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09/25/2007
Bread and whine: Barber guns for Bible dinner party-based ad
This is the advertisement for San Francisco's annual Folsom Street Fair:
Okay, so clearly it's a mockup of the Last Supper. And being that it does use a religious concept as its basis, the "pro-family" kids are of course out in full force to condemn it:
"A picture's worth a thousand words," said Matt Barber, Policy Director for Cultural Issues with Concerned Women for America (CWA). "Scripture says that God is not mocked, yet it doesn't stop people from trying. As evidenced by this latest stunt, open ridicule of Christianity is unfortunately very common within much of the homosexual community.
"'Gay' activists disingenuously call Christians 'haters' and 'homophobes' for honoring the Bible, but then lash out in this hateful manner toward the very people they accuse. In their version of The Last Supper, Christ, Who gave His life for our sins, is despicably replaced by sin itself as the object of worship.
"We're calling on California's elected officials - Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Governor Schwarzenegger and Senators Feinstein and Boxer - to publicly condemn this unprovoked attack against Christ and His followers. We further challenge the media to cover this affront to Christianity with the same vigor as recent stories about cartoon depictions of Mohammed and other items offensive to the Muslim community.
Oh, Matty Matt. So unhinged.
But here's the thing: The religious right, despite their own popular belief, does NOT hold ownership to religious imagery! They do not have the copyright to Biblical concepts, and NONE of God's citizens (be they believer or not) need the expressed written consent of these self-professed moral authorities to use such imagery. Some Christians surely find such usage to be sacreligious and disturbing, while others find it to be a testament to the idea that everyone is welcome at God's table. Both are free to create their own depictions, as again, NOBODY holds ownership to this penultimate Biblical feast!
The truly annoying thing about Matt's words is the way he tries to paint this advertisement as if it is somehow an attack on God, Christians, or Jesus. It is of course not surprising that Matt would take this route, as presenting any and everything that they find objectionable as some sort of "attack" on values is the most beloved concept of the anti-gay movement. But unlike the homophobic, hate-filled attacks that matt tries to discredit, nobody is being hurt, denied of any rights, discriminated against, or in any way assaulted by the above advertisement. And there is not ONE denunciation of God, Jesus, Christianity, or any of its followers. For all we know, ever single person in the above picture is a Christian who feels that their sexuality is a God-given concept that they should celebrate. There are surely some who see it as a glorification of God, not an attack. Whether you disagree or agree with that idea, you should be able to see that people are free to hold such beliefs!
Matt and his buddies of course have every right to lash out against this ad. But calling on elected officials to denounce the ad? That's totally out of line! And as for the media coverage that he wants to see on par with the Mohammed cartoon controversy (which actually did depict the religious figure, not just an Islamic concept) -- well, the vast majority of that coverage was on the violent, extremist protests that the cartoons brought about. So if Matt really wants to see the same for his own protest, then he can try and rally his troops to take to the streets in the same vigilant manner. Yet somehow, we don't imagine that to be the comparison that he meant to invite.
"Gays" Mock Jesus with Last Supper Take-Off [CWFA]
**UPDATE, 9/26: It's not about the fair -- it's about fairness! [G-A-Y]
Technorati Tags: Folsom Street Fair, Matt Barber
Your thoughts
Ha! I'd love to see them attempt to burn down San Francisco over this. Have them take to the streets of New York and DC and throw bricks and rocks start torching buildings! I know it won't happen, but they hide their rage behind a faltering "culture war" and they look so funny while they loose it.
Posted by: Daimeon | Sep 25, 2007 4:22:38 PM
Hmph, as usual, they single out the homos. From my understanding, the Folsom Street Fair an event attended by people of all sorts of orientations within the BDSM community. C'mon CWFA, if you're gonna criticize the poster, at least criticize everyone involved with it.
Posted by: Chris Doeg | Sep 25, 2007 5:30:07 PM
Chris: It is absolutely people of all orientations. And it attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors, all of whom are free to have their own thoughts regarding the Last Supper.
Posted by: G-A-Y | Sep 25, 2007 5:38:29 PM
I love this poster. I think it was so well done. I thought it was clever, not offensive.
I think it is interesting that Matt tries to make the point that gays are lashing back at the people they call 'haters' with this kind of 'hateful attack'. What does he expect people to do? The christians who 'honor the bible' by going to events like these and wave 'god hates fags' signs don't think they'll anger some people? It's like he won't be happy unless gays sit back and just take it. Any sign of angry back lash and it's the gays who are at fault. Well.... I guess that makes sense. People who hate gays ARE only following the word of god, right???
Posted by: Appletree | Jul 28, 2008 2:51:07 AM
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