Sign up with Google'Jesus is referred to as a tool'
By Angela Quintal
A leading food retailer on Thursday pulled a satirical student magazine off its shelves after a storm of protest from Christians who objected to what they said was the publication of a blasphemous article and cartoon.
This year's SaxAppeal, produced by University of Cape Town students for charity, was sponsored by Pick n Pay.
But the company, which prides itself on being a family store, pulled the magazine off the shelves after receiving several complaints on Thursday.
Irate Christians, including the Vineyard Church's John Eliastam, also lodged a complaint with the SA Human Rights Commission and have threatened protests.
In an email to a network of Christian churches and organisations, Errol Naidoo, of the Family Policy Institute, charged that Saxappeal had "grossly overstepped the boundaries of decency & respect for individual religious beliefs".
"Jesus is referred to as a 'tool, Christians as stupid c**nts and God as a 'pervert'," he writes.
He quoted extracts from an article titled "Top Ten Atheist Retorts to Fundamentalist Christians " which Naidoo said were particularly offensive.
These included "Jesus died to save us from our sins". - "I bet he feels like a tool now" and "Praise the Lord, it's a miracle!" - "No you stupid C.*.*.T. (Christian who Understands No Theorems) statistically they happen every 365 days".
Naidoo said on Thursday night the articles were "wrong and immoral".
"If this was directed at the Islamic faith, there would be a massive outcry, maybe even with violence. Thankfully we won't respond that way, but that does not make us whipping boys."
Naidoo said a group of Christian organisations, were seeking a meeting with UCT, where they would insist on an apology and the magazine's withdrawal.
He had earlier spoken to Pick n Pay's Jonathan Ackerman who had subsequently pulled the magazine off the store's shelves.
Pick n Pay spokesperson Tamra Veley said that " given that this is a magazine produced by students for a student initiative" the company had never played a role in editorial decisions of any kind.
The company had supported Shawco, the principal beneficiary of the magazine's sales for over 40 years and believed it was an extremely worthy cause.
"We do believe that while satire has always been a feature of Sax Appeal, students putting the magazine together should be extra careful while documenting, reporting and cartooning their work to avoid blatant disrespect of any faith, culture and race. We therefore made the decision to remove Sax Appeal from sale in Pick n Pay stores.
"However, it must be said that we continue to wish both UCT and Shawco continued success with the excellent work they do to support the very needy in our city," Veley said.
But Freedom of Expression Institute executive director, Jane Duncan, said last night that blasphemy was no longer a recognised ground for restriction of publications.
"So arguments to restrict the publication on this basis do not hold water".
She also did not believe that the publication amounted to hate speech.
"It is debatable whether the article advocates hatred against the Christian religion. The statements ridicule Christianity, but that does not mean that they encourage people actively to hate the religion.
"But what is not debatable is that the statements do not involve incitement to cause harm, as they do not call on people to harm Christians.
It therefore did not meet the test for hate speech, Duncan said.
"The statements contained in the publication are silly and childish. Many of us would simply dismiss as student toilet humour and move on to more enlightened literature, which is perhaps how Errol Naidoo and UCT should consider dealing with the matter."
UCT Rag chairperson Cameron Arendse referred queries to UCT spokesperson Gerda Kruger, who did not respond last night.
A statement issued by the Christian Democratic Alliance said it had been "extremely tolerant of the constant attacks on Christianity in recent history", its spokesperson Colin Fibiger said.
"We consider the content of the UCT magazine to be a deliberate and planned, discriminatory attack on Christianity and will seek full restitutional measures," CDA spokesperson Colin Fibiger said.
"This includes the immediate removal of the Executive Director of Student Affairs, as well as the Project manager and all editorial staff."
The CDA's Eastern Cape province called for a national ban on all companies that sponsored the blasphemy,"unless acceptable corrective measures are taken", Fibiger said.
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=nw20090220061422916C552676
Students doing what they do so well "Offending people"
