If this is heretical, and goodness knows I saw many Catholics who screamed that it is:
Then this image of George Floyd at The Catholic University of America is heretical too:
Or vice versa.
See how easy it is? Of course people could argue there are valid messages in each of the portraits, and I'm fine with that. As long as we listen to both sides and assume best motives with each. As long as we apply the same Christian standards whether something glorifies the Left or the Right.
The minute we make it clear we're applying different standards based purely on ideology, politics, social activism, personal opinions, or what have you, then we've just handed the World the ball and told it to go ahead and score the next goal. And after over a century of losing to the World, it might be time for the people of the Way to start considering new tactics so the Church can win again.
I would be less upset if the 2nd painting was Jesus or Mary watching over George Floyd during that day. I do think there's a distinct difference between "Jesus is with/watching over [person]" and outright replacing Jesus with that person. Especially given that Jesus is supposed to be who we are worshipping, it's not hard to look at some of those artworks as a call to idolatry and to worship someone or something other than God.
ReplyDeleteAt least that's why one gets a cringe and eyeroll from me while the other is far more offensive.
Fair enough. Now that you say it, one could ask if they were upset with the idea that Jesus might love Trump. I doubt they thought of it when I saw all the outrage of that and similar picks. Jesus and flag and Trump was enough to set them off. As you say, however, the real issue is confusing Floyd with Jesus, or any current leftwing idol. If they replaced Trump with Jesus I would have major issues, and rightly so I think. But I fear they know not what they do.
DeleteYeah, the issue of replacement vs addition calls back to my deep offense at the remaking of Norman Rockwell. This need to "replace" things. I mean, I love Rowell and his ability to tell so much of a story in a single image. And it bugs me that instead of creating something new - instead of telling new stories and new images using his style - instead of expanding our creative world, they're just replacing things. It doesn't make us richer, it just makes us all poorer.
DeleteI don't know if it makes any sense, it just bugs me.
That echoes something one of my sons said. He said if minorities and women are so important, then why aren't their best and brightest, and the best and brightest of our society, creating the great works of art and film and music for them, instead of just recycling old material that had whites and men and slapping non-whites and women in their place? It's almost like they aren't worth the effort. Though I explained I think it's more the point that we're being taught that it's a positive not to see whites or men in things, rather than caring enough about such groups to invest much effort in them.
DeleteIf they put effort into their diverse films, people might actually enjoy them, which would hurt the "white people are racist and won't watch black people's movies," narrative. Maybe they make the films lame on purpose, hoping to get a backlash from white viewers
ReplyDeleteI think it's an inevitable consequence of the purity spiral.
DeleteBasically if you have a competition for positions, the less talented (or lazy) figure out that they can win out over the more talented (or productive) by being "more pure" to the ideology than their competitor. Then the next competitor has to keep upping the ante and effort, until eventually you reach a state that the artists are spending more time and energy on their piety than on practicing or perfecting their art.
Here's the thing: the only way I know that is supposed to be George Floyd is that it was apparently labeled as such. Otherwise, I would have thought it was something along the lines of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa (which is black due to the aging of the pigments, apparently) or perhaps to the depiction of Christ (and the Coptic martyrs) in the recent icon of the Coptic martyrs of Libya. (Ironically, the only martyr in that icon who does not look exactly like Christ is Matthew Ayariga of Ghana, and it is not to diminish him but to draw attention to him; he was a modern counterpart of the 40th martyr of Sebaste.)
ReplyDeleteWe are all called to take up our crosses, and as many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ, alleluia.
But this applies most emphatically to martyrs, and George Floyd was not a martyr.
Yep. I wouldn't have thought otherwise had they not said it's supposed to be George Floyd. And I get what Nate is saying. There is a difference between that and the Trump pic, which could be saying Jesus is there for Trump - which isn't false. But you're also right that Floyd was not a martyr, by any definition of the term. We seem to be getting fast and loose with that term, as we are with so many terms and ideas nowadays.
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