Sacrilegious cartoon in campus newspaper outrages Christians
Jeff Johnson - OneNewsNow - 3/25/2008 2:20:00 PM
Just one week before Good Friday, The Cavalier Daily at UVA published a profanity-laced cartoon depicting God and the Virgin Mary arguing after a sexual liaison. The editors of the paper issued a statement saying that "it is never the intention of the Cavalier Daily to offend."
However, president of the American Family Association, Tim Wildmon, doubts the sincerity of that claim. "It would be more honest to say, 'Yeah, we're a newspaper and we'll run what we please [even] if it's offensive to Christians,'" he says.
Wildmon believes that placing the cartoons in the campus newspaper during Holy Week was intentional. "I think it was intentionally provocative and intentionally offensive. And to say that they didn't intend to offend is just not true. It's just not honest,” he contends.
Supporting Wildmon's perception, Cavalier Daily editor-in-chief Elizabeth Mills told the Charlottesville Daily Progress, "I did anticipate that this would offend people because it offended me." However, she published it anyway.
Wildmon believes both the cartoonist and the editors were counting on a timid reaction from Christians, as compared to other religions. "If you run 'sacrilegious' cartoons about Mohammad, then you run the risk of having your offices bombed by radical Islamists. If you run extremely and similarly offensive cartoons about Christianity, then Christians may, at the worst, boycott the businesses that support your newspaper. So, there's the difference in response."
In response, the American Family Association issued an Action Alert, asking its members to contact Virginia Governor Tim Kaine about the cartoon. In a statement issued the next day, the newspaper said it is reviewing its cartoon policies. The paper has been criticized in the past for another cartoon that depicted Jesus' crucifixion as part of a mathematical equation.
