My fourth grade civics class taught that America is not a democracy but it is a representative republic. One of the reasons our forefathers chose a republic over a democracy is so that the tyranny of the majority would not impose immoral uses of public funds. What Pastor Mayfield failed to mention in his column on the Boulder library controversy was that the Boulder librarian refused to hang the American flag because it might "offend" someone. This is the new postmodern morality; What was right is now wrong and what was wrong is now right.

It seems the Pastor is a card carrying member of the "blame America" crowd. This philosophy engages in national self guilt and reverse traditional moral standards. Their tenets are; a supposed lack of cultural diversity means we should reject traditional American values, a moral relativism in which there are no absolute moral standards, and a moral equivalency in which the acts of Mr. Rowan are equivalent to the acts of the terrorists.

I applaud Mr. Rowan. His actions exposed the twisted mindset of the "Peoples Republic of Boulder" and their ilk. Mr. Rowan explained that his actions had as much to do with exposing the twisted logic of the Boulder librarian as it had to do with him being offended by the art. The postmodernist morals are just opposite of traditional American values. The American flag which used to represent the freedoms we hold instead represents guilt about our national prosperity and outdated moral beliefs. Lewd displays of art, publicly funded, and displayed where we take our children were once considered unthinkable. The new postmodern moral is that the publicly funded hanging of penises in a publicly funded library is equivalent to the building of highways and the maintenance of our public parks. The art itself, displayed to promote awareness of domestic violence, is the feminist expression of how males should feel guilty about their sexuality. Twisted logic indeed!

bump

Rich Mayfield is pastor of the Lord of the Mountains Lutheran Church......

....and his email address is ...christianagnostic. ...

You're kidding ....right?
...This is a joke, right?

It is people like you, Mr. Rowan, who are the biggest threat to the future of America

No, it's people like Mayfield that are the threat. Tolerance of absolutely anything just for the sake of 'tolerance' and 'rights' suggests that nobody is entitled to (capable of) judgement. BS

Unfortunately it is not a joke. This guy typifies the liberal pastors out there today.

Your undemocratic act is simply a part of a continuum that includes 19 maniacs deciding that thousands of people have to die because they didn’t like the American way of doing things.

This has to be one of the most a$$inine statements I've seen this week.

My email is on the way.

Email the Pastor

Mr. Rowan is a performance artist. He removes stupid displays from public places, because he is an artist. How can a country which claims to be free interfere with his right to remove these items which are integral to his interpretation of freedom? Don't interfere, enjoy the essential truth of Mr. Rowan's performance. Come on, its in the name of art, so it is OK. Everything is OK if it is art. In this age of "deconstruction" and objectivism, Mr. Rowan has captured the essense of post modern thought. It is a "de-installation", the new wave of artistic expression. Cutting edge, yes that's the ticket.

regards

The exhibit apparently offended the sensitivities of Mr. Rowan and so he took it upon himself to eliminate the exhibit.

The exhibit was a hate crime against men. It equated masculinity with violence against women, the whole idea of "hanging them out to dry" was that women would somehow be empowered if men had their penises cut off.

The government should not sponsor art like that (but it does).

Rowan is a hero.

It is a "de-installation", the new wave of artistic expression. Cutting edge, yes that's the ticket.

Very Good! I believe this country needs more artists like Mr. Rowan!

Rev Rich probably likes penises more than he lets on.

It equated masculinity with violence against women, the whole idea of "hanging them out to dry" was that women would somehow be empowered if men had their penises cut off.

This would be the prevailing opinion amongst the elite in Boulder, Colorado.

It is people like you, Mr. Rowan, who are the biggest threat to the future of America.

As contrasted with really nice people like Brother Osama and the Taliban. (Bet this pastor belongs to the ELCA . . . )

You cannot take it upon yourself to decide the will of the people.

So who took it upon themselves to determine that this "art" display was the 'will of the people'? Were public hearings held to determine what was to be displayed in the library? I think not; rather, some small, select group determined that the 'will of the people' was to display this "art" in the public library. Looking at the controversy surrounding this public display, I would have to say that the 'will of the people' was seriously misjudged.

Mr. Mayfield is your typical liberal hypocrite (but you already knew that).

The exhibit apparently offended the sensitivities of Mr. Rowan and so he took it upon himself to eliminate the exhibit.

A thief. Nothing more, nothing less.

What he was stealing in not relevant.

He could just as easily walk into a Catholic church, be offended by the Christ on a cross and steal it.

. (Bet this pastor belongs to the ELCA . . . )

He is originally from California if that answers your question.

A Very Good Answer LOL Bump.

This guy is a Lutheran Pastor? I don't know what he's about, but penis art even for a christianagnostic seems to be so..... what, idolatrous? The man has "issues" about just what is sacred and what is profane. And the title "pastor" doesn't give him dispensation, there being no God and all that.

regards

It is a "de-installation", the new wave of artistic expression.

Tate protesters wreck artist's unmade bed

Monday 25 October 1999

By Sam Wallace

TRACEY EMIN'S work My Bed, shortlisted for the Turner Prize, was attacked yesterday by two men who repeatedly jumped on it and drank from the bottles of vodka which form part of the Tate Gallery exhibit.

The men, naked from the waist up with Chinese characters painted on their chests, were wrestled to the ground by curators and a member of the public. A visitor said: "Everyone at the exhibition started clapping as they thought it was part of the show. At first, the security people didn't know what to do."

Police later released two men without charge. Yuan Cai, 43, from Stoke Newington, north London, said he had planned the action because the first time he saw Emin's work he thought it was strong but still institutionalised.

He said: "We want to push the idea further. Our action will make the public think about what is good art or bad art. We didn't have time to do a proper performance. I thought I should touch the bed and smell the bed."

Mr Cai, a correspondent for Chinese arts magazines and newspapers, had words such as "Communism", "Anti-Stuckism", "Freedom", "Idealism" and "Internationalism" written on his body in Chinese as well as English. He said his actions were themselves a piece of art named "Two Naked Men Jump Into Tracey's Bed". Although he was not a contemporary of Emin, Mr Cai confirmed that he was a student of the Royal College of Art, from where he graduated in 1991. He had also gained a BA from Maidstone College.

J J Xi, 37, from Camden Town, said he wanted to push the work, which was not interesting enough, further to make it more significant and sensational. The words on his body included "Optimism", "Idealism" and "Anarchism".

Mr Xi, a graduate of Goldsmiths College, University of London, said: "I had three security guards on top of me. I think the way they treated us visual artists was ignorant. We are planning more demonstrations but we would prefer to keep them secret."

The Tate later confirmed that "an incident" had taken place, but said that the artwork would be back on display. He said: "The work has now been restored and the exhibition will open to the public as usual at 10am tomorrow." The spokesman refused to discuss what had been done to "restore" it.

© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 1999.

A thief. Nothing more, nothing less.

Mr. Rowan called the local radio station before he took the art. When he was taking it the people in the library cheered him. When he got home the police were waiting for him and he returned the art unharmed. This is completely different than stealing a cross in a private church. I hope you can see the difference.

Just a thought. What would the police do if the local adult book store hung all of it's rubber penises in the store window?