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Is it shocking to suggest Jesus was gay?
A Netflix comedy is news, but the subject has come up before.
A silly comedy from Brazil about Jesus and his boyfriend coming home for Christmas, now on Netflix, has Christians in a whirl. As I write, a petition has been signed by nearly two million people, calling for the “banning,” “retraction” and “removal” of The First Temptation of Christ, since it has “seriously offended Christians.”
Is this an ad campaign? It seems like the perfect way to promote the film.
Then I wonder: is it shocking to suggest Jesus was gay?
The idea has come up before.
For a truly funny comedy, try Christianity?—the religious tradition that wants to be a rule of heterosexual sex, regulated society, celebrating wealth, class, marriage and children.
The gag is that it has to work off some old stories about a single guy who wandered around with his friends, loving outsiders and weirdos, but telling everybody to . . . love each other.
But Christianity, with a lot of work, massaged everything into place. It dealt with the problem of Jesus’ sexuality by asserting he didn’t have one.
As Jesus ate and did all other human functions, this would be a rare blind spot in his human incarnation…
