Brazil’s Top Court Overturns Ban on Netflix’s ‘Gay Jesus’ Film, Calls It ‘Free Speech’

I wonder, would it have been 'free speech' had they depicted Muhammad as a homosexual? Not that they would. There would have been 'repercussions'!

From LifeSiteNews

PETITION: Dump Netflix over video depicting Jesus as a homosexual Sign the petition here.

the petition here.

By Dorothy Cummings McLean

The court's president said: 'One cannot suppose that a humorous satire has the ability to weaken the values of the Christian faith'
 
BRASILIA, Brazil, January 10, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) ― Brazil’s Supreme Court overturned a ban on Netflix’s streaming of a blasphemous film in the country that depicted Jesus as homosexual. The ban was in effect for about one day.

The president of the Supreme Court, Dias Toffoli, said yesterday that Netflix should be permitted to continue offering comedy film The First Temptation of Christ because “freedom of speech” is fundamental in a democracy.

The comedy depicts Jesus of Nazareth as a homosexual who brings his boyfriend home to the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph for his 30th birthday party. The comedy also depicts God the Father as a cruel and spiteful deity and St. Joseph as cowardly.

According to Article 208 of the Brazilian Penal Code, to “publicly denigrate an act or object of religious worship’ is a crime punishable by up to one year in prison.” But according to the BBC, Toffoli argued that "One cannot suppose that a humorous satire has the ability to weaken the values of the Christian faith, whose existence is traced back more than two thousand years, and which is the belief of the majority of Brazilian citizens."

The original judicial decision to ban the film in Brazil followed a petition signed by over two million Brazilians stating that the comedic film broke the law and “seriously offended Christians.”

This reversal was no surprise to Brazilian university student Ricardo German, who told LifeSiteNews yesterday that he expected Wednesday’s ban, handed down by Judge Benedicto Abecair, to be overturned by a higher court.

“I hate to say it, but I called it: the breaking news [has] just announced that the Chief Justice of our Supreme Court (a Lula da Silva nominee) reversed yesterday’s order and allowed Netflix to keep streaming that special,” he told LifeSiteNews late last night.

Yesterday morning German alleged that higher courts in Brazil, packed with appointees from previous left-wing governments, decide the outcome of cases through their ideological standpoints, rather than applying the law.

“They did it with gay ‘marriage” back in 2011, they did it with abortion of fetuses with anencephaly, and they will probably do it again now,” German told LifeSiteNews.

This morning German told LifeSiteNews that he thinks there will be no further judicial business in the matter.

“After this monocratic decision from a Supreme Court Justice, the petitioners can only ask the full composition of the Court to hear their case, which they won’t do,” he said.

“If you add up the ADIs (direct petitions made by the Office of Public Prosecution or registered political parties to declare the unconstitutionality of a law), petitions for Habeas Corpus, Extraordinary Appeals, etc., the Supreme Court receives tens of thousands of cases every year, and they have discretionary power in deciding what cases to hear,” he continued.

“Given that we are talking about a monocratic decision by a Supreme Court Justice that would hardly be reversed by the full court (I would be very surprised if a single Justice voted against Netflix in this case), they wouldn’t bother prioritizing this case."

LifeSiteNews has its own petition asking readers to stop subscribing to Netflix because of this and other deeply offensive material.