The Pope asked them to take the thing down. They refused. That’s the end of the matter. There will be — and I know I’m really going out on a limb here — no riots, and no Christian bodies dictating to the museum or anyone else about “red lines that should not be crossed.”
But you All-Religions-Have-Their-Fundamentalist-Loonies types shouldn’t be discouraged! One day Christians will rise up and demand an end to free speech, so as to end unwelcome criticism and lampooning of Christianity! Why, it’s inevitable! Muslims have shown that it works — how long can it be before Christians get the message? The disparate reactions couldn’t have anything to do with the differing teachings of the religions — oh, no. If we said that it did, the next thing you know we would have to acknowledge that traditional Islam actually contains doctrines of violence and supremacism. Better to say that today’s Christians have just been slow on the uptake on using violence to get their way.
“Italy museum defies pope anger over crucified frog,” by Ariel David for AP, August 28:
ROME (AP) – An art museum in northern Italy said Thursday it will continue displaying a sculpture portraying a green frog nailed to a cross that has angered Pope Benedict XVI and local officials.
The board of the foundation of the Museion in the city of Bolzano voted to keep the work by the late German artist Martin Kippenberger, the museum said in a statement.
Earlier in August the pope had written a letter to Franz Pahl, the president of the Trentino-Alto Adige region that includes Bolzano, denouncing the sculpture.
It “has offended the religious feelings of many people who consider the cross a symbol of God’s love and of our redemption,” Pahl quoted the pope as writing in the letter.
Pahl himself has long opposed the display of “Zuerst die Fuesse” (“First the Feet” in German), even staging a hunger strike this summer and saying he would not seek re-election unless it was removed.
In a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, Pahl said he was outraged by the museum’s decision to keep the work, which he claims “pokes fun at the Catholic population and offends religion and the pope.”
A hunger strike, eh? Just wait, folks — it won’t be long before they’re shooting innocent people over this. It’s just a matter of time!