere in their religious beliefs.
This pretty much defines my religion. "My religion is kindness," the Dalai has said. Mine too.
I also want to highlight that this was a "new media" incident. Google works by algorithms, and algorithms don't always work towards the common good or what's moral; they deliver what they're coded to deliver, including incredibly offensive Jesus parody sites on Easter Sunday. It's one example of the soullessness of modern technology and technocracies. It's the kind of thing that makes the fundamentalists worship their book all the more, and gives those in power in Washington one more excuse to constrict and censor the electronic public sphere.
Not that I'm advocating censorship, but maybe we should try a little harder to find the "soul in the machine," and discourage the fanatics and fanatical anti-fanatics from turning our shared online space into a warzone.
I usually include URLs when I do postings like this, but not this time. I can't countenance this parody site by linking other people to it. You have the freedom of Googling it and finding it on your own.
Posted by jeb at April 19, 2006 3:28 PM | TrackBack