The intensely ironic pity of it is, all the Jesuits I’ve ever known could take this image and generate hours of worthwhile, piercing discussion of right & wrong, Christ & God, sacred & profane, and… damned near everything else. They were unafraid, like Il Papa. Or the recently deceased Berrigan.
Having said that, the modern “intellectual” expectation that religious Catholics ought to view this display without comment or protest of any kind is bullshit. It is knowingly transgressive, and possibly cheaply, thoughtlessly transgressive. Or not. But, every time I look at it, I feel a tired, weak old tug on a chain that I barely own anymore. The feel of it is just enough to let me know that the image had the intent of yanking that chain.
Defenders of Intellectual Freedom ™ who claim otherwise are sorry-assed bullshitters. If you are free of religious freakiness, you don’t bother to paint this kind of thing. It doesn’t even fucking occur to you.
