Berkeley Breathed has an Opus cartoon that is to sensitive for newspapers to run. That's because it mocks Muslims. The syndicator sent out an alert that the cartoon might be offensive and a lot of newspapers didn't run it.
The syndicate sent out an alert about the two strips in question, according to Writers Group comics editor Amy Lago.
Sources told FOXNews.com that the strips were shown to Muslim staffers at The Washington Post to gauge their reaction, and they responded "emotionally" to the depiction of a woman dressed in traditional Muslim garb and espousing conservative Islamic views.
There was also considerable alarm over the strip at the highest echelons of The Washington Post Co., according to the sources.
Lago said she flagged some of the syndicate's newspaper clients for two reasons: because of the possibility that the jokes about Islam would be misconstrued and because of the sexual innuendo in the punchline.
"The strip came in and I knew we would have to send out an alert to all the newspapers," Lago said. "I do that fairly regularly with materials that might pose issues for local areas. ... We knew that because it was a sex joke, it could raise issues. And there is another client that has issues with any Muslim depiction whatsoever."
One week earlier, Breathed ran a cartoon mocking Christians. But that didn't rate a warning, according to Lagos.
Lago said she didn't flag newspapers about that strip because she didn't think readers would misunderstand the humor.
"They're not going to take it seriously," she said.
But she did alert newspapers about the Muslim-themed cartoon because there was a question about whether Muslim readers would be offended.
"I don't necessarily think it's poking fun [at Islam]," Lago said. "But the question with Muslims is, are they taking it seriously?"
Well, we certainly don't want Muslims taking cartoons seriously, do we? Thank God Christians have a sense of humor!
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