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>From the BBC News. They recommend: E-mail this to a friend
My comment: Looks like at least there is consistency in outrage.
Kind Regards, GL
Malaysia closes Jesus row paper
Malaysia has shut down a newspaper for a month after it published a picture of
Jesus holding a cigarette and what appears to be a can of beer. Prime Minister
Abdullah Badawi himself stepped in to admonish the editors of Makkal Osai, a
Tamil-language paper.
The country's publishing laws allow politicians to close any publication
without judicial approval. Christians who complained about the picture say they
are bemused as they had accepted the paper's apology. Sensing perhaps that it
has to be even-handed between all of Malaysia's many faiths, the government
moved quickly to punish Makkal Osai, the BBC's Jonathan Kent reports from Kuala
Lumpur.
Makkal Osai had already said sorry, explaining that a graphics editor had
inadvertently downloaded the picture from the internet. It apparently shows
Jesus smoking and drinking and appeared with the paper's daily spiritual
message on its front page with the caption "if someone repents for his
mistakes, then heaven awaits him".
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, Murphy Pakiam, expressed
surprise at the paper's closure, saying that Christians believe in
reconciliation and that the paper had indeed appeared to have sincerely
repented of its mistake. However, others, notably the Malaysian Indian
Congress (MIC), a predominantly ethnic Tamil Hindu political party, were not
appeased. Perhaps coincidentally, Makkal Osai has been critical of the MIC,
which owns a rival paper, our correspondent notes.
