Apparently, the religious right in Athens, Greece is way more uptight than I ever suspected. The Greek Orthodox Church has successfully sued and won a case against a comic book writer whose graphic novel had the nerve to depict Jesus smoking pot, surfing and generally enjoying life. The author, Gerhard Haderer, nowhas a banned book and faces a six month jail sentence if he decides to visit the country. Hopefully, he’s not that stupid, ’cause it sounds like the Greek courts are.

Haderer’s book, which sold over 100,000 German-language copies, is reportedly the first one to be banned in Greece in more than 20 years. It first ran into trouble in February 2003 after the Greek edition was confiscated by the Greek government and the powerful and conservative Greek Orthodox Church filed a complaint against the author

The book is controversial because of its out-of-the-ordinary depictions of Jesus, such?as one of his?crossing the Sea of Galilee naked on a surfboard, receiving divine inspiration from frankincense. One illustration recasts the Last Supper as a drinking binge. Characters such as fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld and the late guitar wonder Jimi Hendrix mingle with Jesus in the tales.

The book has been published in Austria, Germany, France, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Hungary and South Korea. In some countries, it has sparked protests and a Czech lawmaker wanted the author fined. But in no other country has the book been banned.

Read the rest of the piece here.

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