British comic jests about gay Jesus

A comedian created “Was Jesus Gay?” as a comedy video, but most of it makes good sense to me as a lesbian Christian. The popular video was made by Pat Condell, an English comedian and outspoken atheist. His online video monologues of what he calls “godless comedy” have gotten more than 15 million hits. “Was Jesus Gay?” has nearly half a million views. I started watching Condell’s gay Jesus video without knowing that it was intended as comedy. I thought he was a serious church leader, and kept wondering, “Why haven’t I heard of this theologian before?!” The video begins with some well-deserved barbs against the Church for mistreating gays. Then Condell states, “I’ve heard it suggested from some people that Christians are so irrationally obsessed with this subject because deep down they’re terrified that Jesus himself might have been gay.” He talks about how Jesus spent the night with a naked youth in the Secret Gospel of Mark. He speculates about what John meant when he called himself “the one who Jesus especially loved.” He also discusses Jesus’ heterosexual marriage in some of the other Gnostic gospels. All these theories about Jesus’ relationships are common topics of serious study by queer scholars. My favorite part of the video is when Condell asks, “If somebody could prove historically beyond all doubt that Jesus was in fact homosexual, would Christians then reject Jesus or would they reject the evidence -- as usual?” Good question.