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Criticizes ‘downright obscene’ graphic – Northwestern said it supports ‘academic freedom’

Northwestern University’s “Intro to Christianity” course is “an exercise in anti-Christian bigotry,” according to a Christian civil rights leader.

The course, which is taught by professor Lily Stewart, evaluates “how Christians and Christianity have viewed and interacted with sex and sexuality; bodies and biology; science and medicine; economics and class structures; and politics and policy,” according to a syllabus obtained by The College Fix.

“How has the idea of Christ’s crucifixion been liberative for Christians,” the syllabus asks. “How do we recon[cile] with Christianity’s history as both the persecuted AND the persecutor?”

Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, criticized the course in a statement given to The Fix. He also shared with The Fix a copy of the letter he plans to send Northwestern University leadership today, demanding answers about the class.

“The syllabus is a screed designed to distort and denigrate Christianity, thus feeding the worst appetite of anti-Christian bigots,” he stated. “Indeed, it even includes a graph of ‘Hot Jesus’ that is downright obscene.”

The “Hot Jesus” meme in question included a depiction of Jesus next to text that reads, “Hey girl. How about I turn that water into wine, we put on some slow jams and just cuddle? #HotJesus.”

The College Fix contacted Stewart with questions about how she ensures students from a faith background feel their beliefs are respected, whether she has received feedback from students uncomfortable with the course content, and how the course approaches controversial topics using an academic perspective.

She declined to comment but provided contact information for the media relations team at Northwestern.

“Northwestern is committed to academic freedom and the rights of our faculty to determine the content of their scholarship and their courses,” a spokesman told The Fix on Tuesday.

Neither responded to a follow-up question Tuesday specifically about the “Hot Jesus” meme.

Donohue stated further, “I am well aware of the stellar contributions that Catholicism has made to Western civilization. Anyone has a right to disagree with that assessment, but vitriolic caricatures belong on social media, not in academia.”

He noted that a different Northwestern course, “Introduction to Islam,” is “exemplary,” based on the course description, and “neither tendentious nor bigoted.”

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“If Islam were treated with the kind of disdain that Christianity is—portraying it [as] a force for oppression—would Northwestern view it as academic freedom or academic malpractice,” he asked. “This is something the Catholic League will explore.”

The class included scheduled lectures on “The White European Savior and Manifest Destiny” and focused on “Christian colonialism.” Another lecture focused on “Christianity and enslavement in the Americas.” Students were assigned to watch “White Savior: Racism in the American Church” before that lecture.

Students were also assigned to listen to an episode of the podcast “Sanctuary: On the Border Between Church and State,” which opens with a claim that President Donald Trump uses “dehumanizing language and racist tropes.”

The syllabus warns students: “Much of the material and topics that we are working with in this class include racist, ableist, Islamophobic, anti-semitic, transphobic, misogynist, homophobic and other offensive language.”

“We will make a point of discussing where troubling language, actions, and ideologies appear in our sources, and ask how to approach them as historical thinkers and activist learners,” the syllabus states.

Stewart warns her students some language could be “painful” and she “will try to include Content Warnings on Canvas with some of the worst offenders but there will be problematic and upsetting content throughout.”

The course also included a presentation about Taylor Swift conspiracy theories, given by one of the course’s teaching assistants, according to photos reviewed by The Fix.

That presentation included a slide about a televangelist from Arkansas who “claims Satan is engineering Taylor Swift’s marriage to Travis Kelce so she can give birth to the antichrist,” but was largely unrelated to the rest of the class content. The Fix had asked Stewart how this presentation related to the class.

While the course includes content on the politics of Christianity, and Taylor Swift, students do spend one week discussing the Enlightenment, the Protestant Reformation, John Knox, and Martin Luther.

It followed a week about “Jesus the Mother.”

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IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: A meme about Jesus, criticized by a leading Catholic group, is depicted; Professor Lily Stewart/Northwestern University

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