Free Republic

November 7, 2001 BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART OFFERS “PISS CHRIST” POSTCARDS IN GIFT SHOP The gift shop in the Baltimore Museum of Art is selling souvenir postcards that feature a picture of the Andres Serrano “Piss Christ” artwork; it shows a crucifix submerged in a jar of the artist’s urine. Catholic League president William Donohue spoke to this issue today: “After 9-11, the Baltimore Museum of Art removed a painting by Christopher Wool entitled ‘Terrorist’ simply because the name of the artwork appeared on the painting. The museum issued a statement saying that the action was taken ‘out of respect ...

Intermediate Draft, seeking FReeper input. South Boston Phoenix Special Report “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” (Edmund Burke) GW Bush dared to invoke the 'G' word, 'God', three times in his 2005 Inaugural Speech. The most talked-about reaction came from Peggy Noonan. The irony is how low the Bush Administration has sunk in order to not look 'overly'-Christian: 1. In his speech, the President, OUR President, spoke well of the Koran, the religion with scriptures that demand the killing of any infidels too weak to retaliate and too 'proud' to submit...

Senator Barbara Boxer, a liberal Democrat from California, finds herself on the wrong side of a group of fundamentalists. A modest piece of legislation that Ms. Boxer sponsored is under attack in court by plaintiffs who demand that the government enforce their moral views. These are secular fundamentalists, not religious ones. At issue is the California Missions Preservation Act, which allots $10 million to restore and repair 21 historic churches in the Golden State. On December 2, two days after President Bush signed the act into law, Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed suit on behalf of...

A porcelain urinal is the most influential work of modern art, according to a survey released Wednesday. The poll of 500 arts figures ranked French surrealist Marcel Duchamp's 1917 piece "Fountain" an ordinary white, porcelain urinal more influential than Pablo Picasso's "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon," Andy Warhol's screen prints of Marilyn Monroe and "Guernica," Picasso's searing depiction of the devastation of war. Duchamp pioneered the use of everyday objects as art, an aesthetic that questioned the nature of art itself. Art expert Simon Wilson said the choice of Duchamp's urinal "comes as a bit of a shock." "But it reflects the...

Second of two parts. What is the artist's role in society? Artists have been debating the question throughout history. The former U.S. poet laureate said he thought about the election results all day -- "when I could think." "The question of how the rest of us should behave seems pressing," he said. "Erosion of civil liberties? The courts? Further and deeper predations on the environment? It's hard to see how the Endangered Species Act will survive, except perhaps in name. An interesting indicator of the intentions of that Bush clique will be to see whether they punish Republican dissenters like...