Machine Politick
Machine Politick
Art That's Not Liberal
Title:Everybody Hates the Pope
Completed: 2008
Medium: Pastel and mixed media on illustration board.
Price: $1450
Dimensions: 19w x 22h x 1d
Notes: Professionally framed with conservation glass.
Description:
This drawing is about the violent response to the Pope’s speech regarding faith and reason. Aside from being a complete overreaction, it seems a little hypocritical to react violently to another person’s opinion while seeking to be perceived as peaceful. The portion of the Pope’s speech that is being taken out of context to defend these actions is not a direct quote of Benedict XVI, but rather a historic reference to a 7th century conversation. The Pope uses the quote in his speech to illustrate that it is unreasonable to spread faith with violence. I won’t defend his intentions to poke a finger at the Muslim faith, if that was his goal. But, the reaction backs up the quote.
The rest of the speech has more to do with the relationship between faith and reason. Benedict illustrates that being unreasonable is against God’s teachings, and devotes very little time to the discussion of the Muslim faith. He concentrates on making the point that to convert a reasonable person to one’s faith is best done by speaking well and convincingly and setting an example through one’s own actions. If we accept that faith can be spread through violence, we can justify any action as necessary to spread our own faith.
This piece was intended to address only the reaction to the speech. I do not in any way support the Pope. I tend to dislike the concept of organized religion in general and the office of the Pope specifically. That being said, I have no intention of doing work specific to religion out of respect for people who need faith in their lives. As with everything else, I think it is something to be left to individual judgement.
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CONTACT: frances@machinepolitick.com
All images and political rants on this page are the property of Machine Politick and are not to be used or reproduced in any way without permission from frances@machinepolitick.com. All images are copyrighted creations of the artist behind Machine Politick unless otherwise noted and are not to be used or reproduced in any way without permission from frances@machinepolitick.com. Copyright 2006.