August 15, 2007 | Sex & Society

Oh, Jesus!

Emotions can get a little heated when people discuss art, yet we seldom expect it to break out into an actual fight. But if Jesus is involved -- in the art, not the actual fisticuffs -- then anything is possible.

"Ecco Homo" by Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin is a new exhibit of photographic images on display at the Cultural Center of Jonkoping, Sweden. The pictures reveal a more liberal interpretation of Jesus as a gay man surrounded by drag queens and leathermen. A group of young people, alleged evangelicals, tried to light one of the pictures on fire. A fight ensued. The images were saved.

"If this is some Christian group, then I really do not understand them," Tony el Zouki said in an interview with The Local. "The message of Christianity is that people should understand and love each other. I really can't see how this [behavior] can have a Biblical explanation."

The images are considered so blasphemous that the late Pope John Paul II once canceled a meeting with Protestant Archbishop Hammar of Uppsala for allowing the exhibition to be shown in churches across Sweden.

Want to see more? We know you do...

Hey, Jesus was supposed to be Jewish... snip snip? 

This Last Supper was such a drag! Hahahaha! Get it?