December 20, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – More than 2 million people have signed online petitions against Netflix for a comedic “Christmas special” depicting Jesus Christ as a closeted homosexual.
Released December 3, The First Temptation of Christ comes from the Brazilian comedy troupe Porta dos Fundos and depicts Jesus bringing a boyfriend to meet Mary and Joseph at His birthday party. Last year, the group reportedly depicted Jesus as a “sadistic, homicidal, hedonistic drunkard who hated to pray and no one heeded,” according to historian Murilo Cleto.
The special drew intense disapproval, including a Change.org petition that has so far collected almost 2.3 million signatures out of a 3-million goal. It calls for Netflix to publicly retract the film and to be “held responsible” for villainizing faith.
LifeSiteNews has its own petition urging the video service’s remaining subscribers to cancel their subscriptions over this “disgusting display of corporate arrogance, and utter disregard for the beliefs of those who currently subscribe to, or could subscribe to your services.” LifeSite’s petition has so far gathered more than 44,000 signatures.
Porta dos Fundos co-founder Fábio Porchat responded to the controversy by telling Variety, “Jesus is everything. God is black and white and gay and straight. God is everything. It’s more homophobic to be insulted by a gay Jesus than to make Jesus special.”
“We play at insinuating that Jesus has a new friend, and probably this new friend is gay, but they have just been having fun and a very good time in the desert for 40 days,” Porchat said. “If anybody should be angry with us, it should be the gay community because a gay character turns out to be the Devil. But the gay community loves us!”
Netflix is no stranger to far-left and anti-religious content, including a film denigrating Pope Benedict, a Roe v. Wade documentary that pro-life interview subjects say misrepresented them, and various cartoons promoting abortion, LGBT messages, and adult sexual themes. The company also famously took a stand this year against a Georgia law banning abortions on most babies with beating hearts.
Concerned readers can contact Netflix to respectfully express their views on The First Temptation of Christ by clicking here.