Wing & a Prayer Productions

From time to time I get e-mails urging me to sign petitions or write letters to try to ban some play or film which is deemed by the sender to be ‘blasphemous’.

The e-mails I receive most frequently have to do with a play which portrays Jesus as gay (though the most recent e-mail I’ve received on the subject informs me that the play is due to be made into a film).

I want to assume that the senders of such messages have the best of intentions; that Jesus is close to their heart and they are angered by what they see as an insult to Him. So far I have sympathy. I get angry too when I see Jesus insulted. However, that’s where my sympathy ends.

In the first place, such e-mails usually have some form of guilt trip included: ‘If you do not do this for Jesus, then Jesus won’t remember you on judgement day.’

Really? That’s quite a big claim to make on Jesus’ behalf; are you sure He’s given you the go ahead? I tend to do things for Jesus first and foremost because I love Him to bits; having a big stick held over my head, allegedly on Jesus’ behalf, does nothing motivationally for me.

But this isn’t my main objection to this sort of e-mail.

(I have a specific quibble regarding the play/film portraying Jesus as gay. You see, as I see it, if you take the Bible seriously, then you have to accept the fact that Jesus had at least some draw towards homosexuality. Hebrews 4:15 clearly states that He was ‘tempted in every way, just as we are-yet without sin.’ If he was tempted in every way then that obviously includes sexually.

This surely is one of the greatest comforts to any follower of Jesus, not least those who are gay. To be honest, I don’t know how I could cope as a gay follower of Christ without the knowledge that He was tempted as I am. So I don’t immediately leap out of my seat exclaiming ‘A play that portrays Jesus as gay-how dreadful!’ The play might be incredibly offensive but without knowing any more details I can’t say and I’m not about to condemn it until I do; for all I know it might be a very insightful piece exploring the struggles of Christ in the area of homosexuality.)

No, my main objection to this kind of ‘Ban it, ban it, ban it!’ e-mail (apart from the fact that they don’t seem very motivated by love) is that it is counter productive. What, honestly, does the sender think their actions will achieve?

If a writer has written a script which is incredibly offensive they have done it for one of two reasons: Either they have done it in ignorance or they are deliberately going out to offend.

If you have offended me in ignorance and I come at you all guns blazing, you’re likely to get defensive; particularly if I don’t explain to you exactly why what you’ve done is offensive (and you’ll probably end up wanting to offend me deliberately). Far better to approach you calmly and reasonably, explain why your actions have offended me and hope that you will relent.

On the flip side, if someone is deliberately going out to offend, the best possible reaction they can have is someone trying to ban their writing. As a writer myself I would rather have ‘The film they tried to ban’ advertising my latest Hollywood blockbuster (I speak hypothetically, of course) than ‘Oscar nominated’.

Again, Christians should know this better than anyone. In countries which silence those who talk about Jesus, the good news about Jesus spreads all the faster. By contrast, the post-war slump in Church attendance in the UK was due, not to banning people from attending, but due to disinterest.

By all means, express disapproval (in a loving measured way that doesn’t make you sound like a religious nutcase with several pounds of semtex strapped to your torso) and explain why you find yourself hurt by what someone has done but think before you try to ban.

The Bible describes the good news about Jesus Christ as deeply ‘offensive’ to some. If those who call themselves Christians try to silence points of view they find offensive, how can anyone object to Christians being shut up when they express views others find offensive?

Besides, I think God’s big enough to take care of Himself.