"Joy and pleasure are as real as pain and sorrow and one must learn what they have to teach. . . ." -- Sean Russell, from Gatherer of Clouds

"If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right." -- Helyn D. Goldenberg

"I love you and I'm not afraid." -- Evanescence, "My Last Breath"

“If I hear ‘not allowed’ much oftener,” said Sam, “I’m going to get angry.” -- J.R.R. Tolkien, from Lord of the Rings

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Today in Creeping Fascism

William Donohue, d/b/a "The Catholic League," has gotten his knickers twisted over a play. Via press release:

On January 23, “Jerry Springer: The Opera,” a New Group production, will preview at the Pershing Square Signature Center, an off-Broadway venue. That morning, at 9:30 a.m., I will hold a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington D.C., raising objections to the play and the source of funding for the New Group. Regarding the latter, the New Group receives most of its funding from public sources, led by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

The press conference has two objectives: to call attention to this frontal assault on Christian sensibilities; and to request that President Trump nominate a new chairman of the NEA, one who will discontinue funding of anti-Christian grantees, exhibitions, and performances. The current chairman’s tenure ends in April; the president is expected to announce his nominee in the near future.

First off, the NEA, I'm told, does not directly fund theatrical productions, but then, when you've got a good snit going, who cares about facts? Here's a route into the arcana of NEA grant-making. And do keep in mind that the NEA (and the NEH) have been favorite targets of the right since they made the mistake of funding projects that the "good Christians" don't approve of.

And in that vein, commenter 2guysnamedjoe at Joe.My.God. provided this link and this quote:

"It is not the mission of art," the Führer proclaimed to the assembled crowd in September 1935, "to wallow in filth for filth's sake, to paint the human being only in a state of putrefaction, to draw cretins as symbols of motherhood, or to present deformed idiots as representatives of manly strength."

I think the thing that most riles Republicans about the NEA is that it doesn't hold to the idea that politicians should be determining which art is acceptable. It wisely has left that to audiences.

Oh, and one further observation: The Catholic Church does not accept the idea of separation of church and state. Which makes the Church, as far as I can tell, officially anti-American.

Via Joe.My.God.

And just in case you're curious as to what all the fuss is about:


Be warned: it's two hours long.


No comments: