Larry David pees on Jesus

[IDrinkaRum]

An episode this week of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" shows Larry David urinating on a portrait of Jesus

It also mocks the Christian belief in miracles (as Mr. David's assistant & her mother - I guess Catholics who Believe - see the now-wet portrait and think their bathroom has been "Touched By God".)

Catholics are up in arms about it.

I'm a Catholic ... I can see the outrage.

I don't believe he's doing it because he's Jewish (as one Catholic talking head seemed to imply). He himself could be Christian. Seems all Christians like to hate on the Catholic Church. (Seen it happen to others, had it happen to me).

So ... what does everyone else think?

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I'm thinking his little ploy for attention has been done, been done better, and been done a loooong time ago.

Yawn.

Guess he missed that whole Maplethorpe controversy a million years ago.

[IDrinkaRum]

Maybe he likes the addage: Everything old is new again?

Not sure.

I just .... think it's disrespectful no matter who does what to any religious item.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Oh, absolutely. It's appalling. Which is the only reason someone does something like that. So everyone will be all outraged and give them attention.

[the_std]

If you're angry about that, you should have seen the controversy that arose around this work of art.

If you find it offensive, you just give strength to his reason for doing it. If you don't care, if no one cares, he has no reason to do it. You posting the link just gives him more reason to do it.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Personally, it does not anger me anymore than it would if some dude I didn't know in a city far away from pulled down his pants and showed off his shortcomings to a crowd of equally unknown to me people.

Some wanker is crying for attention somewhere, basically. Doesn't diminish me or my beliefs in any way. All I can say is, too bad he couldn't get that attention doing something worthwhile.

EDIT: Why did I think Piss Christ was Maplethorpe? I know that is not correct. Anyways, yeah. That was the "art" I was referring to.

[guywithashovel]

What Larry David did was crude, but maybe he just goes for crude humor (I'm not familiar with him, so I don't know).

What gets me about things like this is that most of the people who get outraged over them have no qualms about browbeating people for not being Christian, being gay, not attending church regularly, etc. Also, many of them see nothing wrong with scouring neighborhoods (often early in the morning) and pestering people with their religion in the privacy of their own homes.

I know it probably seems like I'm playing the tired old "Well, they do it, too!" game. I just think that people should try to give some of the respect they ask for.

[Fryk]

Okay, quick thought, but to me, browbeating someone with your faith, while offensive, is NOT equal to pissing all over their religion... er, literally.

[BroomJockey]

You're right. It's worse. You brow-beating me is not only pissing on MY faith metaphorically, but disrespecting me on a fundamental and personal level. Peeing on a picture of Jesus on a television show doesn't do any of that. You know, because it isn't like he actually pissed on it. It's FAKE. Further, if you read the article, it says he didn't even "pee" directly on it. It was just splatter he didn't wipe up. So yes, brow-beating > peeing on Jesus.

[Fryk]

Yes, but how is that any less of a pissing metaphor than your example? At the most, your argument has convinced me that the two things are perhaps EQUAL, but browbeating is still not worse. And if the browbeater star5ts screaming and ranting, the problem to me is no longer that they're browbeating, it's that they're behaving like a rabid howler monkey. Which is also worse. But damned funny.

[Flyndaran]

I thought a big purpose of Art was to invoke emotion.
If so, then this work did its job.
Personally, I loathe all modern art. But to each their own. Even if I were christian, I wouldn't give a care about it. It's no different than saying God Damn, and religious people say that all the time.

[smileyeagle1021]

What gets me about things like this is that most of the people who get outraged over them have no qualms about browbeating people for not being Christian, being gay, not attending church regularly, etc. Also, many of them see nothing wrong with scouring neighborhoods (often early in the morning) and pestering people with their religion in the privacy of their own homes.

This is almost exactly what I tell my mother... when her brothers and sisters in Christ stop belittling me as a person because I'm gay, I'll stop belittling her church as a chalice of hatred (as it is I'm yet to have a Buddhist make bigoted comments to me... hell, I've not even had muslims make derogatory comments... there may have been a jew, but the vast majority of hatred I've seen has been from Christianity... it is as they say, you reap what you sow)

[guywithashovel]

This is almost exactly what I tell my mother... when her brothers and sisters in Christ stop belittling me as a person because I'm gay, I'll stop belittling her church as a chalice of hatred (as it is I'm yet to have a Buddhist make bigoted comments to me... hell, I've not even had muslims make derogatory comments... there may have been a jew, but the vast majority of hatred I've seen has been from Christianity... it is as they say, you reap what you sow)

I think that traditional sects (or whatever their called) of Buddhism consider homosexuality to be a sin (or whatever they call it). I'm not sure how many actually adhere to that, though.

[kiwi]

He didnt pee on christ he peed on an image of him, I am a christian and I am not offended in the slightest.
Doesn't say something in the bible against graven images?

"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them [snip](Exodus 20:4-6 KJV)

If anything having a picture of jesus in a room dedicated to piss and shit is far more sacreligious.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

It's very wrong that I laughed at that last remark. Isn't it.

I am so going to The Bad Place...