In contrast, sexually abusing 200 deaf children is "petty gossip."

A Catholic advocacy group is trying to force Gallaudet University to cancel a production of Corpus Christi, a Terrance McNally gay-themed play that envisions Jesus and the Twelve as gay men.

The move comes after a Texas university cancelled a planned one-performance student directing class production after protests by self-appointed censors.

The Gallaudet protest group has apparently appointed itself the sole moral arbiter of the arts in the United States:

"No. Blasphemy does not qualify as free speech," said TFP Student Action director John Ritchie.  "Just as everyone is entitled to their own good reputation, Gallaudet University has no right to harm and slander the spotless reputation of the God-Man with blasphemy, then run to academic freedom for cover." 

Then they offer up this completely unsourced whopper, suggesting, if nothing else, author James Bascom hasn't done any course work in logic:

Gallaudet University was founded in 1864 by an Act of Congress, and President Abraham Lincoln signed its charter.  Since then it has received generous federal tax dollars. In fact, the university now receives approximately 70% of its funding from the federal government according to its web site. Therefore, if the university does not cancel Corpus Christi, it will be using tax dollars to bash the faith of 68 million Catholics.

Corpus Christi premiered off Broadway in 1998, and even then the Catholic haters were up to their old tricks:

 This is the play whose plot synopsis -- a contemporary retelling of the story of Jesus and his disciples as gay men -- pissed off the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights and inspired telephone threats to burn down the theater, kill its staff, and exterminate the playwright. Even now, before passing through the metal detectors installed to protect Manhattan Theatre Club, audience members have to step around gay-haters on the sidewalk holding signs saying things like “Terrence McNally Sodomizes Jesus -- And Your Mother Is Next.”

One thing you never read in these spasms is what the play is actually about:

 Inside, the actors in street clothes hang out on a bare stage stripped to the back walls. As the show begins, one actor (Michael Irby, who plays John the Baptist) calls each actor by his name, splashes him with water, christens him with the name of his character, and says, “I baptize you and recognize your divinity as a human being. I adore you.” Taking the time to perform this ritual has an overpowering emotional effect. It models a simple way to call in spiritual protection for people in danger, and it conjures up the roots of theater in religious ceremony. And like the early, possibly autobiographical scenes of Joshua (the Jesus character) as a musically inclined gay boy tormented by classmates growing up in Corpus Christi, Texas (McNally’s hometown), the blessing of the actors reveals the playwright’s true audacity. He takes seriously the teachings of Jesus Christ that all human beings are well-loved children of God, not mere slaves quaking in fear of some punishing deity. If that’s the case, why not portray Jesus as Everygayman?

In the scheme of things, this incident is nothing new. Most all religions go through periods trying to suppress works of art and literature that offend their dogmas. This one will pass. Of course, the ultimate expression of free will is not to read books one thinks will offend; not to attend movies or plays that violate personal tenets of faith or morals.


What gets tedious is when people who haven't, in this case, seen the play, or even report having read it, want to dictate their small, fearful vision on everybody else.