Michael Moore Jokes 'Jesus Was Gay' During Georgetown Univeristy Lecture
Some Christian observers were puzzled after controversial film director and author Michael Moore joked about Jesus being gay during his Friday guest lecture at Georgetown University, the oldest Catholic University in the United States.
Moore, the filmmaker behind "Fahrenheit 9/11," "Bowling for Columbine" and "Sicko," was discussing his newest book, Here Comes Trouble: Stories from My Life, and his films in a guest lecture for students, faculty and media.
Moore, who was raised Catholic, used Christian themes throughout his speech, according to Fox News. At one point he insinuated that Jesus was gay.
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"You know those 12 men Jesus was always hanging out with? Mhm," Moore reportedly said, evoking laughter.
Some prominent members of the Christian community were not moved by the event.
"If Michael Moore had gone to an orthodox Catholic school and said something reverential, that would be big news," Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights told The Christian Post in an email. "But for him to go to Georgetown and say something stupid - implying Jesus was gay - is on the order of dog bites man."
Still, some found the joke, as well as the students' reaction, improper.
"The question of why Michael Moore, a self-professed Catholic, would make a 'joke' like that is beyond asking and doesn't really interest me. But my question is why did this receive laughter at a self-described Catholic university?" journalist Matt Archbold asked later in an article in the National Catholic Register. "Is Georgetown so far gone that this kind of idiocy is greeted with nothing other than laughter?"
A number of commenters agreed with Archbold's reaction.
"Oh, so joking about the Lord being gay is fine?" wrote one reader. "So long is we are all joking, we can slur or smear anyone?"
Moore also reportedly dropped several "f-bombs" during his lecture.
"Sorry I said [expletive] the first time. I didn't realize I was in a church," the filmmaker said, according to Fox News.
Moore reportedly spoke at length about health care, young voters and their disenchantment with President Barack Obama and the need for the wealthy to pay higher taxes. He said rich Americans seemed happy when their income was taxed at a higher rate, according to The Blaze.
"We as Americans have allowed a very small group of people to be highly skilled practitioners of one of the seven deadly sins," he said in the lecture. "And that sin, of course, is greed."
Moore has been voicing his support of the Wall Street rallies called "Occupy Wall Street." He even showed up in the lower Manhattan area in person on Sept. 27.
