[lbo-talk] Last Supper, in a leather harness

John Thornton jthorn65 at sbcglobal.net
Fri Sep 28 13:20:50 PDT 2007


Mr. WD wrote:
> That said, I'm still interested in the question of whether, generally
> speaking, secular leftists ought to be bothered by blasphemy.
>
> -WD

My answer is yes but as the cat is already out of the bag not much can be done. As I wrote before I lament the loss of the sacred and it is one of the things I dislike about xtian culture in the U.S. They blaspheme to make a buck and deny they are doing so. They demonstrate their hypocrisies for all to see and are oblivious to them yet they wail and moan when they think others have blasphemed. I'm dismayed by their complete lack of understanding of the concept of the sacred. It is just a convenient charge they level against those with whom they disagree, nothing more.

As a personal choice one can refrain from joining in blaspheming but I don't see it as being within the powers of the secular community to re-instill the idea of sacredness. Xtians would have to do this themselves. I don't see catholics committing blasphemy in the numbers protestants do but the trend is in that direction and I have little doubt they will succumb to the call of pop culture and the lure of the dollar.

I generally shy away from using sacred imagery in a gratuitous manner in my artwork. Not because I think it may offend someone who believes in invisible friends and a resurrected godman but for reasons I do not fully understand myself. Admittedly I spend no time attempting to understand this since the rational behind it is of little interest. Mostly, but not I suspect fully, it is because I prefer art that does not blatantly draw upon well known iconic imagery. That seems to me the lazy way to create art. Analogous to some degree to remaking a movie from 30 years ago. I do like some 'lowbrow' art like Mark Ryden that makes heavy use of sacred and pop imagery but truthfully his sacred imagery is of the pop variety anyway. Religiously iconic kitsch rather than truly sacred imagery but admittedly the line can blur there. It's fun art rather than serious art. I may get taken to task for that differentiation by someone here if they've read this far into this post. I've disagreed with others here as to what constitutes art and what doesn't. Not every pretty picture is art in my opinion.

John Thornton



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list