Saturday, April 19, 2003

File Under: People Who Get Offended Too Easily

From today's Herald Tribune via Fark comes the following, under the banner Vegetarian Jesus billboard causes stir in Panhandle:

Christian and Jewish clergy say a billboard promoting vegetarianism by claiming "Jesus was the prince of peas" is historically inaccurate and sacrilegious...The billboard, which includes a picture of Jesus with an orange slice in place of a halo, was erected here by PETA to coincide with Passover and Easter.

The thing about icons, even religious ones, is that they only make sense in context. A bumper sticker that says the best things in life aren't things has an entirely different meaning on the back of a brand new Harley Davidson oversized as it does on the bumper of an ancient VW bus, and the same's ultimately true about a long-haired dude nailed to a cross. Jesus may the son of God -- I don't believe so, but I believe you believe, validly so, for you -- but he's also a meme like any other larger-than life. I guess what I really mean to suggest is that nothing's sacred, at least nothing that can be so oversimplified. It that as extreme as it sounds?

As a bonus, the Herald Tribune article includes the following quote from apparently drunk and/or innately stupid Pensacola resident Carolyn Stallworth, 45: You don't play with Jesus. This is going against the religion of people to actually believe in something.

posted by boyhowdy | 12:55 AM |

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