As I wrote yesterday, Texas Lt. Governor and Tarleton State University President condemned the stage performance of Corpus Christi ultimately leading to its cancellation.
The National Coalition Against Censorship issued a statement (pdf) about the treatment the play received at the hands of government and school officials.
The Catholic League has been in the business of attacking Corpus Christi since 1998 when the play premiered at The Manhattan Theater Club; threats of violence were also reported then, but the play was presented without incident. Corpus Christi has since been produced on college campuses many times without incident, even in the face of a lawsuit to halt production at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne and legislative threats to cut Florida Atlantic University’s funding. In these and other cases, the play was, correctly, allowed to go on. Tarleton State’s cancellation of the play stands in marked contrast, as an affront to our constitutional right to speak freely and to make our own decisions about the value of a painting, book, or play.
Meanwhile, Tarleton Police are investigating threats against those who planned to present the play.
Tarleton State University police will investigate some of the threatening e-mail messages and phone calls that prompted a drama professor to cancel a class in which students were to perform a controversial play that features a gay Jesus character, officials said Monday.
It’s a pretty sad state of affairs when a lieutenant governor, a university president, and a mob of Neanderthals treat the First Amendment as an affront to civilization.