Religions > Atheism > Protest Defeats Blasphemous Cartoons At University Of Virginia
| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Sound of Trumpet" |
| Date: |
24 Sep 2006 07:39:24 PM |
| Object: |
Protest Defeats Blasphemous Cartoons At University Of Virginia |
http://www.tfp.org/student_action/activities/protests/uva_cartoon_apology.htm
Protest Defeats Blasphemy at University of Virginia
September 20, 2006
The University of Virginia's student newspaper, The Cavalier Daily,
finally issued a reluctant apology for printing two blasphemous
cartoons against the Catholic Faith on August 23-24. A Nativity-like
cartoon of Our Lady holding the Infant Jesus beside Saint Joseph was
most offensive.
The figure depicting Saint Joseph said: "Mary...I don't mean to ruin
this special moment, but how did you get that bumpy rash?" suggesting
a sexually transmitted disease. To which a Mary-figure says, "I
swear, it was Immaculately Transmitted."
After nine days of protest, the offensive cartoon was removed from the
newspaper's online edition which coincided with the Feast of Our Lady
of Sorrows, September 15.
The power of peaceful protest
To better understand how effective protests are, let us consider
excerpts of a September 11 lead editorial published in The Cavalier
Daily. Note how its stubborn tone rejects the slightest idea of an
apology or the removal of its anti-Catholic lampoons:
"[...] we are operating under our comic censorship policy articulated
in April, and will not be apologizing for the comics. We decide about
censorship and apologies based on those standards, and not based on how
many e-mails and phone calls we get."
"[...] we value our freedom too much to allow non-journalists to
censor our writers and artists. We will distribute The Cavalier Daily
by hand on pieces of notebook paper before we ever allow that to
change."1
How it happened: Strength in numbers
Shortly after the blasphemy became public, TFP Student Action contacted
its affiliate members on 716 college campuses, urging them to sign a
protest e-mail to the editor-in-chief of The Cavalier Daily. A carbon
copy of each protest letter was also sent to the president of the
University of Virginia at Charlottesville. Phone calls were also
encouraged.
In no time, thousands of college students and concerned Catholics
registered their protest. The volume of negative feedback was immense.
Phone calls made to the editor-in-chief's office landed in a
maxed-out voice mailbox, no longer able to record more messages.
By September 14 - eight days after the e-mails started - the
controversy reached far beyond the limits of the campus. Pressure was
mounting fast. In fact, University of Virginia spokesperson, Carol
Wood, acknowledged to The Washington Post, that between 2,000 and 2,500
letters and about 50 phone calls were received.2
Other newspapers quoted the TFP's online protest message, which
thousands of people signed.
The public relations nightmare intensified when Fox News reported that
The Cavalier Daily "...did issue an apology for a religious cartoon
in February, after a widespread student protest. That cartoon poked fun
at the Muslim prophet Mohammad."3 The glaring double standard was
obvious: tolerance for everyone, minus Catholics.
In the course of a year, the newspaper apologized to homosexual
activists and Muslims; however, it refused to respect the adorable
Person of Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Holy Mother, pretending that
blasphemy is somehow part of free speech.
God's honor defended, blasphemy defeated
Prayers were answered when the editorial board finally changed their
mind last Friday, posting an apology on the front page of their web
site:
"The editors and the artist have decided to remove two of Grant
Woolard's "Quirksmith" comics from the web site. We are regretful
that many took offense to them."4
A separate statement by the author of the blasphemous lampoons was
posted where the insults previously appeared. It says:
"The sole intent of my comic strip is to present situations that
provoke thought and amusement. As this comic did not achieve that goal,
I have requested that it be taken down from The Cavalier Daily website.
I apologize for the offense that this comic has produced."
The fact that apologies were issued, although poor ones, is a victory.
But most importantly, a significant number of young faithful souls rose
up to defend the honor of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the immaculate
purity of His Virgin Mother - who is also our Mother. Like modern-day
Veronicas, they hastened to console Our Divine Savior Who is
systematically injured by sins of blasphemy, ingratitude and
indifference. May the number of these devout souls increase and attract
the much-needed blessings of God for America.
Footnotes
1. http://www.cavalierdaily.com/CVArticle.asp?ID=27534&pid=1470 Drawing
a line, lead editorial of The Cavalier Daily, 09-11-09.
2.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/13/AR2006091301907.html
Christian-Themed Cartoons Draw Ire: Angry E-Mails and Calls Flood
Student Newspaper, School - by Susan Kinzie, The Washington Post,
09-14-06.
3. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,213405,00.html Christian
Outrage, Fox News, 09-11-06.
4. http://www.cavalierdaily.com Announcements, 09-15-06.
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| User: "*nemo*" |
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| Title: Re: Protest Defeats Blasphemous Cartoons At University Of Virginia |
25 Sep 2006 02:26:43 AM |
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In article <1159144764.620764.95960@d34g2000cwd.googlegroups.com>,
"Sound of Trumpet" <soundoftrumpet@bluebottle.com> wrote:
The University of Virginia's student newspaper, The Cavalier Daily,
finally issued a reluctant apology for printing two blasphemous
cartoons against the Catholic Faith on August 23-24. A Nativity-like
cartoon of Our Lady holding the Infant Jesus beside Saint Joseph was
most offensive.
Wow. So the Catholic are as thin-skinned as the Muslims? Who knew?
--
Nemo - EAC Commissioner for Bible Belt Underwater Operations.
Atheist #1331 (the Palindrome of doom!)
BAAWA Knight! - One of those warm Southern Knights, y'all!
Charter member, SMASH!!
http://home.earthlink.net/~jehdjh/Relpg.html
Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus
Quotemeister since March 2002
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