Hay-Soos

This week’s series in Dilbert caused quite a stir. It featured a new guy in the office whose name is pronounced hay-soos and spelled Jesus. I drew those strips a few months ago, and in my typical careless way I didn’t realize they would be running around Easter time. Oops.

You can see the series at www.dilbert.com while they are still in the archive.

As you might imagine, I got a lot of e-mail about this strip. Comments were about evenly divided between people who are deeply offended and people who think it was my best work yet. Interestingly, the people most amused often described themselves as religious, and those offended often noted that they were not especially religious.

My favorite rhetorical question, which I received an alarming number of times, was “Why don’t you mock Mohammed next? Huh? Why not?”

Well, aside from the blindingly obvious reason that I prefer life over death, I didn’t realize I was making fun of Christianity this week. It’s a standard cartoon practice to take well-known historical or fictional stories and put other characters in those roles. I did the same thing with The Wizard of Oz, and no one thought I was insulting Dorothy.

Anyway, I had to answer a lot of angry e-mail. Here’s a typical letter I received, with my pithy answer at the bottom.

In a message dated 3/11/2008 9:54:25 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, (address deleted) writes:

Hello! Mr. Adams,
Mr. Adams I just want to tell you that I don’t really appreciate you making a mockery of my faith. I used to think that your comic strip was funny, now I think it is very disgusting and not funny at all. I have found your last comics strips in reference to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ very offensive. There is a place for everything and there is a place for humor and humor has its limits, especially when it comes to those things and issues that some of us hold as sacred. I will pray for you and that some day you may come to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Otherwise you will find Him some day as your judge, and He will justly judge you for your sins and whether or not you believe in Hell that day you will believe and you will repent when you see Him face to face, but then it will be too late. Repent from your wicked ways and stop making fun of my Savior.

Thanks for your time.

Pastor (name deleted).
California

My response…

Thank you for taking time out from feeding the poor to complain about comic strips. I know Jesus would have played it the same way.

Scott

Comments

[David]

Greetings, Scott!

I know you had your reasons for withholding the Pastor's name, but I personally think it would have been more appropriate to reveal the name. Since this guy is so obviously dedicated to his views on religion (and even has the gall to predict and dictate exactly how Jesus will treat you on Judgment Day), why not give him a chance to respond to the many logical and reasonable statments made by a huge number of your fans who supported the Hay-soos strips?

But personally, I doubt the Pastor could make any worthwhile responses. I suspect that you put a lot more into your line of work than he does into his.

Good day!

[Inquizitor]

You know. I looked through those comics and thought it was a neat little story about teh easter story. Done in the Dilbert fasion. I don't understand why people would have taken offense.

[Erik]

Well Scott, apparently it's been a couple of weeks since you got a comment on this blog - I just HAD to add one to it today. I came to the website to day to see if I could find your "Hay-soos run. I'm disappointed because it's out of the archive...

I wanted to show it to my wife, but I'll find some way...

I am an elder in a small church of people who take their faith very seriously and I can't think of one of ours who would be offended at your very comical parody of the gospel. ("I'll punch his pilot light out!" - WHAT A HOOT!!) AND you placed it in the papers about the season of Lent - Perfect!!

Jesus shows up - does some miracles - collects a group of twelve to change the world - Is betrayed by someone who benefited from his ministry - is [killed] - and returns to let them know he [made a way for mankind to be freed from sin] ((so they don't have to be the perfect goody-two-shoes-better-than-the-heathen to be saved)) It was awesome!

To those who want to be offended: Jesus can defend himself - He is alive, right? ;)

[OgrO]

Sorry for commenting on this so late, but I just figured it might be worth something to you to say (though you've probably figured that out) that guys like that probably never ever read a comic of yours before, so making the cheap threat that "I loved your comics, now I loathe them" is really stupid.

Not to mention he's not even close to your target audience... unless you make fun of the Pastor's Manager. Who would that be? The bishop..? Well, then it's safe to say that his VP is Jesus, and God the CEO? Holy crap - no pun intended - maybe he IS in your target audience after all! ^_^

[Anna]

I get the Dilbert comics in my e-mail, and when I first saw the "hay-soos" one, I thought, "Oh no, what next." I thought it was hilarious and rather brilliant, as is most of your work. I look forward to reading other stuff you write.

[Tsuchida]

Don't like what Scott puts out? Don't friggin read it. Great job Scott! Keep'em comin and GET'R DUN FER GAWD!!!!

[Gloria]

A friend of mine is married to a guy named Jesus. I wonder how much trouble he's had in this country because of that. He's from Spain, & it's a common name there, as it is in many Spanish-speaking countries.

[Joss]

Your reply is so funny, and probably funnier than the entire Hay-Soos series.

[James]

More feedback ...
http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/forum/feedcopy.asp?storyID=3563&CommentID=1364

[CraigT]

Hey Scott, keep up the great work, the "Hay Sauce" strip deserves a comeback. I noticed a mention of Hare Krishna.... maybe Wally walking on water too.
:-)). Dont worry about me, I'm wearing thick rubber boots.

[Cynical]

Why is it if anyone that does any charitable work disagrees with another person, this person is criticized for taking time out of helping others. Can people not do multiple things at the same time?

Cheap argument.

[topaztic]

hi scott,

sorry to burst your bubble, but i have it on good authority that it is pronounced "hey-zuess"

;)

[Corey]

Hey, Jesus socialized with tax collectors and prostitutes, which was considered highly inapproppriate and offensive to the religious establishment of the day. Jesus would probably laugh his holy ass off at these cartoons. Keep up the good work Scott.

[Chris]

As a "born-again" Christian, I thought this series was hilarious. Any of my brethren who thought otherwise are surely entitled to their opinions, but (in my opinion) need to get a life.

It seems that a number of your commenters have had similar responses. It would be nice if you noted that in your blog. I would guess that the sane among us outnumber the crazy.

[patti]

Patti says:
Ned, I loved your post! My thoughts, exactly.

[Tim]

So, I realize that this is an old post, but I have been away from my computer and still want to comment. I kind of want to write you a negative email so that I can get a sarcastic response back. But I don't think I can. I really enjoyed the haysoos series. It made me laugh. I consider myself to be fairly religious. I don't agree with everything you say in your blog. Anyone who says they do is probably sucking up, although I can't imagine why. I do appreciate reading opposite views, though. If nothing else, it reaffirms for me why I don't ascribe to them. And that's my two cents. (bearing in mind how little pennies are worth)

[Doug]

Just don't you dare make fun of the sacred Flying Spaghetti Monster!

[Jaime Bakulic]

Am I too late to say "OWNED!"?

[Johnny Ouais]

Following your blog since a while, I sensed an increasing interest in your writings about religious thoughts, at least spiritual topics. For instance: a recent blog entry about a very not obvious link between beauty and God.

Then, came a guy name Hay-soos with talents out of an ordinary human being. (By the way, seeing Wally is all its former glory was really cool).

I thing conclusions about you can come out of this.

My question to you is this one: are you still convinced that God doesn't exists that you were in your twenties?

[Mike]

Your comment of "I drew those strips a few months ago, and in my typical careless way I didn’t realize they would be running around Easter time. Oops," just doesn't hold water. You've never been one to avoid controversy and you knew perfectly well when the series would run.
That said, I enjoyed the series, but I knew it would spark a lot of hate mail. You probably knew that too.
Best of luck.

[Andy]

Scott
Speaking as a 'devout' atheist I thought the Hay-Soos strips were great.
ALL religion is nothing less and nothing more than a cleverly evolved manipulation tool to control the less intelligent. The best way to expose this monumentally long standing fraud is not suppression of religion but to expose it for the confidence trick that it all is and the best way to start the education process is to poke fun at some of the sillier aspects of faith.
Well done. Keep up the good work (albeit cautiously as you probably don't really want some nutter taking a shot at you!)

[Annie]

It's not 'Hay-soos' it's 'Hey Zeus' As in 'Hey Dad whytheheck couldn't you just do this job yourself?!'

[Ned]

Scott

I had planned to go to seminary (I had a scholarship and everything) but decided to go into public relations - it somehow seemed more honest and upright.

All my life I've been a believing Christian, though I don't always follow the herd in my beliefs. Among my core beliefs are:

1. God (Jesus for those who believe they're one in the same) has a sense of humor - he created life and isn't afraid of his creations actually living

2. Jesus (God for those who believe they're one in the same) also had a strong sense of humor - almost Shakespeare-like in his pleasure in puns

2a. For example: Jesus said "It is easier for a rich man to get into heaven than it is for a camel to get through the eye of a needle" - sounds pretty specific and not very funny. EXCEPT - there was a man-sized gate through the walls of Jerusalem (about 15-feet thick) called "the eye of the needle." To get a camel through it (and apparently, people did that from time to time) you had to get a camel to kneel on a wooden pallet with four wheels; then you had to blindfold the camel; then you had to get a group of strong men to pull the pallet - with the camel - through the 15-foot stone tunnel that was "the eye of the needle" with one guy (apparently a "Camel Whisperer") spoke soothingly to the ill-tempered beast. In short, it wasn't easy, but it wasn't impossible, either. Jesus was telling a joke to make it clear that rich men COULD get into heaven, but that they'd have to work hard at it.

3. It's not your fault (nor, apparently, God's) that parents (seemingly primarily of Hispanic descent) name their children Hay-Soos (Jesus). We non-Hispanics are much more respectful, naming our kids non-offensive/ non-religious names such as Joseph and Paul and Mary and Peter ... and Moshe and Joshua (that's "Jesus" in Aramaic).

4. Jesus (not Hay-Soos) had a real issue with tight-assed self-righteous clergymen of his day - the Pharisees and Saducees and such - in fact, it was those tight-assed self-righteous clergymen who decided to nail Jesus once and for all. So it seems, Scott, that if nothing else, you're in good company.

5. God (Jesus, if you believe they're one in the same) created the heavens and the earth. He created Super-Novas and dung beetles. He created sex (to ensure that his creations would survive) and he created sex as something that's a lot of fun (for the same reason). He made slime and muck and ticks and Lyme disease and the shingles. He's seen your mother naked on the commode. In short, he's not squeemish - he's a Big Man (or Big Entity, or whatever) and I think he's probably big enough to put up with a little fun, once in a while.

In short, Scott, if I was a betting man (and because I live in Las Vegas, I'm NOT a betting man - or I'd be broke and couldn't live in Las Vegas), I'd bet on you vs. that tight-assed pharisee or saducee when it comes to judgment day and the pearly gates. You certainly are NOT of the tradition of the kind of men who nailed Jesus to a tree.

Ned

[Julia]

I think your website is not working properly.
*****
This comment
Posted by: Mark | March 17, 2008 at 05:40 AM

An idea, write a similar strip about cows and tell me if any hindu writes you an angry email.

Just an experiment.
*****
Was not post by Mark, I wrote it! Maybe you should chek it.

[Jesus H. (The Other Hay-Soos)]

Mr. Adams,

As a long time fan (yup, I have all of the books plus "Slapped Together"), it was much to my surprise to see your comic strip on March 8th and the days that followed... I just had to write to you. Ok, enough of the sucking up.

Well, my name is Jesus (pronounce Hay-Soos), I am a database administrator and got the biggest laugh reading last week's series.

I write in hopes you consider keeping the "Hay-Soos" character alive! Umm... you know what I mean... PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make him a recurring character. I'm sure there is no storage of material to come up for the "Hay-Soos" character.

I would really like to see how "Hay-Soos" interacts with Dilbert. Once again, PLEASE consider making him a regular character!

Regards,
The Other Hay-Soos

[Creature of Habit]

Hello Scott!
I just found this blog, forwarded by a friend, and I have to say the creepy email and your reponse were funny. I laughed out loud, a hearty gaffaw.

I have never read a Dilbert cartoon (I've 'heard of it', but never read it). That may make me a freakish mole person, I dunno. But this blog is very, very funny.

[NK]

"Well, aside from the blindingly obvious reason that I prefer life over death"

Just died laughing!

[Ginny]

If Jesus can cope with all the other hideous things that have been done either from people who claim to support him or from those who want to eliminate all mention of him completely,I'm sure a cool cartoon won't make him unleash his thunderbolts.

I can see our congregation giggling away as it makes the rounds along with the collection plate.

And it's got people talking about Jesus at Easter.Which is more than he gets most years....

[Just Me]

Jesus (of Nazareth) was a funny guy himself. Otherwise, why when he wanted to make a point, did he have to say 'I tell you solemnly...'. Just to draw people's attention that he wasn't joking this time.

Also, he was a party guy, changed the water into wine. And good wine at that.

I think he would find these columns funny. Remember, if God didn't have a sense of humour, why is sex so ridiculous?

[Dave Nelson]

I'm working on a webcomic that centers around a pastor (findingelim.com). I constantly am concerned about what might offend my readers. Someday I think having Jesus appear in the comic would be a great story line. In your case, I think Jesus was treated in much the same way as Aslan from the Chronicles of Narnia series, just in a style that fits your comic. I appreciate your efforts.

[Chad]

god I wish I could orally satisfy you thrice daily.
keep up the good work!

[Jesus (pronounce Hay-Soos)]

Scott,

I am a Spanish grown Catholic, with a very Catholic background. Maybe this is the reason why my parents named me Jesus, pronounce Hay-Soos.

Apart from the obvious well known guy there are more people in this world using that name.

I found the comics very funny.

I am working in an office environment and I usually I have suffer jokes because my name and sometimes (well most of the time) I have been the originator of those jokes.

To me it is just a name, and it has not being until I was working in an English-speaking environment that I found that it was so funny having such a name.

I don't feel offended at all. To me these cartoons show a bit a real situation. Somebody call Jesus (hey-Soos) is working in an office and people make jokes out of that, everyday business for me.

It is quite funny when you have to spend 8 to 10 hours in a boring working grey environment.

Scott thanks very much for 3 minutes of laugh and smiles that you have gave me this week,

Jesus (pronounce Hey-Soos).

[K]

Isn't it funny that the offended people are so often "not that religious". Yeah. If you're taking the time to directly write cartoonists about how mad you are that they referenced your deity of choice in a less-than-biblical manner, you're pretty damned religious, dude. The whole "not that religious" is something they tell themselves to self-justify their outrage -- I mean, just imagine what a REALLY religious person must think about this!

And I never cease to be amazed at "I usually/used to love your work, but now that you have done this I will never read it again". I really wonder how often either of those two statements are when used in combination.

[ASM826]

I thought the strips were funny, but your comment that you "prefer life over death" and therefore cannot mock Islam as you have Christianity is telling. It should make you rethink some of the views you have espoused in this blog over the last couple of years. If your freedom to write what you choose is already limited by your fear of reprisals, then you have underestimated the threat and should be pushing for an all out effort to regain your freedom.

[Jonathan]

I thought the Hay-Soos strips were great!

I'm Irish and from a devout Catholic family. Unfortunately for them I'm also an engineer and the whole religion thing just has too many inconsistencies for my liking. I believe there's something out there that's greater than us, I just don't know what it might be. But I am open to the idea that everything in the bible may, one day, prove to be all true. If I can do that why can't religious people accept that it may all be a load of bull. And until it's all either proven or disproven let's all have a laugh about it in the Dilbert strips!

Long live Hay-Soos. May he be blindly worshiped for the next 2000 years!

[Jim]

Scott,

It was great! I loved it. I only wish there were a few more strips, it ended too soon. Great job.

By the way I'm Catholic.

[synapticmisfires]

I'm not the most religious fellow I guess, but I found the series quite amusing. I certainly wouldn't call it joking at the religion's expense, it's just an allusion to a well-known story. It doesn't matter if you think it's fictional and a reader doesn't, it's still just a part of culture, all you did was refer to it.

[Pietro]

This looks strange. Three days with zero comments, then suddenly 900 comments pop up, and there's hardly a comment against the strip.

[jazzact13]

For what it's worth, I thought it was rather funny. I was more curious about the series, not offended.

And Wally being Judas? I could see that :-)

[pooper725]

You probably won't publish this, but here's a joke I heard a few weeks ago.

Little kid to father: Daddy, if Jesus was a Jew why is he named after a Mexican?

[dan]

I think the overwhelming response is positive, keep up the good work!
And yes I already posted once, now I just want to see you break 1000 responses!
=)

[Paul]

He WAS feeding the poor. Just believe, Scott. Hey, it ain't rocket science.

[Rob P]

Heh. I thought this series was pretty funny, and the "punch his pilot" line was clever.

For those of you keeping score, I'm a theologically conservative Christian, but socially and politically rather moderate.

[Agenda?]

So, Scott... why is it that when you state that:

"the people most amused often described themselves as religious, and those offended often noted that they were not especially religious."

You then go on to show us only a response from an offended & religious person?

I smell an attempt to create a high number of responses by starting another 'Christianity' discussion. And, sadly, it worked (again).

[Kath]

Can Hay-soos make the dino come back? I loved that guy.

I'm an atheist and I thought the strip was funny.

[gordon_goosemonster]

Is it just me or does Jesus (the one from the Bible) come across as a bit gay?
I mean he wore a dress and hung out with 12 dudes all the time.

[Jim]

I'll have to admit that my laziness prevented me from reading every one of the nearly 1000 comments, but my pseudo-random sampling seems to contradict your assessment of theistic-complimenters and nontheistic-detractors. Fudge 'em if they can't take a joke, anyways!

Put me down as (yet another) heathen who thought this series was classic Dilbert. By far the funniest was the sixth, especially the delayed laugh from the 3rd panel when I made the connection that none of the (alleged) Christ's followers saw fit to write anything about Him until generations after his (alleged) life. Have you been reading biblical criticism?

I so wanted to make a "rested on the seventh day" joke, but I see someone else beat me to it. Oh, well, as a smug, liberal, quasi-intellectual elitist I'll comment on it anyway, and then smell my farts and call them sweet... (oh, wait, that was a different cartoon...)

I'll also agree with the person who asked for Wally as a hare krishna, but you have to have him call them hairy fishnuts. (damn, a different cartoon again!)

Thanks for the fun,
Jim

[Introibo]

Mr. Adams,

I'm a Roman Catholic seminarian and I quite enjoyed the comic strips. I wasn't offended at all.

Have a blessed Easter!

[Tim]

Hi Scott,

I'm from South Africa, speak Afrikaans, and read our daily newspaper "Die Burger" (English: The Citizen).

I thought that you might be interested to know that the newspaper changed the name "Jesus" to "Moses" in their Afrikaans translation of your comic strip...

Too bad, but it was still funny... :)

(I'm an atheist, but the Afrikaans community is still very religious down here...)

[Grizzly Adams]

I see a lot of messages saying I was offended or that I was not offended. This is looking at it from the wrong angle. The question is 'Was Scott Adams trying to offend people'?
If Scott is just creating a funny story line that has a Jesus character, but did not attend to offend anybody with it, then it is not offensive. If Scott created a story line with the sole intent to piss off Christians, then it is offensive. Was this meant to be offensive, or are some people just over sensitive.

[patti]

Patti says:
I feel a great need to tell this.
Last evening as I was about to enter deep-slumber, another vision appeared in a dream. It was the Lord. ( He has appeared to me a lot lately)
The Lord spoke to me (in perfect English)
and he told me to be wary of false prophets.
He then asked me to "watch closely".
I was obedient (as always) and this is what I saw:

..This horrible dark creature-figure appeared and was snarling and gnashing his teeth. He started talking with forked-tongues and I cringed as he spoke and acted-out.
He was teaching another dark figure.. How to use people-puppets!
He had taken his long-fingered long-nailed hand and slipped it (...YIPES..)
up the butt and under the skin of.. a somewhat normal looking pastor.
He seemed to be operating the Pastor’s mouth and the pastor spoke every word that this creature told him. In fact, the nasty creature fully controlled him.
WELLLLLLL , I screamed and cried, I begged and prayed.
"What does this mean, Lord?"
And the Lord (in my dream) said, "Patti, just because someone says they are quoting me and representing me, does NOT make it so. Remember, I speak in people's own hearts and consciences. Some people listen, some don't.
Some who profess my teachings.. are in fact true to me and some are NOT"
I asked, "But...what about SCOTT ADAMS?"
and the Lord said, "That is between Scott and me. Now go to sleep and do NOT worry about Scott. There are many false prophets and sinners out there who have Satan’s hand up their butt" … but SCOTT, is NOT one of them.
I awoke in a sweat, but was relieved that Scott was okay.
However, I was worried about ..MYSELF.
So, I ran into the bathroom AND.. ever so cautiously.. BENT OVER.
Looking into the mirror, I verified that no hand was ..
up MY own butt.
Now, I suggest that all .. you people... grab your own mirrors.. and bend-over!

[Chaundra]

I believe in offending everyone equally. :) These were great and I look forward to more. Even at easter, or christmas, or even arbor day!

[Yuriy]

[If you can't joke about something you believe in (weather it may be a religion, science or something completly different) or see the humour when someone else does it, life would be a heavy burden te bear...

Posted by: Laurens | March 17, 2008 at 04:04 AM ]

Wow, I think that may go towards explaining all these suicide bombers we've been seeing!

[Chad]

I can't find the link for this anymore, but "survey says" only 18% of Americans attend weekly church services of any kind these days. Not sure how that plays into your tallies of "Christians" who are not offended. But being that I am in an inappropriately judgemental mood today, I doubt most of the comments that state in one way or another that they support your comic and that they are christians too, are being truthful about the fact that they are true Christians. Too bad there isn't an additional tally for the number of commenters that are pretending to be Christians.

[MikeE]

I am religious, and I not only found the strip hilarious, but I found your response to the uptight pastor worthy of a laugh that nearly got me in trouble at work.

Well done.

[Yuriy]

Funny thing is, I don't see who this series is mocking Jesus at all. The character in question seems a pretty damn nice guy, which is what I imagine historical Jesus may have been like. Now if someone asked him "You're HOW old??? And STILL A VIRGIN?????" that would be crossing the line, even if his reply was "Well, I am an engineer".

[Dan B.]

I've noticed a few people start calling these: the "Jesus Strips". Maybe we should perserve them like the "Dead Sea Scrolls" so future generations can try to analyze our religion....

[Daleus]

Ya, what he said.

Cuz ya know, nothing funny ever happened after Jesus was born and he sure as hell didn't have a sense of humour!

Hmmm...I wonder if I can say hell here. Does Jesus read the Internet?

[Jean]

Well, I'm a deeply religious Roman Catholic who is quite easily offended (and in an horrible mood since the right-wing, conservative Party lost the local elections in France -I'm a French conservative), and yet I wasn't the least offended by your your "Jesus" series of comic strips. I don't see how it can offend any Christian -it is quite completely nonsensical, quite funny and does not have any insulting undertones concerning Christianity (the last two characteristics distinguish those comic strips from 95% of what is on TV).

(Still, you should do the same kind of non-insulting, absurd comic strips starring Muhammad. This way, when your car is bombed it will be funny to point out that the exact same cartoons starring Jesus only led to a couple of letters from people having nothing else to do. It may seem a heavy price to pay to simply make a point from your point of view however).

[Art (a/k/a Revbert)]

Scott

What a riot! Only one thing in the entire series I would have corrected...30 shares of stock, not 40. I'm sure some folks missed THAT part of the joke.

Have a great Easter!

Revbert

[Sam Thornton]

First I was a Zoroastrian. Then they started making jokes about the Zoroastrians, so I became a...you get the idea.

Now I'm back to Zoroastrian. Drawback: extremely difficult to curse when you're a Zoroastrian. Examples: (Hitting thumb with hammer) Ahura-Mazda-it! I'll be Ahura-Mazda-ed if I'll use this Ahura-Mazda-ed hammer again!

P.S. It would have been more amusing if more commenters were insanely outraged. Note to Scott: Work on inflammatory language. That is all.

[Howabominable]

Oh, and I'd like to add something for all the people complaining that "Jesus" is an offensive thing to name someone:

Do you know someone named Chris? Angela? Christian? Christina? Do you complain about their names too?

If not, then shove it.

[Howabominable]

Some of the posts here that are saying, "All religious people are ignorant idiots and have no sense of reason!" are making me roll my eyes. First of all, I'd say 50% of the posts here so far are by Christians who enjoyed the series, so clearly not all Christians are angry about this. I've read TWO responses so far claiming that Scott Adams is "mocking" Jesus, but I don't see how he is. He is not mocking Jesus with this series anymore than C. S. Lewis was mocking God in "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." It's the SAME thing. If you think Scott Adams is wrong for doing this, you must apply the same thinking to C. S. Lewis.

Secondly, it is completely false to say that Christians somehow are incapable of reasoning and logic. I use logic and reasoning in everything I do - even religious things. But just because I can reason doesn't mean that there is no place in my life for some faith, and just because I believe in God doesn't mean I'm somehow illogical. There is room for both faith and reason in my life - they are not mutually exclusive. Sometimes I think atheists like to call Christians ignorant or without reason just so they feel better about themselves. Please, if you're going to claim to be logical or reasoning, don't make ignorant statements about an entire group of people. It makes YOU look ignorant. Not me.

And I think that Scott's response was perfect. Yes, Jesus confronted the Pharisees, but that doesn't mean that that's what he intends for us to do. With genocide in Darfur, civil war in Kenya, a guest pastor at our church telling us the story of how he came across his family slaughtered because of their beliefs in Korea and people being imprisoned and killed because of their faith, not to mention our own problems in our local communities, we have a lot more to worry about than what Scott Adams puts in his comic strip. If some Christians wants to take the case and rally against Scott Adams because he made a Christian allegory, well, I'd say their time is greatly misspent.

[WhiskeyJack]

Add me to the long list of Christians who thought the strip was really funny (and was hoping for more). I'm actually disappointed that this was not intentionally timed for Easter.

As others have mentioned, I think the real Jesus had a sense of humour and I'm saddened that there are Christians out there who choose to take offense at such trivialities. There are a lot of things going on in the world that Christians should be offended by. A cute comic strip is not one of them.

[Al]

If Jesus didn't want you to put him in your comic, he would've told his omnipotent father to stop you from drawing them in the first place. I know that's what I would've done if I had an omnipotent father.

[patti]

Patti says:
Scott you .. ARE ....here. I was worried that maybe your clinic/office was bombed or something.
I prayed for you all weekend as I .. quickly knitted you a cap of palms so that you will have continued peace.
You are safe..... WHEW!!

Now, while I was knitting, one question haunted me over and over again... concerning this topic
"what would Hay-soos do?".. "WWHD"

_____________________________________________________

PS. Geesh, I wish you would have posted these last comments sooner. It is too hard to read them all this morning and then read your next Blog..

[argenbert]

"... now i don't think they are funny"

u can say that 1 strip was not funny, or 10 or 20, but if u think that the strip is generally funny, you cannot change that assumption based on you being mad.

it would be nice not to have so many sacred things in the world. i would start in life and stop just bout there... i don't know, maybe include peace.

[Neil Wilson]

It would have been even funnier if it had run a week later.

[Greg]

Don't you love email? Before email they would have thrown a bag over your head and spirited you away to some unknown location to beat you into submission until you confessed all your sins and renounced your old ways. We really need to work on getting our government connected now.

[benj]

http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/960731.html

I dont know if someone already answered your question, but the immense humor that you have brought to me a la "hoover", bicyle? and pavements?! (lol) has encouraged me to overcome my usual apathy

dogbert bless you

[Katie]

Thanks for your comic strip. It helps me get through each day I spend in my little cubicle. Seriously though - I thought this week's strip was some of your best work yet. Keep up the good work!

[carlos]

you should incorporate a muslim or muhammad into a strip, but have him be invisible.

[Steven]

While there were some exceptions, it seems like most of the responses fall into two broad groups:

1. Christians saying they weren't offended; and

2. People complaining that Christians (and religious people in general) are too sensitive.

900+ blog responses? I hope you do a follow-up on this subject. Maybe wait until after Easter though.

[jerry w.]

You want me to accept Hey Zeus (my spelling) as my Lord and Savior?

Well, o.k., I guess I could do that.....

After all, I can accept him as my gardener, even without a "greens" card.

http://boskolives.wordpress.com/

[Jesus]

Well,
Actually my name is Jesus and it pronunced Hey-sooos Im a Mexicant guy living in the states (Im not the son of Lord) and I found the strip extremly funny!

[Rob Elbourn]

Hi,

Am a Christian youth pastor from London, thought your comic strip was funny, keep it up.

Thought I'd just redress the balance of offense (as some people already have).

[Jesus]

Scott,

I wasn't offended, and I have saved you a place in heaven.

-Jesus

[TheBishop]

I'm disappointed you DIDN'T run them to coincide with Holy Week.

[accessbob]

How come Hay-Soos didn't go on a date with Alice? Or are you saving that one for the "Dilbert Code" series?

[Richard]

What religion needs is more humor. It's just too stuffy. I used to be somewhat religious, and my friends and I would make jokes about Jesus being in various funny mundane positions. It didn't make him any less special. Of course, now that I've lost the faith, I don't give a Christ about it.

[Richard]

What religion needs is more humor. It's just too stuffy. I used to be somewhat religious, and my friends and I would make jokes about Jesus being in various funny mundane positions. It didn't make him any less special. Of course, now that I've lost the faith, I don't give a Christ about it.

[jesse]

No wonder people are so nuts about illegal immigration - they are offended that Hispanics might be named Jesus.

Never mind that Jesus is really the Greek translation of His real name: Joshua.

But then, most of your religious fanatics don't know as much about their faith as they think

[zume]

Dude,

You made fun of god/jesus... that will lose him some of his powers... he's going to be pissed!

Zume

[Al]

Somehow I knew some of my brethren would not be amused. However, I always enjoy humor about my faith as long as it isn't done in a derogatory manner. I've known a number of guys named Jesus (Hay-Soos), and thought the little play on the guy actually having divine powers was hilarious.

[Michelle Malay Carter]

Scott,

Easter exists because Jesus chose NOT to defend himself. Maybe we Christians should seek to emulate Jesus rather than defend him.

Regards,

Michelle Malay Carter

[Anfauglir]

As to whether Scott's response is inappropriate.....

Someone who really, truly believes in a god (no matter which one) knows quite clearly what that god expects in way of service. To engage in any activity other than that which the god wants is to go against that god's wishes.

In other words, there should be no "spare time" for the religious, unless their god is quite specific that they should spend some time doing their own thing. Christians like this argument, as it allows them to buy leisure goods rather than give ALL their "spare" cash to the poor.

Note also the preacher's words (my emphasis): "...you WILL find Him some day as your judge, and He WILL justly judge you for your sins ... and you WILL repent when you see Him face to face, but then it will be too late. Repent from your wicked ways..." That preacher apparently knows EXACTLY what his god wants, and does not want - and so (unles he is totally convinced that writing to Scott is the correct and best use of his time according to his god - which seems unlikely given his quotes), then he is deliberately taking a five minute "time out" from what his god wants - and so Scott's response is more than justified.

[Mark]

Regarding the Mohammed cartoons,

a) they were reprinted (IIRC) two years. And it was the *reprint* that got people wound up

b) the reprints were done in a diatribe against the disrespect of Mohammed

c) One of the cartoons was (IMO) wrong (the one with the bomb in the turban: seemed to be trolling to me) but most were OK and the one about "we've run out of virgins" hilarious

so feel free to mock Muslim faith or Mohammed. The only ones you'll get a nasty letter from are those who demand obesiance and they are a tiny minority (though a tiny fraction of all the idiots on the planet still builds up to a lot of people. We need to thin the herd a little...).

[Julia]

An idea, write a similar strip about cows and tell me if any hindu writes you an angry email.

Just an experiment.

[Greg Wischnewsky]

Hi Scott,
intolerance is the name of the game - but you know that yourself.
I am not a religious person, in fact I am as heathen as they come, but I belong to the faction that thinks this work was among your funniest in the last couple of years.
Thank you very much!

[T]

I am a very conservative Christian myself, but I read the Dilbert strip daily. I found the "Hay-soos" comics especially funny, more for the Dilbert characters reactions ("betray him for 40 shares of stock", "I should have written that down") than for anything that Jesus himself did. As always, you have found humor in the absurd reactions, versus intentionally mocking any specific religion. However, much as with the strip about the Nuns and the plane crash, your timing was horrible, so many are feeling threatened and upset. I guess that I can see the humor mainly due to the fact that I have conviction in my beliefs, and not simply blind faith.

That all being said, I believe the issue most Christian that are being offended have is with feeling singled out, not simply by you, but by the majority. It has become politically correct to mock a Christian in America, but slanderous to mock anyone of other religions (ie, Mormon, Muslim, Scientology, et cetera.

And quote:

"My favorite rhetorical question, which I received an alarming number of times, was “Why don’t you mock Mohammed next? Huh? Why not?”

Well, aside from the blindingly obvious reason that I prefer life over death"

That is the sad truth, unfortunately. While a Christian may get upset, they will rarely strap bombs to themselves and target you for the slightest offense, whereas Muslims have historically acted more radical for said offenses. That fear is actually WORKING to keep people from mocking Muslims is sad, because people should be free to express their beliefs or lack thereof regardless of whose toes they step on. I am saddened to see how politically correct America has become, that a cartoonist would be afraid to parody, due to fear of retaliation. I may not agree with someone claiming that Allah is god, but they have the right to say it, just as I have the right to publically disagree.

Scott, I for one hope to see MANY more satire-aimed strips, and I hope you can keep as much objectivity about them, and offend as many various sects, groups, and people, as possible!

[Mujtaba]

Scott although i am a muslim and even i did not find your hay-soos series particularly funny.lumping a fictional character like Dorothy from wizard of oz with a revered character like Jesus Christ(PBUH).....a person who has religious standing for two major religions(Islam & Christianity)....just goes to show what kind of times we are living in. ALL religious personalities should be respected(even if its a cartoon strip).specially in these sensitive times.I know controversy sells and what better way to generate it then by offending Christian OR Muslim sensibilities(Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) cartoons in Danish papers).

[wernman]

I'm a strong Christian and have often argued for Intelligent Design in these comments. I thought the strips were funny. We (most of us) can take a joke.

It did make me think though -- proof positive there's a difference between religions. The worst that happened over this was Scott got a few flames. We all know the response would've been more severe if the character had been Mohammed instead of Hay-soos.

Think about that.

[Guilherme]

Sweet.

[Marci]

I thought it was deliberately timed for Easter. About three days in I thought, "Easter time already?" and went to look at the calendar to see. As it was a Jewish calendar, Easter was not on it, but that's a different problem entirely.

[Marc]

I'm pretty sure Jesus would have agreed with that pastor's use of his time. Jesus spent quite a bit of time trying to educate the people around him, especially if they were those hypocrite Pharisees. He routinely insulted them to make them see the error of their way of thinking. So the couple minutes that pastor took to try to get his point across would be fine. I think the poor will survive. The chance to save a soul, though, is worth it, even if it is a slim chance.

[Neath]

Personaly, I found last weeks strips quite funny and I really don't see what all the fuss is about. My guess is it's just people with too much free time on their hands looking for a reason to complain.
Your reply to the pastors fanatical preaching..... What can I say? It was beautiful.

[Edwin]

Was that mocking faith? Geez, seems a lot of people out there have a disturbed mind. Let me guess, most people who felt offended live in the USA? I seriously doubt you received a complaint from the vatican or any high positioned church member.

[IG]

Nicely put.
I don't actually think your timing was all that bad and these strips have in my view been a very ammusing alternative at this time of year. One of the last things Jesus told his followers was to remember him. Seems you helped a lot of people do just that.
In addition, there have been a number of comic moments that while to many seem offensive, have to others including myself been very ammusing mostly because they cut to some truth, not about Jesus or whoever, but ourselves. Monty Python's Life of Brian being one and as another example Eddie Izzard's "cake or death" sketch - classic.
Put me in your "religious" category but keep me out of your "Pastor from California" category.

[Sian]

If that was your actual response, respect!

[Sian]

My word!
I thought the comics were hilarious; just yesterday I was out with my friends and we were laughing together about the series. We all call ourselves Christian, although belonging to three very different denominations, and are all devout in our own ways.
I didn't find it remotely sacrilegious.

[Danny boy]

For the record, Scott, I thought you were being deliberately careful *not* to be offensive and it showed, without taking too much away from the strip. Some people will get offended automatically if you mention their religion without bothering to engage their brain and evaluate the strip. Ignore them.

See you in hell...

[pbrooks100]

Hopefully, bringing laughter to millions and being a vegetarian (protecting all creatures great and small) will count for something when you meet "the big guy".

The moist robots are behaving as programmed...

[Laurens]

Ow come on.

I'm a christian and I thought they were funny as hell ;)

If you can't joke about something you believe in (weather it may be a religion, science or something completly different) or see the humour when someone else does it, life would be a heavy burden te bear...

[bbk]

I thought they were funny. It's really humorous to me when your critics inevitably say, "I used to think you were funny until you offended me in your strip/blog/restaurant/etc." If they ever thought you were funny surely being offended once doesn't change their entire sense of humor. The power you have.

Great work, as always (and for your tally, I'm a Christian).

[Steve]

I find it incredible that anyone could find your strips offensive, although we are all entitled to our own opinions and beliefs. 'De gustibus non est disputandum' as the Romans may have said back in Jesus' day...

[justme]

What??? Not a single comment in three days?!

[Hennie]

When the Hay-Soos strips started running, I actually went, "...four, three, two, one, BOOOM! Hate mail and complaints coming Mr Scott's way from all corners!"

The way I see it, no-one has the right to NOT be offended. I'm offended every day, by stupid people, by bad drivers, by religious zealots telling me I'm wrong when I'm clearly not, etc. etc. but I don't write angry letters about it. I get offended, then I get over it, because - just to drive the point home - no-one has the right NOT to be offended.

[Anfauglir]

“Why don’t you mock Mohammed next? Huh? Why not?”

Indeed, why not? Because his followers are all murdering fanatics, of course. Christians are always very pleased with themselves that THEY would never seek to avenge an "insult" to their religion in such a way.

To which I always respond: "well, maybe their belief is stronger than yours".

Having now annoyed both sides, I shall go hide under the bed.

[Homebizseo.com]

Timing is everything. We always try to be correct but sometime mistakes happen.

Regards,

[Martin]

If I go to heaven I'll put in a good word for you, Scott. The way I see it, you won't need it though. ;)

[Pooja Chauhan]

Scott

It seems to me that this guy is not serious. He is probably making fun of people who feel the way he wrote he feels. See, he says
"..Repent from your wicked ways and stop making fun of my Savior. .. "
And specially the part about not liking your strip anymore - that's something you have made fun of so many times.

The letter cannot be serious. May be this is his attempt at humour.

--- Pooja.

[Mike]

I can't believe you are bowing the submissive head to the threat of violence Scott. I am deeply disappointed in you. Come on mock Mohammed. Or at least his extremist followers.

I work with some really nice guys that are muslims. All muslims are NOT violent (yes, I know YOU didn't say that) and all christians are NOT good guys.

Please bring back Hay-Soos. I haven't been to church for a while but I'm pretty sure there are a whole bunch of good stories just waiting for the Dilbert treatment. But considering your personal safety, are you SURE there ain't no gun-totin Southern preacher that's gonna blast you for mocking The Lord?

[xorac]

It just seems like Christianity is a lot more tolerant when it comes to satire and critisizm, the same topic on Hinduism or Islam would have resulted in about 1 billion angry nutcases after ur nuts. But I sure liked the strips.

[Mohrorless]

You can't please all of the people all of the time. Keep doing what you are doing.

As for the strips featuring Jesus....I was not offended, I enjoyed them. I happen to be Catholic, mostly Conservative and moderately religious (I haven't seen God in anything that has come out of my toaster (yet :) )). I try to see people and things for what they are.

I have seen people act like they are the real thing (I am in the IT field) and your strips made me think of them and laugh. Thank you for that. I was also a little sad that the story line ended so quickly.

[Raul]

Well, maybe it is that I am not extremely religious (but Christian indeed), but I think the cartoons are not offensive at all.

[ray]

Uh, love your response message Scott. Like I absolutely favour the 'Hay-soos' series.

Religion is what you make of it - like everything else.

And like Charlie Chaplin said: In the end, everything is a gag.

Keep up the good work.

[dh1024]

I thought the jokes were great. People seem to take these sorts of things too seriously and are far too quick to bleat out some dogmatic chant. Faith is great but when it’s blind and unquestionable, it’s more destructive that good. Any time you are not allowed to logically test something, you should be more suspicious.

[Dave]

Surely this is a joke?! I'd like to think a Pastor whose job it is to preach would be a little bit more eloquent than this thinly veiled 'screw you' response!

I thought the strips were immensely funny.

[Jeffus]

I thought you were tackling the immigration issue. Jesus is usually a Hispanic name. You were showing that Mexicans are hard working and friendly people.
Trust the religious right to take your strip out of context.

[Jonas]

Well, I'm a christian catholic, I go to church on sundays and pray every day. I've been to the vatican to receive the Pope's blessing and I thouhgt that this story arc was very funny :-)

I don't know, but I think that Jesus our Savior (he's not only one persons Savior, so calling him my Savior is really to belittle him somewhat) doesn't mind. He's our Lord and won't fall down because of a cartoonist. He's above that.

Thanks for a funny strip by the way :-)

[The Hammer]

A few items for your consideration:

1. While I take defending my faith seriously, I am quite sure Jesus is capable of defending Himself against such "attacks". I think the Christians must pick there battles (not this one) then fight hard.

2. You do show no respect, but why should you? To you He is just another character in a story. It would be like disrespecting Luke Skywalker (to which you may also get hate mail!)

3. Finally, you seem quite unhappy about the whole ordeal. Your pithy answer was a proverbial below the belt shot which is very unlike you. You and he are both human, not doing what we should and doing what we shouldn't. Rather take a shot where you retain your "neutral" status...no good answers spring to mind just now!

Thanks.

[stew]

/*snort*/

I just blew tea (being British)out of my nose.

/*double snort*/

[Si]

"we're Christians, and we don't like what you said"

"So forgive me"

Bill Hicks R.I.P.

:)

[exiledsurveyor]

Wow. You were entirely oblivious to the whole Easter thing. That's completely awesome.

You even had Judas as a character, and the last meal and everything.

I wanted to see the speech at the meal, and have you continue the story.

I'm not especially religious, and I want to tell you I thought it was awesome. Your religion is making fun of everything, so they are interfering with your freedom of religion by harassing you.

Satire is never appreciated by the butt of the joke. They put themselves in a crack by believing in something patently ridiculous, and when someone points out their position, they dig deeper into their hole. Sorry, got a little carried away with the butt analogy there.

Screw 'em. On second thought, let them screw themselves.

Do Buddah next please, or that Mormon guy(Joeseph Smith?), or Ra, or Oprah, isn't she a religion by now?

[simon]

I laughed so hard some pee came out !

Funny on so many levels .... I love the way you need to point out how its pronouced. I love the message that HAY-SOOS COULD save a corparation (given the current credit cruch it may be time to start praying). Top marks goes to the pastor that takes time out to tell you that HAY-SOOS couldnt take a joke, which seems unlikely as none of the monty python cast have been struck by lighting (yet)

[Asok]

What does Hay-Soos mean?

[Simon]

The main problem with any kind of humour is that it is based on laughing at a person or persons you consider to be "lower" than you.
The word lower can mean less fortunate, lower intelligence, a different race or culture, a different religion, etc.
Where humour has changed over the last generation or so, is that what is deemed aceeptable as the subject matter has been reduced (i.e. what you can laugh at). In general, no-one would disagree that jokes based on racial stereotypes are offensive. Here in the UK, I grew up on a diet of "There was a Scotsman, Englishman and Irishman........" jokes, but these have all but disappeared.
In response to the Pastor, while he may have previously have found your comic strip funny until you made fun of something sacred to him, has he considered that your previous strips were probably offending other peope who felt that what they found sacred was being ridiculed?
If the Pastor believes there is a place for humour and humour has it's limits, would he care to define what those limits are? Is Christianity an unacceptable subject matter, but volcano-god worship on a primitive south sea island acceptable?
If the Pastor finds your comic strips offensive, simply stop reading them, either forever or until the offensive subject matter is finished. This self-censorship allows humour to be disseminated with fewer boundaries and more scope for creativity and expression.
A British stand-up comedian, Jimmy Carr, has stated that he doesn't have any boundaries or limitations when deciding whether his material is acceptable or not. One my favourite jokes of his refers to a road sign outside a school for those with learning difficulties which read "Slow Children Crossing". That can't do much for their self esteem, he says.
Funny? It's all in the eye (or ear) of the beholder.

[coolshine]

I am a fresher in this blog.Is anyone live in Beijing in our blog.I hope make friends with you .In order to improve our oral English ,and is anyone know where could I brought the Original foreign-language books in Beijing? Thankyou!! koosshine@163.com

[Scott]

Mr Adams, I'd more watch out for the ACLU - they might come at you suddenly with a discrimination lawsuit on behalf of Hispanics whom your strips demean!

[L.T.W.F.T.W.]

Heya

I’ve been reading Dilbert online for a while now, and although they are normally hilarious and refreshing, I do have to admit that while the run of comics on ‘Hay-soos’ were mildly funny (the first one 3/08 was the best) they were a little to close to ‘the line’ and some of them little more then a retelling of a story (much like tv shows when they seem to hit a dry spot in creativity).

L.T.W.F.T.W.
(and yes I am a Christian)

[Alex Rosu]

I love it when you fight them with their weapons :))

[Jorgen]

Very pithy, but sort of a cop out as well. Parodying the wizard of oz is quite different from parodying the resurrection because no one feels a deep spiritual connection to the wizard of oz. I think you should trash religious figures with abandon when that's your fancy, but you didn't really provide a justification for that in this post.

[LJ]

i've read the script and i don't think its offencive or sacrilegious in any ways... guess people's minds are getting narrower by the day... hope someday we finally learn to laugh at all the things that are so obvious and we still prefer to be oblivious...

cheers!
LJ

[Cpt]

Brilliant answer Scott. And I too believe that the series about Hay-soos was quite funny (and as usual, not far besides the truth). People just won't believe the amount of backstabbing that goes on behind the back of truly good projectleaders and -managers.

And I didn't know that Wally was spelled J-u-d-a-s, that was really an eye-opener for me.

Thank you again.

Cor

[Scott FTW!]

Awesome response Scott! I'm not especially religious, and I found the series to be hilarious. More please! :)

[Vikas]

Loved this script so far....I hope there is more to it.

Also, I hope no one wacks you....i would miss my daily dilbert :)

Keep up the good work!

Cheers!

[accessbob]

But perhaps he wasn't feeding the poor at he time. Perhaps he was addressing the sin of Onan, and he's just pissed that you put him off his stroke?

[GeraldNZ]

I'm worried at the lack of posts. What's going on?

Since converting to atheism I have realised how deeply unfair it is to damn someone to hell for their honestly-held belief that, for example, there is no God. I had long gained comfort from my belief in God. For me it was an act of moral courage, placing honesty ahead of the comfort of being able to appeal to him whenever things were going wrong and despite the possibility of damnation, to admit to myself that:

- I have no direct evidence for the existence of God
- the indirect evidence is weak and there are generally better (scientific) explanations for it

Among the indirect evidence, some of the weakest is the existence of a belief in God by others. There are good reasons why most people find a belief in God (or something similar) irresistible.

I realised that I only insisted on believing in God because my parents did. They believed it because their parents did, etcetera.

We have a natural and evolutionarily advantageous tendency to believe our parents. Although I love my parents deeply, as I matured I gained the courage to accept that they could be wrong.

As far as I can see, the God belief that most people have results from information given to them by parents or other parent-like figures such as charismatic leaders. I could see no reason to assume that someone was correct, simply because they were parents or charismatic. "Authority" is not evidence. To believe in God was a huge call. I could not make that call honestly without better evidence.

Moments of religious euphoria were not good evidence of God, either. Those I had experienced were most likely to be the result of my belief, not the result of God's intervention: of course it feels great to "realise" that you have a giant friend who loves you and looks after you.

I conclude that if there is a God, then either: a) those who say I'm damned are wrong (God is good, and therefore won't damn me for making a courageous moral choice) or b) God is not good, and therefore does not deserve my worship.

[Andy]

I have been soooo looking forwards to reading the responses to this blog entry, but none have appeared so far. I just hope you've just simply gone away for the weekend, and that none of your Christian readers have taken the hump in a bad way. Wishing you much chocolate for Easter. Andy

[Dan Quixote]

Mr Adams - I'm a Fundamentalist Christian Engineer (yes, I favor a fundamentalist interpretation of both Christianity and Engineering ;) The whole Hay-Soos storyline was way funny. Seriously funny. More please.

[Scott]

I am sure that Jesus also has a sense of humor and will not damn you for making life a bit brighter. I personally can not stand people who do not know how to laugh at themselves, they are no fun ;)

Keep up the good work.

[Sruthi]

Personally, I loved the hay-soos strips especially the one where he helps his colleague grow hair and makes him see without his glasses! That was an amazing one!

[Kyle]

Good point in your response. I imagine you get criticism no matter what subject matter you hit. How do you deal with that?

[Crazycardfreak]

I love Jesus, but I also can't be offended because you made a reference to him in your comic strip. Hey at least his name was brought up. It just means we have freedom of speech, which gives me a warm tingly feeling.

[Marco]

Yeah, why IS it that the ones who get most offended are generally not the parties involved?

OK, so this guy was a pastor, but you said that in most cases, the believers found it funny and the irreligious found it offensive.

You also mentioned in a previous blog entry (about the drunken hillbilly) that this is the general trend.

Any theories?

[Pastor]

Your response is gold.
GOOOOOLLLLLLLLDDDDDD!!!!!!!

[Nicki Lagrange]

Scott – did you get any Mexicans or South Americans complaining about you making fun of someone with a common Hispanic name?

[A_winged_monkey]

JU-HEE-SUS

People need to lighten up. Ok so it's got a character with God like powers, with a name spelt the same as the son of "god", who gets betrayed by wally. So what? Hay-Soos giveth and Hay-Soos taketh away. It's hilarious. What the heck are people doing reading Dilbert if they have no sense of humour or irony? Even "god" has a sense of humour (how else do you explain dinosaur remains and other fossils if you subscribe to the creationist theory). It shouldn't matter what you believe or what minority or majority or political persuasion you are from, you shouldn't take it so seriously you can't see a light side to it.

[David O]

I don't get a lot about this.

First, I don't get how anyone thinks that a god would want them to be pissed off about this (although I imagine most of those compaining aren't Christians, just those that like to complain for random groups who don't actually mind).

Second I don't know how people can say its your best work (first, your own personal stuff has very often been much better, and second it isn't really much of a jump considering something very similar was in one of the animated shows.)

I hope that sounds in support overall - you sound mostly pretty switched on.

[Stui]

Never mind, I liked it. I didn't find it offensive in the slightest, but I'm sure some people can find anything offensive if they try hard enough.

It would be funny to do a follow up with a character named Mohammed but if someone gets annoyed they might declare a Jihad on your ass.

[mike abbott]

It is inherent to the viral nature of the standard religious meme that it is more important to make other people believe the meme than it is to do things like feed them. The Righteous N.D. is behaving logically albeit from an irrational starting place. I am just glad his kind are less able to torture us for our own good now.

[Jennifer]

Unfortunately Islam does not hold the monopoly on believers without a sense of humour.

[Keith Kube]

The problem is that you portrayed an office worker. The character should have been a carpenter.

[Keith Kube]

The problem is that you portrayed an office worker. The character should have been a carpenter.

[Keith Kube]

The problem is that you portrayed an office worker. The character should have been a carpenter.

[sam]

Now, you just got done saying how all the people offended by your strip were self-proclaimed non-religious, then contradicted yourself by showing us a "typical email" that was the exact opposite.
I'm a Christian, and I found the strip pretty funny, for better or worse, but I was a little miffed about the Wizard of Oz analogy in your blog. Well, the poor are calling and I've wasted too much time already.

I'm a Christian from a very conservative background, and I thought the HaySoos series was your best ever. Fantastic work.

From my detailed, lifelong study of both Old and New Testaments, I've learned that both God and Jesus have an excellent sense of humour, especially their sense of irony. For example, creating the Platypus, God's strength be