• About

The Dunedin School

~ (2009 – 2014)

The Dunedin School

Tag Archives: Church

St Matthews Christmas Billboard Vandalised: Catholic Fundamentalist Portrays Animals Emerging Two-by-Two from the Virgin Mary

18 Sunday Dec 2011

Posted by Deane in Language, Living, Politics, Reference, Religion, Rhetoric, Texts

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Advertising, Arthur Skinner, Catholic Action, Christmas billboard, Church, Humour, St Matthew in the City, Virgin Mary

In what was an almost inevitable development, fundamentalist Catholic Arthur Skinner, of the reactionary Catholic Action group, has vandalised the Christmas billboard erected earlier this week by St Matthew in the City, Auckland, New Zealand. Taking a pair of scissors to the billboard to reveal another picture below, Skinner has made it appear as if the Virgin Mary is expressing shock at various animals proceeding forth from her eternally intact vagina:

Original St Matthews Christmas Billboard

Original St Matthews Christmas Billboard

Vandalised St Matthews Christmas Billboard: Arthur Skinner makes it appear as if the Virgin Mary is shocked at animals proceeding two-by-two out of her eternally intact vagina

Vandalised St Matthews Christmas Billboard: Arthur Skinner (Catholic Action) makes it appear as if the Virgin Mary is shocked at animals proceeding two-by-two out of her eternally intact vagina

 

Arthur Skinner’s unusual alteration to the Christmas billboard appears to be unintentional, rather than a work of artistic creativity. TV3 reports Skinner ranting, “Everyone knows instinctively, you don’t muck around with God’s mother. This is devil’s work. This is luciferian. The attack on the blessed virgin.” Stuff reports that Skinner called church vicar Glynn Cardy the day he cut the poster to tell him he would “roast slowly in hell” for the billboard.

As Eric commented in respect of a similar rant by Family First’s Bob McCoskrie against St Matthew’s 2009 Christmas billboard,

There is a long-standing tradition in Christianity to immediately condemn any connection between Jesus and sexual activity of any kind. Whether this is due to a perceived need to defend the ludicrous doctrine of the virgin birth from critique (is the NT wrong?) or simply another aspect of the long historical tradition that claims the elevated, the divine, or the righteous are not subject to the same bodily weaknesses and urges that the rest of us are endlessly plagued with (for Deane’s thoughts on this, see here and here), remains an open question.

Family First NZ: Jokes About Sexy Jesus Still Not Funny

17 Thursday Dec 2009

Posted by Eric Repphun in Language, Living, Politics, Reference, Religion, Rhetoric, Texts

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

Advertising, Church, Humour, St Matthew in the City

And now for a fascinating example of the recent reception history of a religious figure …

St Matthew in the City, a progressive Anglican church in Auckland (the biggest city – not that this is saying a whole lot – in New Zealand), is planning to erect a controversial billboard to raise awareness of the ‘Christ’ part of Christmas and to provoke discussion about the holiday and its meaning.  The billboard shows Mary and Joseph in bed and makes a cheeky, glancing reference to the Virgin Birth:

Billboard for St Matthew in the City, Auckland, New Zealand

The billboard, before it has even made its first public appearance on the street, is being roundly decried by Family First New Zealand, a conservative Evangelical group in the mode of the American Focus on the Family.  Family First’s Bob McCoskrie had this to say about the advertisement:

The church can have its debate on the virgin birth and its spiritual significance inside the church building, but to confront children and families with the concept as a street billboard is completely irresponsible and unnecessary … The church has failed to recognise that public billboards are exposed to all of the public including children and families who may be offended by the material.

The assertion that children could possibly be offended by the material is simply nonsensical, especially in a heavily secularised (and often illiterate and anti-intellectual) place like New Zealand, where a fair percentage of the people who see the billboard will be rather likely not to even understand what it is referring to.  If this really is offensive, than all the better, as being offended is tantamount to having to think seriously about something.  On an incidental note, the consequences of this last sentiment – that advertising that offends should not be allowed – are vast when we consider that there are people out there, me for instance, who find mediocrity of any kind offensive.

There is a long-standing tradition in Christianity to immediately condemn any connection between Jesus and sexual activity of any kind.  Whether this is due to a perceived need to defend the ludicrous doctrine of the virgin birth from critique (is the NT wrong?) or simply another aspect of the long historical tradition that claims the elevated, the divine, or the righteous are not subject to the same bodily weaknesses and urges that the rest of us are endlessly plagued with (for Deane’s thoughts on this, see here and here), remains an open question.  We saw similar tendencies in reactions to the rubbish novel and film The Da Vinci Code and to the brilliant novel and film The Last Temptation of Christ.  Despite all of the ballyhoo to the contrary, I want to suggest that these negative reactions were related more to the idea of a sexual Jesus (which Martin Scorcese’s film showed in some detail) than to any of these texts’  other criticisms of the churches.

In a final note, the billboard, by a mainline Christian church, is in some ways far more subversive, and certainly far more intelligent, than the recent advertising campaign by the New Zealand Atheist Bus Campaign, which raised $20,000 from donations to place advertisements on  a number of public buses that read ‘There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life’.  That this is a cliched and seriously tired sentiment (though one that still applies most to a certain breed of Calvinist) need pass by without mention.  That they feel the need to add the word ‘probably’ reveals either that they are  deliberately trying to tone down their message or are simply unsure of themselves makes them both bad provocateurs and bad atheists.   This kind of waffling undermines the whole of the campaign.  True atheism needs to be both bold, unequivocal, and, as I’ve written elsewhere, historically aware.  The billboard, on the other hand, is thought-provoking, even to someone who has already in this post declared the idea of virgin birth as ‘ludicrous’.  It also has the distinct advantage of actually being funny – I love the wistful look in Mary’s eyes as she gazes heavenward and thinks what are most likely very impure thoughts about her God – and of using humour to a far more serious purpose than a knee-jerk appeal to a bland and poorly understood atheism – without God, are we completely free from any obligation as moral agents, free to simply enjoy our lives, or (to employ a much-used and ultimately meaningless word) are we finally free to be happy?

Thanks to Stuff.co.nz for the image and the quotations (without their permission, of course, this is the Internet).

Top Posts

  • J.N. Darby's End-Times Family Tree: Is Dispensationalism from the Bible or Evangelical Tradition?
  • Lawrence Krauss to Dispel Nonsense, from Creationism to Aliens: Free Public Lecture in Dunedin: Yes, Free!

Categories

  • Academics
  • Atheism and Agnosticism
  • Biblical Studies
    • Angels
    • Eschatology
    • Evil
    • Giants
    • Gnosticism
    • God
    • Hebrew
    • Hebrew Bible
    • Historical Criticism
    • Jesus
    • New Testament
    • Paul
    • Rabbinics
    • Reception History
    • Textual Criticism
  • Buddhism
  • Christianity
    • Theology
  • Conferences & Seminars
  • Dunedin School
  • Ecology
  • Ethics
    • Relativism
  • History
  • Islam
  • justice
  • Language
    • Metaphor
    • Reference
    • Rhetoric
    • Slang
    • Symbol
    • Translation
  • Living
  • News
  • Politics
    • Violence
  • Religion
    • Cults
    • Death
    • Exorcism
    • Faith
    • Fundamentalism
    • Healing
    • Prophecy
    • Purification
    • Rationalization
    • Visions
    • Worship
  • Texts
    • Cartoons
    • Comics
    • Film
    • Fine Art
    • Games
    • Greek
    • Internet
    • Literature
    • Media
    • Music
    • Philosophy
    • Photography
    • Pornography
    • Television
  • Theory
    • Capital
    • Children's rights
    • Continental Philosophy
    • Dialogic
    • Feminist Theory
    • Gender Studies
    • Intertextuality
    • Marx
    • Narratology
    • Postcolonialism
    • Psychoanalysis
    • Queer
    • Racism
    • Reception
    • Sex
    • Spectrality
    • Transhumanism
    • Universalism
  • Uncategorized
  • Zarathustrianism

Archives

  • September 2014
  • December 2013
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009

Recent Comments

  • Vridar » “Partisanship” in New Testament scholarship on Exposing Scandalous Misrepresentation of Sheffield University’s Biblical Studies Department and a Bucket Full of Blitheringly False Accusations: ‘Bewithering is Becoming Bewildering’*
  • Arthur Klassen on The Antichrist Revealed! John Key has been Prophesised in the Word of God!!
  • Anusha on Cinema as Exorcism (six): On Soft-Selling Lars von Trier’s Melancholia
  • Cary Grant on J.N. Darby’s End-Times Family Tree: Is Dispensationalism from the Bible or Evangelical Tradition?
  • Christian Discernment on The Antichrist Revealed! John Key has been Prophesised in the Word of God!!
  • fluffybabybunnyrabbit on Complementarians and Martial Sex: The Jared Wilson / Gospel Coalition Saga
  • lisawhitefern on The Antichrist Revealed! John Key has been Prophesised in the Word of God!!

Blogroll

  • Anthrocybib (Jon Bialecki and James Bielo)
  • Auckland Theology, Biblical Studies, et al
  • Dr Jim's Thinking Shop and Tea Room (Jim Linville)
  • Forbidden Gospels (April DeConick)
  • Genealogy of Religion (Cris)
  • Joseph Gelfer
  • Otagosh (Gavin Rumney)
  • PaleoJudaica (Jim Davila)
  • Religion and the Media (University of Sheffield)
  • Religion Bulletin
  • Religion Dispatches
  • Remnant of Giants
  • Sects and Violence in the Ancient World (Steve A. Wiggins)
  • Sheffield Biblical Studies (James Crossley)
  • Stalin's Moustache (Roland Boer)
  • The Immanent Frame
  • The New Oxonian (R. Joseph Hoffmann)
  • Theofantastique

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • The Dunedin School
    • Join 47 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • The Dunedin School
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...