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Am I the only one who, reading about violent unrest over Danish editorial cartoons, is reminded of the Piss Christ controversy?

For those who don’t recall, Piss Christ was an allegedly artistic photo of a crucifix immersed in urine that generated some controversy in the US circa 1987. While it didn’t cause Christians to riot the way some Muslims in other countries are today, there is a causal similarity.

The ongoing expansion of government domestically has led Christians to feel persecuted. Since government ought to be secular, where governments exist at all, expansion of government power and authority necessarily led Christians to view their way of life as being unfairly circumscribed. This is a drawback of government itself and an argument for its abolition. It is socially divisive.

That Christian perception of persecution led to an over-reaction in the case of Piss Christ. It became a symbol to them, a focus for their anxiety and perceived righteous fury. It seems likely that it might have largely been blown off and ignored by the same people under different circumstances.

The expansion of bloodthirsty imperialism abroad has similarly made many Muslims raw and edgy. Now we have riots and embassies in flames, supposedly over some silly cartoons. It’s not about cartoons, though. Those cartoons are a focus for their anxiety and perceived righteous fury. It seems likely that those cartoons might have largely been blown off and ignored by the same people under different circumstances.

We can make those circumstances different — by abolishing government.

Addendum: It just occurred to me that one possible interpretation of Piss Christ is a particularly Christian one — that those who reject the message of Christ have, figuratively speaking, pissed all over his sacrifice. Sort of makes me want to re-read “Jesus is an Anarchist” by James Redford.

Tags: Cultural Notes, Politics //