A new, blasphemous television show called "Black Jesus" recently aired on Cartoon Network channel Adult Swim, deeply offending many Christians and pro-family groups around the United States.
The first episode of "Black Jesus," which premiered August 7, depicts the Son of God as a drug-using, profanity-speaking, guy living in Compton, CA who is regularly followed around by a group of hoodlums-offensively parodying the 12 disciples. In the first episode, Jesus is arrested for marijuana possession, and gets off by turning to the drug into salad greens. He is also carjacked, punched in the nose, and made fun of regularly by his followers.
According to Variety Magazine, the show is "guaranteed to offend some people. In fact, one might accuse Cartoon Network's Adult Swim of a certain naïveté in green lighting a project where the rewards, even in success, are likely to be overshadowed by the negative blowback."
Variety adds: "So while there's an audience within the Adult Swim profile that should find BLACK JESUS to its liking, the show's flock had better show up in reasonably good numbers (by latenight standards, anyway), and relatively soon. Because in the modern history of TV, it doesn't take much to give the higher powers a bad case of cold feet or, when faced with a controversy, prompt them to wash their hands of it."
Many Christians and pro-family groups have taken Variety's predictions seriously-and have called for the cancellation of "Black Jesus."
"It's ironic that the day BLACK JESUS first aired on the Cartoon Network is the day young Christian children in Iraq were being beheaded. On the Internet you can see the bloody bodies of toddlers missing their heads," wrote Dr. Ted Baehr, David Outten of Movieguide, a pro-family guide to movies and television.
"Hatred and ridicule of Christianity is not funny; it is bigotry."
The group also encourages Christians to express their disapproval for the offensive show.
"America's major entertainment companies may not appreciate Christians, but they do appreciate their money. BLACK JESUS will undoubtedly be canceled when executives feel that Christian consumers are prepared to do damage to their profits. When the shows advertisers (including Unisom and Radio Shack) feel the heat from their customers, the show is in trouble."
One Million Moms, a conservative Christian activist organization, has also called for a boycott of the show and its advertisers, blasting "Black Jesus" for making a "mockery of our Lord."
"The foul language used in the trailer, including using the Lord's name in vain, is disgusting," the group writes on its website. "In addition, there is violence, gunfire and other inappropriate gestures which completely misrepresent Jesus. This is blasphemy!"
Conservative pastor David A. Rodgers of The House of Prayer for All Nations in Chicago also has some harsh words for Turner Broadcasting, the company behind Adult Swim.
"We, the Christian Community are vehemently opposed and violently offended at this upcoming program," writes Pastor David A. Rodgers of The House of Prayer For All Nations in Chicago. "There is no way that this show would be aimed at the Jewish or Muslim community. We are demanding an IMMEDIATE retraction of this show and a PUBLIC APOLOGY to the Christian Community at large."
To add your voice to the fight against "Black Jesus," click here.
