Tuesday, June 21, 2011

High Praise Indeed

One of my paintings is getting the supreme left-handed compliment of being featured on a right-wing Christianist website. I'm flattered.






The Queering the Church post for Easter Sunday had a very homoerotic image of "Christ" by an artist called Douglas Blanchard. This painting seemed to depict Our Lord as a muscle-boy (or "gym-bunny"?), surrounded by other muscle-men who look like members of the Village People (are they meant to represent the disciples?). Terry Weldon explained this image by posting something from The Queer Bible Commentary by Thomas Bonhache. This book quotes a "queer theologian", called Robert Goss, who said: “On Easter, God made Jesus queer in his solidarity with us. In other words, Jesus came out of the closet and became the ‘queer Christ”.


"Our Lord as a muscle boy (or gym-bunny)" aren't these guys the ones who are always complaining about the demise of "muscular" Christianity? Besides, Rubens' Jesus could beat up my Christ boy anytime. Although mine could beat the crap out of Rembrandt's Jesus, but then, so could most other Jesuses. Nineteenth Century Victorian Jesuses, now there's a collection of nancy-boys right there.

And there's still more high praise in the comments section of this other right-wing site.

In the words of Franklin D. Roosevelt, "I welcome their hatred."

Offending the very brittle sensibilities of the right is about as much sport as dynamiting fish. But, it is kinda fun to rattle their self-made cages sometimes.

12 comments:

June Butler said...

Congratulation! You're made.

June Butler said...

Sorry. That would be "Congratulations"! I never give only one congratulation.

susan s. said...

Wow, Doug! Now I'm impressed! ;-)

BTW the beginning h in the link is missing.

Counterlight said...

I added the "h" in "http" and I think it's fixed now. The link now works for me anyway.

Counterlight said...

By the way, I left a short comment on Reluctant Sinner's thread thanking him for the free publicity. I doubt that he'll post it.

Tristan Alexander said...

"...surrounded by other muscle-men who look like members of the Village People..." Um, are they looking at the same picture as I am? I love how these people, and other so called "critics" make a picture what they think it is no matter what it really looks like. I have had mine interpreted in ways I would never recognize. Most Renaissance religious paintings would be condemended as "Gay propaganda" by these idiots (especially if they knew ANYTHING about the artists who painted them!

June Butler said...

Jesus surrounded by "riff-raff"? What an idea! Perish the thought.

Paul (A.) said...

Really? "muscle-men"? Have Hans and Franz now become Christianists?

Whoever they are, they clearly are oblivious to the academic denotation of "queer".

There is no need to pray that God make our enemies to appear ridiculous: He has already answered that request.

JCF said...

Good on ya, Doug!

In the words of Franklin D. Roosevelt, "I welcome their hatred."

I love this quote. Also, "comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable": that's what followers of the Nazarean Carpenter are *supposed* to do...

...but I'm in a situation somewhat betwixt&between. (Aren't we all afflicted on some level, and comfortable on another? Ditto, afflicting/comforting?) I ask your prayers for this situation/relationship.

MadPriest said...

Some people see the homo-erotic everywhere. It's as if they are attracted to it :-)

Counterlight said...

As Freud said, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."

Kirkepiscatoid said...

Woo hoo! If you can get the Freepers to talk about you, you have arrived! (Getting the right-wing Christian homophobes to do it was just too easy.)

Next stop; the Tea Partiers.