The Georgetown University of Qatar has been facing a backlash on social media after announcing a new discussion to be held at the university.
Brochures promoting the discussion that apparently evolve around the portrayal of God in religions, were put up around the university’s campus shortly before it was shared on social media tand sparked much controversy.
The brochures read: “The Georgetown Debating Union Pardon the Interruption: “This house believes that major religions should portray God as a woman”.
Hashtag: جورج تاون تتعدى على الله [Georgetown Insults God] has been going viral in the last few hours in Qatar. Social media users went on to share images taken for the brochure and condemn it.
On Tuesday, and few hours before the discussion was due to take place, the university's official Twitter account announced the event was cancelled due to growing public backlash and for not “following the appropriate policies for activity approval”.
The backlash was backed by some bloggers, who saw the topic of the event as “offensive”.
Translation: “What Georgetown is doing and arranging such a discussion is totally unacceptable.”
Meanwhile, others had another point and said it should take place and that understanding the other point of view and cancellation is not the right thing.
Translation: “Yes, the university responded to the public and this counts for it, but I personally see that everyone who has a son or daughter at the university should discuss their thoughts with them and know what they are thinking about and strengthen their faith because according to what I hear from some students, they doubt their religion.”
Some users had taken the topic sarcastically and assumed the event was inspired by the famous Ariana Grande’s song “God is a woman”.
