I seem to remember several years ago, before 9/11, some controversy over a painting of a Black woman, who was supposed to represent the Virgin Mary, splattered with elephant dung. I forget what the message was supposed to be, but to a lot of Catholics, this was about as offensive as you can get. The mainstream media, however, basically portrayed Catholics and others who were offended as unsophisticated bumpkins who didn't have an appreciation for modern "art." And that was the whole point of the story: even though highly offensive to a MAINSTREAM GROUP (Catholics make up roughly 25% of the population in the US), artists had the right to express themselves no matter what.
And here we are, roughly 10 or so years later, and now the media is saying that we should be sensitive to other religions.
No, I don't advocate burning Bibles, Qurans or any other religious books, and no, I don't think a painting with elephant shit splattered on it is art. I'm just pointing out that it seems that if it's anything that offends the majority religion in the US (the various versions of Christianity), then it's a matter of getting in step with the 21st century. But if it's going to offend some other religion, in particular one that still clings to 12th century standards for the treatment of women, the definition of religious dedication, etc., well, wait, slow the hell down and be aware of these sensitivities!
I don't get it.
Christians were intolerant of Native American, Blacks, Mexican, gays, Jews and Catholics and now Muslims? Muslims only hate Americans because of America's foreign policies in the Middle East. Sometimes I feel like I am talking to a bunch of retarded children.
