Comic Sues Jews for Jesus

Today CNN.com reports (an AP story) that Jackie Mason is suing Jews for Jesus over the use of his image and name in one of their pamphlets. (See the Jews for Jesus press release in response here.)

I haven’t seen the pamphlet itself, but this action seems over the line to me. The only thing that should offend people in Christian evangelism is the gospel, not the way we deal with other people. When I recently attended a Jews for Jesus event, I was disturbed by a skit based around the song “Tradition” from “Fiddler on the Roof.” Because the folks on the platform say that they are Jewish, and I’m not, I may not be the best judge of such things, but the skit seemed disrespectful of Judaism. I don’t regard disagreement as disrespectful–I knew the group would disagree with mainstream Judaism–but there are respectful ways of presenting a disagreement, and then there are, shall we say, less respectful ways.

It is my hope that Jews for Jesus will settle this out of court. I don’t think trying to force the issue of the use of someone’s reputation and image in this way is going to be good for the gospel or for interfaith relations.

Update: Here’s the URL for the tract: Jews for Jesus Jackie Mason tract.