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
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!
Posted by: patti | March 17, 2008 at 03:55 PM
I believe in offending everyone equally. :) These were great and I look forward to more. Even at easter, or christmas, or even arbor day!
Posted by: Chaundra | March 17, 2008 at 02:20 PM
[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!
Posted by: Yuriy | March 17, 2008 at 01:34 PM
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.
Posted by: Chad | March 17, 2008 at 01:32 PM
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.
Posted by: MikeE | March 17, 2008 at 12:37 PM
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".
Posted by: Yuriy | March 17, 2008 at 12:32 PM
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....
Posted by: Dan B. | March 17, 2008 at 12:31 PM
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?
Posted by: Daleus | March 17, 2008 at 12:06 PM
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).
Posted by: Jean | March 17, 2008 at 11:39 AM
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
Posted by: Art (a/k/a Revbert) | March 17, 2008 at 11:33 AM
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.
Posted by: Sam Thornton | March 17, 2008 at 11:21 AM
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.
Posted by: Howabominable | March 17, 2008 at 11:02 AM
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.
Posted by: Howabominable | March 17, 2008 at 11:00 AM
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.
Posted by: WhiskeyJack | March 17, 2008 at 10:33 AM
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.
Posted by: Al | March 17, 2008 at 10:17 AM
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..
Posted by: patti | March 17, 2008 at 09:50 AM
"... 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.
Posted by: argenbert | March 17, 2008 at 09:08 AM
It would have been even funnier if it had run a week later.
Posted by: Neil Wilson | March 17, 2008 at 08:49 AM
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.
Posted by: Greg | March 17, 2008 at 08:46 AM
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
Posted by: benj | March 17, 2008 at 08:31 AM
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!
Posted by: Katie | March 17, 2008 at 08:19 AM
you should incorporate a muslim or muhammad into a strip, but have him be invisible.
Posted by: carlos | March 17, 2008 at 07:35 AM
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.
Posted by: Steven | March 17, 2008 at 07:30 AM
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/
Posted by: jerry w. | March 17, 2008 at 06:41 AM
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!
Posted by: Jesus | March 17, 2008 at 06:36 AM