Texas church bans child's photograph of Passion

hosted ^ | Mar 20 | LINDA STEWART BALL

[JoeProBono]

DALLAS (AP) -- Some find Jackson Potts II's photograph of a nightstick-wielding policeman beating a fallen, bleeding child violent and offensive, conjuring images of police brutality and child abuse.

But to Jackson, a talented 10-year-old Houston photographer, and a cadre of art lovers, the disturbing image has religious symbolism.

Jackson shot the photograph for an exhibit depicting the Stations of the Cross, but the show's organizers rejected it, sparking a controversy some say is overshadowing remembrance of Jesus' final hours during the season of Lent.

Jackson was the only child among 15 artists invited to participate in the exhibit.

[JoeProBono]

[SnakeDoctor]

I get the point ... but it seems a bit extreme for a kids church exhibit.

SnakeDoc

[SkyDancer]

This picture will get out over the Internet as something real rather than posed .... or was it real? Can the patch on the cops shoulder be identified? I wonder if the child and the cop would be id’d .....

[hinckley buzzard]

if you read the story, the picture was posed. The kid is the photographer's 7 year-old brother. Arranged by Dad, who must be a really mentally sound prince of a liberal.

[This I Wonder32460]

I take it this incident was staged for the camera, not an actual event. Such a staged photo does a disservice to the hard working police officers who work to protect and serve their communities. I’d say its, vicious with malignant intention. And I want to know what adult influenced this perverse vision of law enforcement.

[SkyDancer]

Should have read but was unable to connect - any case, bet it’ll wind up on the Internet anyway as real ....

[left that other site]

First of all, Jesus was an Adult.

Second of all, He was NOT a VICTIM. He went to the Cross in Obedience to His Father’s Will and Willingly Suffered to Redeem us.

Third of all, the Roman Legionaires were Occupiers, and were not legitimate Authorities of the Israelite State.

Fourth of all, Jesus’ Suffering was NOT a Political ACT, but a Redemptive SPIRITUAL one. That is one of the reasons many Jewish people did not accept Him.

Fifth, and most importantly, I think it is Child Abuse, that a parent would cause his own child pain and humiliation, by setting him up to be rejected by his teachers, in order to suit his own twisted agenda.

But that’s just my own humble opinion.

[JoeProBono]

[left that other site]

I grew up with this picture of that same incident:

It was on my Grandmother's Living Room wall.
Thank You for bringing to my mind! :-)

[JoeProBono]

[left that other site]

Those are Gorgeous!

[dbwz]

From the article:

Jackson was assigned to portray the seventh Station of the Cross, where Jesus fell for a second time while carrying the cross to the site of his crucifixion. The home-schooled fifth-grader, who is taking a class on religious symbols in art at a Catholic church, decided to do a modern depiction of Christ being beaten by a Roman soldier.

"I thought about how innocent Jesus was, like a kid," Jackson said. "I thought a police officer was sort of like a Roman guard."

From the father's blog site:

Here is Jackson's artist statement.

Jesus Falls for the Second Time.
When I came up with this idea for my piece, one of the things that I wanted to show was that Jesus was innocent, and the crowd still wanted him to die. So I used a child (my brother Dietrich) to show the innocence of Jesus and how wrong it was for him to be treated that way. The police officer was just doing his job, as was the guard that was escorting Jesus to Skull Hill. The crowd was angry and violent except the one girl in the blue dress, who represents the people who loved Jesus.

http://jacksonsstation.blogspot.com

[JoeProBono]

[Coleus]

http://jacksonsstation.blogspot.com