The 2009 edition of Sax Appeal, a yearly publication that aims to be satirical, produced by the Cape Town students to collect money for charity, was on February 19 removed from the shelves of its sponsor, Pick n Pay, a retail store, after complaints about some of its content.
Jesus is referred to as a sexual organ and Christians in a similar vein, while the publication says God is a pervert.
“The magazine has grossly overstepped the boundaries of decency and respect for individual religious beliefs,” said Errol Naidoo, of the Family Policy Institute, in an e-mail to a network of Christian churches.
Naidoo was quoted as saying in The Cape Times newspaper the articles were “wrong and immoral”. His group said it wanted to push the university for the magazine’s withdrawal and for an apology. “If this was directed at the Islamic faith, there would be a massive outcry, maybe even with violence,” said Naidoo. “Thankfully we won’t respond that way, but that does not make us whipping boys.”
The article was titled “Top Ten Atheist Retorts to Fundamentalist Christians.”
The Christian Democratic Alliance, an alliance of small South African political parties, said it had been “extremely tolerant of the constant attacks on Christianity in recent history” but it considered “the content of the UCT magazine to be a deliberate and planned, discriminatory attack on Christianity”. It said it would, “seek full restitutional measures.”
Pick n Pay spokesperson Tamra Veley said her company believed while satire had been a feature of the magazine, those putting the publication together should be “extra careful while documenting, reporting and cartooning their work to avoid blatant disrespect of any faith, culture, and race. We therefore made the decision to remove Sax Appeal from sale in Pick n Pay stores.”
South African Freedom of Expression Institute executive director Jane Duncan, said, however, “It is debatable whether the article advocates hatred against the Christian religion. The statements ridicule Christianity, but that does not mean that they encourage people actively to hate the religion.” Duncan said, “The statements contained in the publication are silly and childish. Many of us would simply dismiss it as student toilet humor and move on to more enlightened literature.”
News24 columnist Max du Preez on March 4 wrote, “Christians and Muslims feel it is their right to insult, vilify, and condemn to eternal damnation those who are not also Christians or Muslims. ‘Heathens’ and ‘infidels’ are loathsome beings. In fact, most Christians and most Muslims actually offend and malign gay people as sickos and deviants who are not worthy of being members of their congregations and mosques. But if someone should dare to say something disrespectful about them or their beliefs, Christians and Muslims are quick to react, to protest and to threaten.”
