SALT LAKE CITY — An online petition is demanding the removal of a Deadpool poster, calling it a form of religious discrimination.
Fox 13 spoke with Patrick Mason, the chair of Mormon studies at Claremont Graduate University in California, to discuss the controversy.
A self-proclaimed anti-hero like Deadpool has no business being compared to Jesus Christ, according to the online petition.
“A movie character which is all about crude humor and satire and sarcasm. They would see it being as precisely the opposite of the kind of characters and virtues that Jesus embodies,” Mason said.
The picture of ‘The Second Coming’ by Harry Anderson was commissioned by the church and is commonly seen in meetinghouses.
“The Second Coming is an important part of LDS religious belief. The idea that Jesus will come to the earth again and that particular portrayal of it is one of the most beloved and produced images of the Second Coming,” Mason said. “You see it in Latter-day Saint homes and churches all over the place.”
The online petition, which has more than 31,000 signatures, calls this Once Upon a Deadpool poster a form of religious discrimination.
Mason, who’s a member of the church himself, said anytime people use the sacred art of another group, they should do research and ask people in that community for their opinion.
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[Editor’s Note: This article was written by Dora Sheidell and first published at Fox News 13, Salt Lake City]
