I like Jesus. I’m obsessive about the bloke. Even as I write this I’m at the moment studying a ebook referred to as “Jesus”. For the second time because it occurs.
Lest you assume that is only a handy coincidence, the ebook I learn earlier than that was Greg Sheridan’s Christians: The Urgent Case for Jesus in Our World and a pair earlier than that it was Christos Tsiolkas’s unimaginable historic novel Saul.
Along with Michael Grant’s Jesus, I’ve additionally learn A N Wilson’s Jesus and John Dominic Crossan’s Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography and The Historical Jesus — the latter of which, frankly, is a bit dry.
I’ve additionally learn one other biography of Jesus referred to as The Bible and as soon as wrote a few essays about it for good measure.
I selected to turn out to be confirmed as a Catholic as an grownup and obtained married in a Catholic Church. Unfortunately it was to a Godless lapsed Proddy however within the one true church a deal’s a deal and so we’re nonetheless married to today.
To my thoughts Jesus was the one most essential and influential human being in your complete historical past of humanity itself. To the thoughts of Christian believers he was additionally probably the most highly effective.
And so I’m fairly certain he may take a joke.
And this brings us to the unedifying and embarrassing spectacle of the hosts of Channel 10’s The Project being compelled to ship a grovelling apology for a joke that was made concerning the nice man on their present.
A joke that they didn’t even make.
If Australia ever goes down the trail of introducing blasphemy legal guidelines — and there are literally requires it underneath the fig leaf of creating it unlawful to ridicule individuals on the premise of faith — you’ll be able to wager your candy bippy that that second shall be one of many linchpins that swung it over the road.
That is not only ridiculous, it’s downright harmful.
And what’s simply as ridiculous and harmful is erstwhile supposed crusaders in opposition to cancel tradition actively cheering it on. You don’t repair cancel tradition with extra cancel tradition.
One of the most typical and predictable tropes is “Imagine if they had said it about Mohammad” or every other non-Christian spiritual determine.
Well, fairly frankly, individuals ought to have that proper too. I used to be one of the crucial outspoken defenders of Charlie Hebdo’s proper to satirise the prophet — blessings be upon him! — as I used to be of Yassmin Abdel-Magied’s proper to criticise Anzacs, Tom Ballard calling a Liberal politician a C-bomb and Bill Leak’s proper to skewer uncomfortable truths about youngster neglect in distant Indigenous communities.
I’d violently disagree with many of those sentiments — or slightly nonviolently disagree, which is sort of the purpose — however that doesn’t imply those that categorical them ought to be censured or sacked. I’ve by no means understood why so many individuals fail to understand this.
In the case of The Project, this failure has entered excessive farce. Presenters Waleed Aly and Sarah Harris — who’s, amongst different issues, an expensive buddy of mine — have been made to apologise for one thing they hadn’t even mentioned.
Harris’s crime was apparently to snigger on the joke. Heaven forbid the world has an excessive amount of laughter.
But after all somebody noticed it, somebody obtained offended and subsequent factor you recognize Channel 10 was inundated with hundreds of complaints.
That quantum alone tells you one thing. Because except a big proportion of The Project’s viewers are conservative Christians — which isn’t a demographic I consider they’re explicitly focusing on — it is a results of a small variety of individuals intentionally attempting to whip up outrage about one thing the overwhelming majority of complainants would have been in any other case blissfully unaware.
In different phrases, it’s about outrage junkies attempting to make comfortable individuals sad, which is about as un-Christian as you may get.
It can also be the identical tactic these on the left utilized in attempting to drum up outrage in opposition to Bill Leak within the fallout from his notorious cartoon, together with activists allegedly displaying it to individuals who had by no means even seen it and welcoming them to lodge a grievance with the Human Rights Commission.
On this be aware it was refreshing to see Osman Faruqi launch a spirited defence of Reuben Kaye’s proper to make jokes about Jesus.
But tellingly he was much less full-throated when the ideology didn’t go well with him, condemning Leak’s work for “awfulness” and noting that “unfortunately” he could be proceed to be revealed.
Moreover when the Australian Press Council did not censure Leak, Faruqi appeared slightly sad in his reportage and wryly famous Leak’s masthead didn’t really feel the necessity to apologise.
Yet when The Project did apologise is was apparently the demise of jokes about Jesus.
And so conservatives and progressives alike nonetheless drink on the similar horse trough of hypocrisy. It’s free speech when it fits them and hate speech when it doesn’t.
But maybe the final phrase ought to go to Jesus and the individuals who knew him finest.
Jesus himself was subjected to cruel torture and probably the most agonising type of execution. The two males most accountable for spreading his phrase, Peter and Paul, have been likewise hunted and killed whereas all the time preaching tolerance and peace.
If Christ and his unique followers may face such brutalities I’m fairly certain that these of 2000 years later ought to have the ability to deal with an inexpensive gag on a TV present.
Yet right here is only one message Harris acquired from a lady on social media: “Go kill yourself you dumb b*tch”.
Jesus wept.
Originally revealed as Sarah Harris’ former co-star Joe Hildebrand unleashes on The Project apology saga
Source: www.dailytelegraph.com.au
