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Question III
In The Soul of Sex, Thomas Moore says "religious institutions remain close to pornography, sometimes in their
art . . . because ultimately both are concerned with life's deepest meaning and mystery." Do you see any
connection between Catholicism and porn? Did Catholic artists ever purposely infuse their art and iconography with suggestions of
sexuality in order to help convey the power of spiritual ecstasy to the masses (consider such Christian-themed works as the
illustrated "O" in Bede's commentary on the Song of Songs,
Donatello's David,
Caravaggio's Doubting Thomas, and
Bernini's The Ecstasy of St. Theresa)?
And, if so, how should that affect the way we interpret contemporary renditions of Christianity such as
Andres Serrano's photograph Heaven and Hell,
Martin Scorsese's film The Last Temptation of Christ,
Madonna's video "Like a Prayer," and
Terrence McNally's play Corpus Christi (all of which many religious
fundamentalists have condemned as pornographic and blasphemous)?
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No
doubt that artists throughout time have infused art, perhaps especially religious art, with
sexual imagery and that church leaders have tried to get that stuff out of the paintings.
Artists weren't always official transmitters of the faith, or even blind followers; artists were
often in trouble with religious authorities whose teachings and control hurt and damaged
them. And their work reflects that. In our own time, much "sexual" and "blasphemous" art
is related to the church's condemnation of homosexuality, contraception and abortion. The
work of Serrano, McNally, Durang and even Frank McCourt in Angela's Ashes
reflects the pain Catholicism caused these artists. The extent to which blasphemy today is
seen by the right only in relation to sexual images and themes is a reflection of the extent to
which the hierarchy of the church has reduced moral teachings to issues of sexuality and
reproduction, ignoring justice and relationship. For example, if a priest were castigating a
woman as immoral, one would immediately assume (and probably correctly) that the
castigation was about sex. You could bet that the woman was not being called immoral
because she had $250,000 worth of GM stock and never used them at a shareholders
meeting to vote for labor rights.
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