In God we trust- the gospel according to Zapiro?

I have been taken aback by Zapiro's recent cartoon on COPE. Obviously he wants to draw attention to his work and it helps to be controversial. After-all, all publicity is good and he often paint himself, as the ultimate example of satire, presenting his social critique on current affairs, in an open market. I have often been challenged by his cartoons and often defended it as another exhibition of freedom of speech. This one is however bordering on being blasphemous to the Christian faith.

In another recent incident, a group of Christians successfully stepped up pressure on University of Cape Town (UCT) to apologizes for material which were also offensive to Christians. One of the arguments they used was to state that, 'if it was Muslims. their would have been a worldwide uproar'. Why then should the Christian faith simply roll over and allow this to happen? I don't think this argument is helpful. Whilst people of faith share certain traits and values, Islam and Christianity, have different understandings of the relation between church (mosque) and state, (especially in a secular democracy, like the South African state). The Christian faith, in my view, are not immune to the critique of adherents of different faith stances, like Jonathan Zapiro, who is an self-confessed atheist. Also, Christian symbolism, need to be deconstructed as mere symbols, images of the ultimate realities we hold dear. More so, God is beyond the images of Christ, which we sometimes worship and may not be captured by our human constructions. Hence, we don't worship the cross or images of the cross. They remain metaphors pointing to a higher reality, who we serve and worship.

In my view, it is fine where Zapiro unmask COPE's supposed belief in Thabo Mbeki as their Messiah. It's however offensive and disrespectful, when he portrays Mbeki as Jesus Christ on the cross. Whilst Zapiro would want others to respect his atheistic stance, but also his respect for human rights, here he does not display any of these towards Christians. They don't have the same rights as he, and their faith certainly don't deserve the same decent respect. Here he betray the values that made him such an astute social commentator- values of freedom, equity and respect for difference.