by Dan Whitcomb
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A leading Jewish group said a “BC” comic strip published on Easter
Sunday slurred Jews with its depiction of a menorah turning into a
cross.
Rabbi Marvin Heir, founder and director of the Simon
Weisenthal Center in Los Angeles, said the strip depicted Judaism
being overcome or “subsumed” by Christianity and said newspaper
publishers had a responsibility to keep it out of print.
Cartoonist Johnny Hart, author of “BC,” which features a
comic group of cavemen, and the strip's distributor, Creators
Syndicate, said the Easter Sunday panel was intended as a tribute
to both Judaism and Christianity and not meant to offend anyone.
The strip that Heir objected to depicts a lit menorah below a
phrase attributed in the Bible to Jesus as he was being crucified
on the cross: “Father, forgive them: for they know not what they
do.”
Each successive panel then shows a candle on the Menorah
being extinguished, accompanied by more of Jesus' last words,
until the menorah is gone and a cross is left in its place.
The final panel shows the cross standing outside a cave —
presumably the empty tomb of Jesus — above the words: “Do this
in remembrance of me.”
“The syndicated comic strip, BC by Johnny Hart, which [was]
scheduled to appear in more than 1,300 newspapers on Easter
Sunday is a canard against the Jewish people and promote[d]
hatred rather than tolerance and diversity,” Heir said.
“Hart's image in the cartoon of the central symbol of the
Jewish people, the Menorah, with each of its lit candles slowly
being consumed until all that remains is a cross, says to the
world that Judaism has no other existence except to be enveloped
into Christianity,” Heir added.
CARTOONIST DEFENDS STRIP
Hart defended the cartoon in a statement, saying that the
strip was intended to honor Judaism and Christianity during a
week that was considered holy for both religions.
“The true purpose of Christmas and Easter is to honor a man.
The same man, Jesus,” Hart said. “They are not designated
holidays to honor red-suited Santas or egg-laden bunnies. Yet,
whenever I try to honor this man of men … hackles go up.
“The God of Judaism and the God of Christianity is the same
and the people of Israel are his chosen people and Jesus is one
of them,” Hart said in the statement.
“This is a holy week for both Christians and Jews and my
intent was to pay tribute to both,” he said. “I sincerely
apologize if I have offended any readers and I also sincerely
hope that this cartoon will generate increased interest in
religious awareness.”
Richard Newcombe, the president of Creators Syndicate, which
distributes “BC,” said in a statement that the strip was “simply
a calendar recognition” of Passover and Easter Sunday and called
“ridiculous” the notion that it would be interpreted as
anti-Semitic.
Heir called the explanations by Hart disingenuous.
“That's a pretty poor way to pay tribute to two religions,
telling the story of how one symbol is extinguished and turns
into another,” he said. “I would hope (Hart) is more
sophisticated than that. If anything I would say this is a
message of intolerance.”
“To me this says that Judaism will be subsumed by
Christianity, that its only a matter of time,” he said.
© Reuters 2001. All rights reserved.
