Alright, so I read this in the paper this morning:

Cartoons depicting Jesus in a Radford University online student magazine have created controversy just weeks after Danish cartoons of the prophet Muhammad touched off violent protests throughout the Muslim world.


In his "Christ on Campus" comic strip, sophomore Christian Keesee has satirized the hypocrisy of some churchgoing students, the greed of some televangelists and the commercialization of Christmas, among other things, in 12 cartoons he's published on Radford's Whim Internet Magazine.

I checked it out myself, and you can too... the magazine has a website.


Just a few observations:


The first thing that sticks out is that the cartoons just aren't funny. Don't get me wrong, I do have the ability to realize when comedy that satirizes my own religion is funny. I think that Monty Python's The Life Of Brian is screamingly funny. And the late Bill Hicks, who mocked Christianity with nearly every other joke, used to make me laugh until I was in pain. Oh, I didn't agree with him, but funny is funny. There's no denying it.


But, hey... this is just a college kid doing a cartoon for kicks. He's not a professional humorist, and I haven't paid to enjoy his humor, so it's not like he's ripping anyone off. I cut him a little slack in that area, since the internet is full to the brim with amateurs trying to be funny... like yours truly.


One day the kid will be working in a cubicle, looking back on his glory days in college as a controversial satirist who really got those Christians all stirred up, telling himself that he really kept 'em on their toes. And, that's fine. We all have our own ways of getting through the day out here in the real world.


The second thing that sticks out is that the kid seems to have a grudge against Catholics in general. Of course, I might be a bit more inclined to pick up on that than non-Catholic Christians... but when you depict the Pope as a gangsta rapper, posed with a bikini-clad demon woman, it somehow seems a tad much. And a gun-wielding, greasy haired Pope really can't have any point other than an effort to offend... but then, that's just me.


The thing is, this kid and his supporters at the website have resorted to some seriously lame tactics in their efforts to defend him:

Keesee, who is from Salem, considers himself a Christian. Though he admits he's not a regular churchgoer, his parents are.


"My mom and dad, they look at it every week," he said. "They see some of the points I'm trying to make. They're very supportive."

First of all, let's dispense with the "It's OK, I'm one of you" defense. I, for one, am just getting tired of hearing it. I'm sick of Michael Moore blustery statements about how, by Gosh, he really does love this country. I'm sick of hearing how Cindy Sheehan cares so deeply about American soldiers. And, I really don't care to hear how it's OK if this kid mocks Christianity and Jesus Christ since, after all, he really is a Christian. You want to mock Christianity? Fine. Just don't be two-faced about it.


Now, again, I am willing to cut this kid some slack. A lot of it has to do with his age. And, God knows, I was pretty obnoxious when I was a young man. Really obnoxious. I'm talking about Late 1980's REM fan obnoxiousness. Since he's a college sophomore, I guess this kid is in his late teens or early twenties. That's an intellectually awkward age. It's an age when the part of your brain that does the thinking and questioning is in overdrive... but the part that judges the quality of your own actions and thoughts hasn't developed yet. Most of the time, that part of the brain does develop for most people. Once it does, those people go on to live normal, healthy, productive lives. For some people, however, that part of the brain just never develops... and they go on to form Jam bands, get roles on reality TV shows, and/or join the Green party.


Then, there's this:

(The website's executive director Andrew) Lent said most of the cartoons are pro-Christian, such as one where two students are moving into their dorm. They decide not to help Jesus because "he's only carrying one thing."


The next cartoon shows an exhausted Jesus carrying the cross.


"Yeah, just one thing, but he's carrying the weight of the world there, and no one is helping him," he said.

Oh, come on.


As a self-admitted amateur humorist, I can tell you from experience that if you have to resort to explaining a joke, it might just be that the joke is kinda stupid.


What's more, if the explanation you offer is insulting and condescending, then maybe you are kinda stupid.


That's just my take on it, though.


But, hey... don't take my word for it. Decide for yourself. There's plenty of "Christ On Campus" cartoons for you to consider:


You can read the one where Jesus makes out with a co-ed and wonders if he has a condom. Or a penis.


Check out Jesus beating up a non-believer.


Check out Jesus playing poker with figures from other religions.


Witness Jesus ignoring a gay couple and hoping they'll go away.


See Jesus kill an underwear-stealing bunny rabbit. Seriously.


And don't miss Jesus telling an upset young man that if he keeps bothering him about the victims of Hurricane Katrina, he'll "rain down hell" upon him.


I'm willing to concede that I might just miss the point of these cartoons.


Then again, maybe the cartoonist doesn't have a point.