Monthly Archives: April 2009

Church slaps down ‘Fat Jesus’ competition

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Popular Kiwi radio station The Edge had billed it as “just a laugh”. But unsurprisingly, the bishops of New Zealand didn’t see the funny side of their ‘Fat Jesus’ competition. Both the Catholic and Anglican bishops described the ‘Jesus in Suburbia’ promotion, which was held on the run-up to Easter, as “crass and offensive”. Callers had been asked to dial in if they saw the chubby character. The first to read his sign out live on air bagged a cash prize of $50.

Yet even the presenters seemed to realise that Fat Jesus had perhaps gone too far with his first sign, which read ‘Jesus is a Boobies Man’. Mysteriously, therefore, the portly Jesus held a different sign the next day (pictured above). Inundated with complaints, the station then experimented with a Maori Jesus instead.

I suspect that they may have got away with a Fat Jesus competition, however tasteless that may have been. Fat wasn’t really the issue. It was suggesting that the Messiah had a penchant for breasts that provoked the inevitable firestorm.Personally, I’m all for innovative, even shocking ways of getting people to engage with the Easter message. But I think this serves as a good barometer of what is acceptable, or at least tolerable. Sign one about boobies - way too personal, don’t even go there. Sign two about TV – just silly and far more light-hearted. And actually, since the Bible says that Jesus knows everything anyway, it’s kind of true.

The Electrocution of Christ

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A sculpture of the dead Jesus on an electric chair, rather than a cross, has caused a sensation across France this past week.

Pièta, by the English artist Paul Fryer, has been on display in the cathedral of Gap, in south-eastern France, over the Easter season. Yet the presence of the sculpture in the cathedral has divided French opinion.

Some believe that it’s a needed wake-up call to the grim reality of Christ’s death, which people have become desensitised to. Others think it’s shocking that the artwork is even in the cathedral at all.

But the Bishop of Gap, who borrowed the sculpture from a French billionaire, is having none of the criticism.”I wanted the provoked shock to make us once again conscious of the scandal of someone being nailed to a cross”, he said. ”Usually, one does not feel any real emotions in front of something really scandalous: the Crucifixion. If Jesus had been sentenced today, he would have to reckon with the electric chair or other barbaric methods of execution.”

I think the Bishop has a point. Much of the wailing about Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ was about the gruesome violence shown during the crucifixion scenes. We’ve become too used to sanitised images of Jesus on the cross where it looks like he’s only suffering from a slight headache and there is no blood whatsoever. So it was high time we experienced Fryer’s shock to the system.

Hat tip: Martin Newman at The Mirror, who wrote a great blog entry on the subject.

 

Playmobil Bible rapped for ‘Elf and Safety’

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It was Christ’s melted arms that finally pushed German toymakers geobra-Brandstaetter over the edge. They had known about Pastor Markus Bornhard’s Playmobil Bible for some time – but finally felt compelled to crack-down on the innovative minister.

And what sin had he committed? “We have ascertained massive manipulation of the figures,” the company said in a statement. “For example, their arms were deformed with a candle flame or hair dryer to nail them on the cross.” Brandstaetter demanded that the pastor take his website down. Apparently, they are concerned that the project encourages children to turn a naked flame onto their own Playmobil figurines.

The pictures on the Playmo-Bibel website, now renamed the ‘Klicky Bibel’ in an attempt to mollify the German toymakers, have proved a hit with kids – if comments on the site’s guestbook are anything to go by. Encouragingly, the company is now working with Bornhard to find a way to keep the site up and running.

To me, it all seems very heavy-handed and a missed opportunity. They could have embraced the pastor wholeheartedly - and even turned his work into a great marketing/profile raising opportunity for Playmobil. But no. Their first thought was to go legal and now they look like Goliath picking on David. Brandstaetter already manufacture biblical Playmobil characters - such as a nativity set – so why not just extend their range instead of having a fit?