EUGENE, OR – The University of Oregon has come under intense fire for refusing to condemn a series of incredibly vulgar and obscene caricatures of Jesus Christ published in one of UO’s student newspapers.

   The March Issue of the Student Insurgent featured 12 hand-drawn cartoons of Jesus. Two were especially disturbing. One depicted Jesus on the cross with an erection. Another, entitled “Resurrection,” had a naked Jesus kissing a naked man, both in a state of arousal. The Insurgent’s staff claimed they presented the cartoons as a counterbalance to another UO campus paper (the Commentator) presenting the cartoons of Muhammad originally published in Denmark that sparked violent Muslim riots worldwide.

   “Hogwash,” said WorldNetDaily columnist Kevin McCullough. “What the Godless mice at The Insurgent wished to do was to fully thumb their nose at who God is, and the issue of the Muslim cartoons was just their excuse to do it. The students who crafted these images are hormonal, sex-driven, out-of-control maniacs that think because they show a naked Jesus that it will in some way diminish Jesus' reputation, sovereignty and position.”

   Additionally, two opinion pieces appeared in the same issue of the Insurgent viciously attacking Roman Catholics in a particularly egregious fashion. “That all of this appeared in a student newspaper, during Lent, on the campus of a state institution, makes one wonder what is going on at the University of Oregon,” said Catholic League president Bill Donahue.

   Insurgent Student Editor Jessica Brown said of the graphics. "I have to say it is really fun to offend people. It is fun to break the rules. If it pi**es people off -good, that's the point!!!”

   The University of Oregon forces all students, including Christians, to pay student dues of $191.00 per term, part of which goes to support the Insurgent, a paper the Commentator’s Editor describes as an anarchist Socialist rag.

   Calling the cartoons “…one of the strongest attacks on Christianity I have seen,” American Family Association (AFA) Founder and Chairman Donald E. Wildmon urged concerned Christians to contact Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski with complaints over Oregon University president Dave Frohnmayer’s handling of the situation. “The Insurgent would never show a naked graphic of the Rev. Martin Luther King kissing another man, both sporting erections. But offending Christians was of no concern to the Insurgent or to Frohnmayer. But depicting Jesus as a homosexual is perfectly OK (to them),” Wildmon said in an e-mail alert to the group’s nearly 3 million supporters.

   Frohnmayer, born in Medford, Oregon, was named as the University of Oregon President in 1994 and is the first native Oregonian to be president of a large research university in the state.

   “This is a major university student newspaper making as outrageous a commentary with these cartoons as you could ever hope to make. Blasphemy is to soft a word for this,” said Bill Keller, President and CEO of LivePrayer.com., the world's largest interactive Christian website. Keller had a warning for Brown and other mockers of Christ. “People of faith have a powerful voice in this nation, and when offended we can unite to the tune of multiplied millions. Waking up a sleeping lion is never fun or advisable.”

   From his St. Petersburg, FLA based ministry Keller’s daily spiritual commentaries and devotions are sent to over 2.1 million email subscribers daily. His television program, “Liveprayer with Bill Keller,” is slated to go national in July on cable’s the i Network (formerly PAX-TV). Keller’s LivePrayer.com website has responded to over 60 million prayer request since its launch in 1999.

   “The Insurgent is published with funds drawn from mandatory fees paid by every enrolled student at this public university, some of whom are Christians,” said Keller to his LivePrayer subscribers. “I am sickened that the University of Oregon is turning out such low-minded students as Jessica Brown, who calls demeaning the Christian faith ‘fun.”

   Keller told CCN-USA, “You can only imagine if those cartoons in the University of Oregon newspaper were representations of say, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the black community, and rightly so, would have just gone on the war path. You would have (Jessie) Jackson, (Al) Sharpton, (Malik) Shabazz, and the new Black Panthers…all of these guys there (the UO campus) going crazy. Or had that been a cartoon about Muhammad (in the Insurgent) we all remember the reaction (the Muslim world) had in relation to the Danish newspaper cartoons. Keller added that by comparison the cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet were mild in comparison to the highly pornographic and obscene caricatures of Christ published in the UO paper.

   Keller pointed out that recent attacks against Christianity by those in the popular culture highlight the fact that Christianity is the last unprotected minority group in America.

   In recent months in addition to the University of Oregon incident…

   •The DaVinci Code book and movie has achieved almost cult-like following.

   •In her current worldwide "Confessions" tour pop icon Madonna hangs from a 20-foot mirrored cross.

   •Rapper Kanye West posed for a Rolling Stone magazine cover portraying him as a crown of thorns wearing Messiah.

   “Society has taken there gloves off and said this is one group we can just bash without any repercussion,” said Keller. “The number one movie in the world right now is ‘The DaVinci Code’ - a movie that denies the deity of Christ, reduces our Lord to a con man, while calling the Christian faith a lie.” Keller said a dangerous cultural phenomenon has taken place in the last decade. “Just 10 years ago, no legitimate newspaper, even those on major college campuses which tend to be more liberal and radical, would have EVER had the audacity to publish cartoons depicting Jesus in the way the University of Oregon paper recently did.”

   “In May of 2006 it is perfectly acceptable and even applauded to mock, demean, and debase the

   Lord Jesus Christ!” Keller said the Insurgent staff were a cowardly lot. “What if they ran cartoons depicting Mohammed as a homosexual? Those responsible would be in fear for their very lives.” Homosexuals often accuse “those homophobic Christians” of engaging in “hate speech” but often tend to be “Christophobic” themselves. “What if (a newspaper) ran cartoons that mocked and demeaned people who choose to commit the sin of homosexuality?” Keller asked. “There would be marches and protests by every pro-homosexual group that exists. The fact is, nobody would dare to publish these types of disgusting representations of anyone other than Jesus

   because the public outcry would be deafening. People would be fired, students expelled, and millions would be spent to appease those who were offended.”

   Others accused the University of fostering a type of “selective diversity.” The ASUO Women’s Center is adamant, almost strident in its assertions that there is a zero tolerance level regarding defamation against gays and lesbians. In 2003 the ASUO demanded that university radio station (KUGN) drop conservative talk show host Michael Savage’s “The Savage Nation” talk show after receiving complaints from gays.