Letter: An old challenge to 'art'
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks from the State Department following the killing of US Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and 3 staff members in Benghazi, Libya. (Sept. 12, 2012) Credit: Getty Images
In a letter to the editor titled "Art's offensive to Christians" [Sept. 28], the writer follows a deceptive and dangerous path.
The writer cites Andres Serrano's controversial 1987 piece as an offense to Christians, failing to mention that the scandal over the piece, manufactured by a right-wing North Carolina senator in his campaign to defund the arts, took place more than 20 years ago. The writer hints that President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should issue a statement about a decades-old work in private hands, as if to suggest that either of these Christians endorses it.
This is classic bait-and-switch: an attempt to tie opposition politicians to events they never touched. As a Christian, I do not find the work offensive. As a veteran, I consider any move to suppress free speech dangerous.
The letter writer is a far greater danger to our democracy than is Serrano's work.
Rev. J. Gary Brinn, Sayville
Editor's note: The writer is the pastor of the Sayville Congregational United Church of Christ.
