…and this is a 
The pope has condemned this silly sculpture as blasphemous, and German Catholics are trying to get it removed from display.
They can't be serious, can they? It's kitschy and funny. But really, they're unhappy about this.
The Vatican wrote a letter of support in the pope's name to Franz Pahl, president of the regional government who opposed the sculpture.
"Surely this is not a work of art but a blashphemy and a disgusting piece of trash that upsets many people," Pahl told Reuters by telephone as the museum board was meeting.
The Vatican letter said that the work "wounds the religious sentiments of so many people who see in the cross the symbol of God's love".
Pahl, whose province is heavily Catholic, was so outraged by the sculpture of the pop-eyed amphibian that he went on a hunger strike to demand its removal and had to be taken to hospital during the summer.
So wait…now doing anything with two sticks stuck together at right angles is going to be an affront to "God's love"? I have been told over and over again by pompous wackaloons that I'm on the shock-jock trajectory, compelled to try and top my outrages against religion in an ever-upward spiral of offense, and that it's going to be really hard to top cracker abuse. However, it looks like you can piss off the pope just by playing around with a couple of popsicle sticks.
Comments
Posted by: minusRusty | August 28, 2008 7:49 PM
Of course it's blasphemous! Crucifying Kermit the Frog?!?
Not good.
Posted by: Zeno | August 28, 2008 7:51 PM
It's a "blashphemy"? I think that's a blasphemy when it's drunk, right?
But let's not mock the anuran crucifix. After all, froggy croaked for our sins.
Posted by: minusRusty | August 28, 2008 7:51 PM
Hah! #1!! w00t!
My life is complete!
Posted by: Marcus Ranum | August 28, 2008 7:51 PM
These super-sensitive idiots just make it too easy for artists. But "thanks for the publicity" is the best response. Nobody'd know who Mapplethorpe was, if not for Ed Meese. etc. etc.
My "Be a famous artist kit":
http://mjranum.deviantart.com/art/Be-a-famous-artist-kit-80745729
Y'know, when mankind outgrows religion, we'll have to keep a few believers around just as fuel for comedy.
Posted by: JoJo | August 28, 2008 7:53 PM
What was this gesture supposed to prove? That he's an idiot willing to do serious injury to himself or even die because he's offended?
Posted by: Alex | August 28, 2008 7:55 PM
Very funny. I also like this one.
Posted by: Jimi | August 28, 2008 7:55 PM
I love the irony that one of the worst instruments of torture ever devised by man is an iconic symbol of "god's love".
The mind wobbles.
Posted by: Nick Gotts | August 28, 2008 7:56 PM
Looks like he's in a bad way - maybe about to croak.
Posted by: Steve_C | August 28, 2008 7:57 PM
Jesus wasn't green!!!!
Why did they crucify Kermit!!! I love the Muppets. I'm offended.
Posted by: Grumpy | August 28, 2008 7:59 PM
Like only Jesus was ever crucified.
Posted by: Nick Gotts | August 28, 2008 7:59 PM
At least crucifixion wouldn't be quite as bad for a frog. I mean, imagine you're hanging up there, and a fly comes and settles on your nose - and you can't reach it! If you're a frog, on the other hand, you just whip your tongue out, and you've got a refreshing snack!
Posted by: MyToonBear | August 28, 2008 8:01 PM
Actually it's *Italian* catholics, as Südtirol is a German-speaking region of Italy. And the Pope rules over Italy, unfortunately ;)
Posted by: BobC | August 28, 2008 8:02 PM
As if Jebus hanging from a cross isn't disgusting.
Posted by: LisaJ | August 28, 2008 8:03 PM
Oh yeah, well I think the Pope-mobile is a "disgusting piece of trash" that has got to upset many car lovers.
Hilarious picture. I think the cross looks alot better than usual with a little extra pop of colour.
Posted by: Kel | August 28, 2008 8:03 PM
As soon as the Vatican issues an edit saying that eating beef is wrong because the cow is a sacred animal to the Hindus, then maybe they'll have a point. It's not that they care about a religious icon being mocked, they care about their religious icon being mocked. Religious tolerance is one huge act in hypocrisy, no-one expects people to follow the sensibilities of all religions, just that people should follow the sensibilities of the one they follow.
Also, can someone explain why the frog has a beer glass in one hand and an egg in the other? And one final question: is us calling that kermit just like people calling the face in that moth Jesus? Is that really Kermit or just an anthropomorphic frog?
Posted by: Bride of Shrek OM | August 28, 2008 8:04 PM
I don't think its blasphemous,I think its rather tasteful. I mean they did go to the trouble of giving him a little loincloth to cover up his little green frog willie.
Posted by: AJ Milne | August 28, 2008 8:06 PM
However, it looks like you can piss off the pope just by playing around with a couple of popsicle sticks.
Actually, thinking about this, that's just awesome. Those things are what, 30 cents to the thousand at a craft store? And small plastic crucifiable gew-gaws, I figure, I could get from yer basic dime store grab bin at similar rates...
Yep. Punching this up on the spreadsheet in my head, it seems to me that for somethin' like fifty bucks total, we should be able to keep the Vatican busy with popsicle-stick 'blasphemy' 24 hours a day, seven days a week for several years. Mebbe even busy enough they've no time left for randomly screwing up various nations' reproductive health policies...
Tell your friends with galleries. It's cheap, they get publicity, and the world gets the HPV vaccines. It's win win, baby.
Posted by: qedpro | August 28, 2008 8:07 PM
If god was real then Jim Henson would return from the dead and toast everyone... to show god's love of course.
personally, i would have preferred miss piggy.
mmmmmmmmmm pork!!!
Posted by: Nick Gotts | August 28, 2008 8:07 PM
BobC@13,
Indeed, I saw a far more disturbing sculpture - though I must say a skilfully executed one (hah!) in St. Asaph cathedral in North Wales recently - it really did look like a zombie Jesus, the lower part of him being mostly skeletal, while the upper half was still alive. Would certainly have given me nightmares as a kid, and there it was, on full public display. They had a comments book underneath it, full of Christoids gushing about how inspiring it was. I just wrote "gruesome" - and my name and address.
Posted by: inkadu | August 28, 2008 8:08 PM
It's structurally unsound is what it is. Every good crucifier knows the nails have to go between the radius and the ulna.
And can someone explain why Jesus Sapien is holding a coffee mug and an egg?
Posted by: Skwee | August 28, 2008 8:08 PM
Is it holding a coffee mug in its right hand?
Posted by: David D.G. | August 28, 2008 8:09 PM
It's extremely awful art, but I'd hardly call it "blasphemy" (or "blashphemy," for that matter). It's just in bad taste -- as is EVERY CRUCIFIX EVER MADE.
~David D.G.
Posted by: mayhempix | August 28, 2008 8:09 PM
The Pope has got it all wrong.
He's supposed to kiss the frog and it turns into Prince Jebus.
Beats crackers any day.
Posted by: Paul Burnett | August 28, 2008 8:09 PM
Does anybody know what the symbolic meaning of the beer mug in one hand and the egg in the other hand might be?
Posted by: Ichthyic | August 28, 2008 8:10 PM
Like only Jesus was ever crucified.
an obvious but excellent point, which will of course be missed amongst the heavy, heavy amount of projection being undertaken by all the xians.
Posted by: BobC | August 28, 2008 8:12 PM
A dead human ape hanging from an execution device is a symbol of Mr. God's love? This must be the same loving God who's going to torture me in hell because I don't believe in it.
Posted by: BennyP | August 28, 2008 8:12 PM
As if Jesus were the only 'person' ever to be crucified.
The real news would be the religious offense at depicting torture. Who is the patron saint of water boarding?
Posted by: Longtime Lurker | August 28, 2008 8:14 PM
Thank the founders we have no blasphemy laws!
Wonder if he broke his fast with frog legs...
Posted by: Porky Pine | August 28, 2008 8:14 PM
And Christians claim that they don't worship idols?
Posted by: 386sx | August 28, 2008 8:15 PM
The Vatican letter said that the work "wounds the religious sentiments of so many people who see in the cross the symbol of God's love".
Yeah right he punishes people by throwing them in hell forever. He died for their sins, but he still puts them in hell! And he isn't even dead! Nice guy.
Posted by: anthropicOne | August 28, 2008 8:15 PM
To the Vatican and all those offended by the kermitafiction:
I fart in your general direction.
Posted by: MoxieHart | August 28, 2008 8:18 PM
I have to second the sentiment that no one was ever crucified before Jebus and no one was ever crucified afterwards.
I don't want to see how pissed these people get when they see a scarecrow, they're often crucified.
Posted by: qedpro | August 28, 2008 8:18 PM
you'd think they'd be more outraged that sesame street depicted a frog and a pig in a monogomous relationship.
Posted by: JoJo | August 28, 2008 8:19 PM
MyToonBear #12
Witness the Italian divorce laws.
Posted by: frog | August 28, 2008 8:20 PM
PZ, are you threatening me?
I forgive you, for you know not what you do.
Posted by: Calladus | August 28, 2008 8:23 PM
You know that two sticks at right angles are blasphemous because if rub them hard enough they burst into flames. That's proof, right?
Anyway, if he's upset about that, then this would really piss him off.
Posted by: frog | August 28, 2008 8:23 PM
#24 Paul Burnett: Does anybody know what the symbolic meaning of the beer mug in one hand and the egg in the other hand might be?
Well, the beer cup is symbolic of my constant drunkeness. And the egg is because I sure do love me green eggs and ham.
Posted by: CalGeorge | August 28, 2008 8:24 PM
A bright green crucified frog is a symbol of angst.
The old white catholic guy in the pointy hat is a symbol of stupidity.
All's right with the world.
Posted by: RamblinDude | August 28, 2008 8:28 PM
Well I think it's beautiful. It shows the frog's love for us.
Posted by: Nick Gotts | August 28, 2008 8:28 PM
Calladus@36,
Brilliant! I gave him the grass skirt, the mouse slippers and the snorkel.
Posted by: what | August 28, 2008 8:28 PM
So wait...now doing anything with two sticks stuck together at right angles is going to be an affront to "God's love"?
I think thats a bit of a straw man, its obviously a representation of christ. I wouldn't consider it "anything" in the way that sentence was implying. Does anyone else agree, or am I just being too literal about PZ's post? I realize it was an exaggerated point.
Posted by: Magnus | August 28, 2008 8:29 PM
In my religion (that I just invented) God's sister (or Sukkerarter as we/I call her) is depicted as a crucified humanoid frog with a coffee mug in on and an egg in the other. If the Catholic Church removes this holy religious icon from display then they perpetrate blasphemy. Btw. some of you will live to see the end of days. Every species that has it's gender determined by the temperature of it's surroundings during development has a 39,2% chance of being sucked into the giant mana vortex.
On a serious note. I wouldn't mind if this wasn't displayed. Not because it's offensive, not because it's blasphemeous or should be banned. I simply think it's an awful sculpture. Looks like something you would get in a cereal box.
Posted by: Longtime Lurker | August 28, 2008 8:30 PM
Do you think this would make Ratzi upset?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0JrzF8l2Vg
Maybe just a little?
Posted by: 386sx | August 28, 2008 8:31 PM
Does anybody know what the symbolic meaning of the beer mug in one hand and the egg in the other hand might be?
Well, when I think of beer and eggs together, I think of... flowers! Not!
Posted by: echidna | August 28, 2008 8:32 PM
Calling the frog Kermit is U.S. projection that an anthropomorphic frog is Kermit, a mouse is Mickey, and so on, as if the U.S. culture is the only one that exists. This is considered quite offensive in some circles (particularly where they are/were occupied by U.S. soldiers).
The frog is not Kermit. The artist says it's a self-portrait.
Posted by: Stephen Moore | August 28, 2008 8:32 PM
A Blasphemy, ay? Well, the Vatican has a very effective means of combating that. It's called Congregatio pro Doctrina Fidei. Let them charge the artist with Blasphemy and have him excommunicated. He's dead? Oh, well, then charge the museum curators with Blasphemy and have them excommunicated. Though excommunication doesn't quite have the same force it used to now that they can't add burning at the stake to the punishment. And those pesky curators probably wouldn't give a rat's arse about excommunication any way. Probably wear it as a badge of honour, the heathens!
What a weak and impotent organistaion the Vatican is that all it can do is issue a letter of support for those who decry this 'blasphemy'. Poor Catholics. The world just ain't what it used to be.
Posted by: rickflick | August 28, 2008 8:33 PM
What? Not high art?
Why, Its neo-realism, warts and all. I want to see this auctioned at Sotheby's in a few years along with Piss Christ:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piss_Christ
Value, or lack thereof, is in the bulging eye of the behold-er.
Posted by: JStein | August 28, 2008 8:33 PM
This is awesome! Seriously, the Pope is the most irritable person in the world.
That man needs a nap.
Maybe it's from people making fun of his hat all the time.
Posted by: Tyro REx | August 28, 2008 8:42 PM
It's a standard-issue Roman execution for slaves and non-Roman citizens. For all the Catholic Church could know, it's Spartacus.
No ... wait ... *I'm* Spartacus.
Posted by: Crudely Wrott | August 28, 2008 8:44 PM
I am offended on three levels (on first count):
1) That they actually piss and moan about their perceived offense.
2) That they actually insist that they not be subject to offense is paramount.
3) That my hideous offense of 1) and 2) is not worthy of respect.
How dare they?
Posted by: Magnus | August 28, 2008 8:48 PM
Aren't all depictions of Jesus graven images anyway? Or are they 50% GI since Jesus was half human? Or are they 33,3% graven images because God is a trinity?
How do Christians know that this isn't how Jesus looked anyway? We have no way of knowing the phenotypes of God's DNA.
Posted by: Rey Fox | August 28, 2008 8:48 PM
The poor dears really do want universal deference, but these days few of them have the stomach to actually kill blasphemers. So all they can do is stew and pout. Pretty sad, although by "sad", I mean "funny".
Posted by: nanoAl | August 28, 2008 8:48 PM
When I was a kid in Catholic school I thought Jesus was the only person to be crucified. It made him special. maybe these kooks all are suffering from similar delusion. We should pretend to freak out about the letter 'A' in some churchy thing to make a point.
Posted by: Holbach | August 28, 2008 8:49 PM
Heck, the effect would be even more noted if instead of the egg, "the" cracker was nailed into his hand! Man that would piss the papists off to no end! Screw them! Let's have more of this sacriligous crap to show the religionists that they are indeed as crazy as they appear!
Posted by: Charlie Foxtrot | August 28, 2008 8:53 PM
Bah! Crucifiction's a doddle!
Gets you out in the sun, fresh air...
Posted by: VegeBrain | August 28, 2008 8:56 PM
What the Italians should do is send a letter to the saying in essence "you're right, we'll take it down", and then replace the frog with with a Pope Benedict figurine.
Posted by: BobC | August 28, 2008 8:56 PM
The Roman Catholic Church was on page one of today's Thursday 8/28/2008 Wall Street Journal: Galileo Still Sends Church Spinning As Statue at the Vatican Is Considered
Atila Sinke Guimarães, a conservative Catholic writer, dismisses the church's mistreatment of Galileo as a "black legend." The scientist, he says, got what he deserved. "The Inquisition was very moderate with him. He wasn't tortured."
Isn't that amazing? Galileo had the nerve to claim the earth circles the Sun and 375 years later some Catholics say he was lucky he wasn't tortured. I bet he would have been tortured if he didn't say this:
Having been admonished by this Holy Office [the Inquisition] entirely to abandon the false opinion that the Sun was the center of the universe and immovable, and that the Earth was not the center of the same and that it moved... I abjure with a sincere heart and unfeigned faith, I curse and detest the said errors and heresies, and generally all and every error and sect contrary to the Holy Catholic Church.
[Galileo Galilei, Recantation, 22 June 1633]
Posted by: extatyzoma | August 28, 2008 8:57 PM
so they are saying that jesus was french?
Posted by: Bride of Shrek OM | August 28, 2008 8:58 PM
He also did a red version of this where the froggie had two eggs where his meat-and-two-vege should be. I don't have a clue what the frack that means but it adds a certain, je ne sais quoi , don't you think?
Posted by: Mobius | August 28, 2008 8:59 PM
Religious sensibilities have been wounded??? I am shocked. Shocked I say. [/sarcasm]
Posted by: AV | August 28, 2008 9:02 PM
Pahl, whose province is heavily Catholic, was so outraged by the sculpture of the pop-eyed amphibian that he went on a hunger strike to demand its removal and had to be taken to hospital during the summer.
Sucks to be Pahl!
(P.S. Why are there so many songs about rainbows?)
Posted by: CrypticLife | August 28, 2008 9:04 PM
Oh, I love the Catholic church. They always say the silliest things!
Posted by: extatyzoma | August 28, 2008 9:04 PM
i wonder if the pope would have took offence had that been say a monkey up there.
I seem to remember a truly horrendous bit of footage on national geographic or somewhere where some barbaric local custom (im think it was an east asian forest region with lots of christ-inanity in the mix. anyway the villagers had a monkey crucified on a cross and it was being carried round the village as a scape goat for sins, if anything showed me the horrors of religion that truly did.
religion:rub it in twice a day to numb the mind.
Posted by: sparkomatic | August 28, 2008 9:06 PM
Seriously, I need someone to explain to me how having your kid nailed to a tree is a symbol of love. This god guy has some real issues.
Secondly, lots of people were crucified before and after Christ supposedly was, its not exactly an exclusive club. Does this mean Christians have an exclusive on the whole crucifixion(TM) thing now?
Posted by: Ichthyic | August 28, 2008 9:07 PM
the froggie had two eggs where his meat-and-two-vege should be.
should be?
I don't recall that amphibians should even have external genitalia to begin with.
perhaps it was a specimen of Rana anthropomorphensis?
;)
Posted by: Ichthyic | August 28, 2008 9:11 PM
*whispers*
"oh yeah, that's a good one.."
"WELEASE FWOGGY!!"
*titters*
Posted by: Charlie Foxtrot | August 28, 2008 9:13 PM
Yes! Welease Fwoggy!
He's a WOBBER!
Posted by: Tom | August 28, 2008 9:15 PM
so they are saying that jesus was french?
If the frog was supposed to be French then it would have no legs. Don't these people realize that opening their mouths about this and going on hunger strikes is just going to get this silly thing displayed around the world? What are the odds we would have ever heard of this if there had been no protests?
Posted by: mayhempix | August 28, 2008 9:18 PM
The "Piss Christ" is a very stunning beautiful piece.
It employs the classic modern art technique of negation producing a paradox between the materials and the illusion of beauty created by the golden light filtered through the urine. To appreciate it the brain must stop trying to classify it into known categories and accept it what for what it is on its own terms. This is something that ossified literal xian brains just can't comprehend.
Posted by: Mike G (aka Penfold) | August 28, 2008 9:19 PM
It is rather odd that the Roman Catholic Church would be offended by someone mocking a form of execution. Not only that, but this case really illustrates the hypocrisy of the church given its stance on capital punishment.
Posted by: efrique | August 28, 2008 9:19 PM
Wow, I'd love one of those hanging off my rear-view mirror.
Makes me want to pull out my greenstuff (two-part epoxy resin if it's not too old by now) and some popsicle sticks and try to make a little one.
Posted by: Ichthyic | August 28, 2008 9:24 PM
Well, the beer cup is symbolic of my constant drunkeness. And the egg is because I sure do love me green eggs and ham.
I've been to a few bars that serve pickled eggs...
I also have been pickled myself at a few bars...
come to think of it, that frog kinda looks like a pickle...
Posted by: Cuttlefish, OM | August 28, 2008 9:24 PM
Why are there so many threads about Catholics
And who's on the other side?
Catholics have rosaries, and Catholics have Mary,
And crackers with Jesus inside--
So they've been told, and some choose to believe it
Like some sort of devious plan
Someday we'll find it--the Jesus connection
The subhuman atheists and man...
Who said that Jesus lives inside of each biscuit--
Who'd say a thing that bizarre?
Somebody thought of that, and someone believed it
And look what it's done so far--
What's so religious it makes us litigious?
And what do we think we should ban?
Someday we'll find it--the Jesus connection--
The inhuman atheists and man....
...All of them under its spell
We know it's deplorably tragic...
Have you been half asleep? And have you heard voices?
And what do they tell you to do?
Is this religious? Or is it psychotic?
And how do you tell 'twixt the two?
I've heard it too many times to ignore it
I'm sorry the whole thing began...
Someday we'll find it--the Jesus connection--
Those atheist bastards and man...
Posted by: Charlie Foxtrot | August 28, 2008 9:27 PM
@Cuttlefish
*STANDING OVATION!*
encore! encore!
Posted by: Holbach | August 28, 2008 9:31 PM
Mobius @ 60
With a further nod to "Casablanca": "I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on here". "Your winnings sir; thank you very much!"
Posted by: El Herring | August 28, 2008 9:32 PM
Well, my two pence worth:
If it doesn't offend someone somewhere, it isn't art.
Posted by: Anon | August 28, 2008 9:36 PM
@mayhempix #69--
Agreed, 100%, and I am shocked that this is the first time I have heard it said. I think it is an incredibly beautiful piece (and I am an atheist), and that juxtaposition is what makes it great art.
I felt, oddly , the same way looking at the beautiful french curves of white on blue of the Challenger disaster. It was horrible, but beautiful. Art like perhaps only The Joker would make.
Posted by: Holbach | August 28, 2008 9:37 PM
"He went on a hunger strike to demand its removal and had to be taken to hospital." Ha, the moron! And when he had regained partial strength from hunger what did he ask for? Why, frog legs, of course! The moron.
Posted by: MrQhuest | August 28, 2008 9:38 PM
#57
E pur si muove.
Posted by: Ichthyic | August 28, 2008 9:39 PM
Who is the patron saint of water boarding?
I picture a smiling Dick Cheney statue, eagerly re-educating some rabble-rouser...
Posted by: Kel | August 28, 2008 9:41 PM
Before there was the pencil trick, there was the nail trick.Posted by: Glen | August 28, 2008 9:42 PM
Jesus Frog! I knew him (kinda).
I was a senior in high school, in Columbus, Ohio, in 1968-69. Seniors in biology class transplanted the heart of one frog to another. It lived for about six minutes.
Letter-writers to the local fish-wrapper went wild! "How dare they...?" was the basic message. The fact that 17- and 18-year-olds, with only the equipment available in a high-school biology class was, of course, lost altogether.
A classmate (name, sadly forgotten), did a wonderful charcoal sketch of a frog nailed on a cross, with a cut on its side. The style was spot-on realistic, against a "dark and stormy" background. It hung on a classroom wall for the rest of the year. I would be proud to own it today.
Sadly, the frothers' frothings have not changed overly much. Just the means of spreading the spews....
Posted by: Ichthyic | August 28, 2008 9:44 PM
Letter-writers to the local fish-wrapper went wild! "How dare they...?"
You're joking, right?
;)
Posted by: sparkomatic | August 28, 2008 9:45 PM
Cuttlefish
It is so rare to hear to witness such a pertinent muppet reference...nice
Posted by: Patricia | August 28, 2008 9:46 PM
If they think the fwoggey is awful, what would they do if someone displayed a nine or ten story homosexual jebus on the side of a building somewhere, complete with scripture? Or Lilith giving the finger to Adam?
Crucifixion is love - that is so stupid it hurts.
Posted by: sparkomatic | August 28, 2008 9:49 PM
oops bad editing...should read bear witness...late night too much coffee...
Posted by: Glen | August 28, 2008 9:51 PM
Ichthyic,
Sadly, I'm not kidding. I forced myself to read days' worth of their letters. (Another step toward atheism?)
I've often wondered how many of those frothers' lives were saved by some of those students, or the students' students?
Answer: None. "God saved me...!"
Posted by: Nerd of Redhead | August 28, 2008 9:51 PM
Either Cuttlefish has a backlog of poems he can throw at a moments notice, or he is truly gifted. I prefer the latter explanation. My day is now complete, and time to start contemplating sleep.
Posted by: decrepitoldfool | August 28, 2008 9:53 PM
Cuttlefish, you... hell, you're fantastic.
The frog world could certainly use a savior. Bunch of hairless apes turning their habitats into polluted deserts.
Posted by: Epistaxis | August 28, 2008 9:53 PM
This guy didn't even take the crucifix out of a church; no one's rights have been violated, until he's censored.
Posted by: Ichthyic | August 28, 2008 9:55 PM
Sadly, I'm not kidding.
Yes, I know.
Just playing on the thread title.
I've often wondered how many of those frothers' lives were saved by some of those students, or the students' students?
well, if they had that many problems with high school dissections and experiments in transplantation...
I'd say they would have had to drive out of town, at least, for transplant surgery.
no self-respecting medical student that grew up there would have been likely to stay.
Posted by: Ichthyic | August 28, 2008 9:57 PM
Lilith giving the finger to Adam
I wants it!
have you actually seen something like that?
Posted by: Doug | August 28, 2008 10:05 PM
The sticks in the picture resemble a secular mormon death symbol to me.
However, even if the sticks were intended to represent an ancient torture device, clearly, the frog doesn't represent the mythical jesus christ due to the absence of the god loving thorny crown.
Posted by: Glen | August 28, 2008 10:06 PM
Ichthyic,
I knew that. I played the thread a bit more, too.
no self-respecting medical student that grew up there would have been likely to stay.
I've often joked that I did not leave Columbus in 1971: I escaped. I hope that those students did not succumb to the mores of the time, but left, too.
Posted by: Ichthyic | August 28, 2008 10:09 PM
I knew that. I played the thread a bit more, too.
uh...
I knew you knew that!
I hope that those students did not succumb to the mores of the time, but left, too.
ditto.
Posted by: Ichthyic | August 28, 2008 10:11 PM
the frog doesn't represent the mythical jesus christ due to the absence of the god loving thorny crown.
but he does have the mythical loin cloth, as was correctly pointed out by BoS(OM).
Posted by: gex | August 28, 2008 10:12 PM
Do they not know that crucifixion was done to people other than Jesus? Or do they think that this method of torture/killing was invented just for this one guy and then never used again? How self centered.
I find that men that grow their hair long and wear beards are sacrilegious...
Posted by: Cuttlefish, OM | August 28, 2008 10:15 PM
@Nerd of Redhead #88...
Williams and Ascher wrote most of it, beautifully... All I did was plagiarize.
But thank you.
DC
Posted by: Ichthyic | August 28, 2008 10:18 PM
How self centered.
think:
projection
It's unbelievably common amongst the religious, exponentially moreso with ("Western") xians.
Posted by: H.H. | August 28, 2008 10:23 PM
Haven't some theologians surmised that aliens species may indeed get their own messiah figures in order to hear the Good Word? Or don't they think Yahweh could do the deed with a Virgin Mary frog?
Posted by: Lowell | August 28, 2008 10:32 PM
Passing 100 comments, and not one in support of censoring the sculpture. What happened to all those concerned Catholics who freaked out during crackergate? Aren't they behind their holy father on this one?
Posted by: Seraphiel | August 28, 2008 10:37 PM
Do they think that crucifixion was only used on one person?
It was a common method of gruesome punishment, to which many people were subjected. It's kind of arrogant of them to assume this was in reference to a single individual.
Maybe it is a satire or protest against Roman imperialism?
Posted by: Zann | August 28, 2008 10:39 PM
Does anybody know what the symbolic meaning of the beer mug in one hand and the egg in the other hand might be?
The first thing I thought of was Dyngus Day. Around here, beer and eggs are staples of the day's menu.
Posted by: Tex | August 28, 2008 10:39 PM
[concerned christian mode] What a cheap shot against Christianity. If the artist had any real courage, he would crucify Mohammed and piss off the muslims, too. [/ccm]
Posted by: Gregory Kusnick | August 28, 2008 10:42 PM
Wait! Haven't I seen his name on a bottle of Pinot Grigio?Posted by: hje | August 28, 2008 10:43 PM
Yes, the paintings on black velvet for sale along the highway are much more attractive. Elvis + Jesus, together again.
Posted by: Ichthyic | August 28, 2008 10:44 PM
Aren't they behind their holy father on this one?
nobody's told Bill Donawhore yet.
Posted by: Ichthyic | August 28, 2008 10:45 PM
a Virgin Mary frog
sounds like an interesting drink.
what's that made with?
Posted by: hje | August 28, 2008 10:46 PM
It's not easy being green.
Posted by: Ichthyic | August 28, 2008 10:47 PM
a Virgin Mary frog
sounds like an interesting drink.
what's that made with?
Dyngus Day...
o.O
Posted by: Lowell | August 28, 2008 10:53 PM
@104
Thanks, Tex! Just the right mix of self-righteousness and fatwah envy. Though, you maybe could have offered to pray for the recently-departed artist's soul.
Posted by: Dahan | August 28, 2008 10:56 PM
Another German from a certain time telling us what art should be considered degenerate...
Posted by: Ichthyic | August 28, 2008 10:59 PM
Another German from a certain time telling us what art should be considered degenerate...
perfect.
*applause*
Posted by: zer0 | August 28, 2008 11:24 PM
Screw Kermit, and screw Jesus... Optimus Prime is my savior.
Posted by: Joshua | August 28, 2008 11:25 PM
@ #102
Yeah! What have the Romans ever done for us!
Posted by: qedpro | August 28, 2008 11:25 PM
but he does have the mythical loin cloth, as was correctly pointed out by BoS(OM).
its not really a loin cloth so much as a sumo wrestler's underpants.
Posted by: Tybo` | August 28, 2008 11:38 PM
Because, y'know, Jesus was the only person in history ever crucified...
Anyway, am I the only gaming nerd who immediately thought of "Father Nurgle" upon seeing the frog in such a manner?
Posted by: JayandSilentBob | August 28, 2008 11:43 PM
I like the Buddy Christ from Kevin Smith's Dogma. Now there is an idol worth worshiping.
Posted by: Pierce R. Butler | August 28, 2008 11:45 PM
Hit the news sites, people - there must be some new(ly revealed) scandal the Holy See wants everybody distracted from now...
Posted by: John C. Randolph | August 28, 2008 11:54 PM
" people who see in the cross the symbol of God's love"
Funny, but as I recall, the cross was an instrument of execution in the most painful, prolonged way that the ancient thugs could imagine. God's love is symbolized by the crimes of a group of men against its incarnation on earth? What's wrong with this picture?
It was quite a long time after the guy was murdered by the state that the christians started using the cross as a symbol. Before that, it was either the fish or the monogram of christ.
-jcr
Posted by: Homostoicus | August 29, 2008 12:24 AM
It even made Offbeat News from AFP and Reuters Odd News.
Crucified frog upsets devout Italians: culture minister
Posted by: Tony Sidaway | August 29, 2008 12:26 AM
This just in: Kermit missing--Frank Oz in mercy plea--ninja assassins converge on Morris--Donohue in hospital to have head extracted from anus.
Posted by: Kendo | August 29, 2008 12:27 AM
Didn't Jesus reportedly tell these guys to rejoice when the evil sinners mock them? Where's the rejoicing?
Posted by: mayhempix | August 29, 2008 12:37 AM
@Anon#77
Glad to know you had the same perception.
One of the great things about the Piss Christ is that it is not just a comment on religion.
In fact it transcends that issue by showing that such iconic religious imagery can be art by stripping it of its institutional baggage to be seen as new again. Those who think it is just about pissing on Christianity in many ways miss the point just like the Christian lemmings do. Many people are afraid that contempory art is a "wink wink" inside joke making fun of them and they don't want to be seen as taken in by it for fear of appearing foolish. Unfortunately for them, they end up arriving at the same place they are so determined to avoid.
Posted by: Doug | August 29, 2008 12:41 AM
The egg might be used to mix with the dried christ meat to make crackers.
Posted by: Patricia | August 29, 2008 12:44 AM
Sorry pilgrims, I've been out on the patio cutting up and drinking in celebration of our first green egg! Huzzah!
#92 - Ichthyic - Lilith giving Adam the finger - nope haven't seen it yet in art, but probably someone has done it. Great idea huh. :)
#97 - gex - Men that grow their hair long and wear beards are sacrilegious - horse shit. One of the things ALL of the men in my family have never given up is their uncut hair and beards. All of them have become atheists but one fool.
Leviticus 19:27 - Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.
Howling atheist that I am, I have not cut off my hair either. But if I decide to, I will, to hell with gawd.
Posted by: kel | August 29, 2008 12:45 AM
I wonder how long until "fatwa envy" becomes memeticPosted by: Tony Sidaway | August 29, 2008 12:53 AM
mayhempix | August 29, 2008 12:37 AM, #124
So modern art isn't a "wink wink" inside joke? Dammit, I give up. Next time Serrano needs a crucifix pissed on, he can do it himself.
Posted by: forsen | August 29, 2008 12:56 AM
I think that might be an Aleister Crowley reference. During the Stauros Batachou/Toad Rite, he allegedly baptised a toad as Jesus of Nazareth, crucified it and spat on it (which, if true, not so much makes him a blasphemer as an animal abusing asshole).
Posted by: Wowbagger | August 29, 2008 1:03 AM
Anyone who 'sees' the cross upon which a supposed all-loving and all-powerful god was content to let someone suffer many hours of agony before dying when he could have achieved the same goal (pre-emptive forgiveness of sins) without anyone having to be nailed to anything as 'a symbol of love' has far bigger issues to deal with than being offended by this.
Posted by: Patricia | August 29, 2008 1:05 AM
Oh, right - if anyone is going to know her way around a loin cloth it's gonna be that slut Bride of Shrek.
There has been a sharp decline in slutting and whoring (MAJeff) this summer. More than one of you here is a scientist - what the hell is going on?
Posted by: Ron Sullivan | August 29, 2008 1:11 AM
Old hat around here.
Posted by: Patricia | August 29, 2008 1:21 AM
It's back to the fire pit and patio for me. Huzzahing and twirling for the green egg.
Good night sweethearts! Waaah hoo! ;)
Posted by: mayhempix | August 29, 2008 1:21 AM
@Tony Sidaway#128
I'm sure your use of the term "modern art" in place of "contemporary art" was just a typo considering that modernisim as an art concept was over about the same time JFK was elected.
"wink wink"
Posted by: Gavin McBride | August 29, 2008 1:22 AM
Anyone got an email address or contact details for Franz Pahls office? I would like to register with him my own feelings on his little tantrums and pointless hunger strike.
Posted by: Wowbagger | August 29, 2008 1:37 AM
Hunger strike? Pffft. If Pahl was really genuine he'd have had himself nailed to a cross in order to show his indignation and illustrate just how strongly he felt about with the offence to Jebus's alleged suffering.
Go hard or go home, loser.
Posted by: Tony Sidaway | August 29, 2008 1:40 AM
mayhempix | August 29, 2008 1:21 AM, #134
I suspect the attempt to strictly circumscribe Modern Art such that it stops at some point in time has failed to take hold in London. The Tate Modern houses lots of art from many decades. Tracy Emin, born in 1963, titled her 2002 show Modern Art Oxford and has donated art to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Damian Hurst's "The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living" clearly owes much to the art of the dadaists and surrealists.
Are you American by any chance? I have sometimes found that boundaries tightly defined by one culture are more fuzzy in an another, and vice versa.
Posted by: CalGeorge | August 29, 2008 1:43 AM
Here's a red one, with balls and what looks to be a fried egg:
http://www.artnet.com/Magazine/features/davis/Images/davis3-10-16.jpg
I think I want one.
Posted by: bastion | August 29, 2008 1:46 AM
Uh-oh. Wait 'til PETA finds out.
Posted by: bastion | August 29, 2008 1:50 AM
Pahl, whose province is heavily Catholic, was so outraged by the sculpture of the pop-eyed amphibian that he went on a hunger strike to demand its removal and had to be taken to hospital during the summer.
Obviously, god is on the anti-removal side 'cause he punished Pahl by making him sick.
Posted by: Bjørn Østman | August 29, 2008 1:54 AM
Funny that it now seems completely impossible to make fun of how the Romans tortured thousands of people, and some rebel frogs.
On a related note: In Denmark in my childhood, Jens Jørgen Thorsen, a hippie artist who made some crummy films (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0861740/) was commissioned to paint whatever he wanted on a train station facade, and chose to depict Jesus on the cross with a hard-on. Some guy thought it was blasphemy, and painted the whole thing over with white. No one else cared. Now, thanks to PZ, the Catholics are on a roll, and even frogs look like Jesus (used to be only burnt toast).
Jens Jørgen Thorsen was years later asked why he paints, and on the spot replied "to get pussy." Was also a nudist for the same reason - in Copenhagen Town Hall Square.
Posted by: mayhempix | August 29, 2008 2:35 AM
@Tony Sidway#134
I appreciate the informed response.
I love the Tate Modern. It is the first place on my list when I am in London. It is probably the best venue for contemporary art in the world eclipsing both MOMA and MOCA, which is really saying something. I first saw Emin's work (the Tent) at MOCA and then again at the Tate Modern about 5 years ago. I'm also a fan of Damien Hirst. Interestingly in some ways Serrano and Hirst have worked in the same territory with negation and visceral reaction as prime components. And yes... I'm an American.
I can appreciate the "fuzziness" when it comes to art terms. From an art history perspective modernism sort of ended with the 2nd generation abstract expressionists as the precursors to Pop like Jaspar Johns and Bob Rauschenberg pushed back against the cliche of the artist as an emotionally charged Freudian plumbing the depths of the subconcious. At this point the fuzzy dividing line on this side of the Atlantic seems to be that contemporary art is produced by living artists and that "Contemporary" is not an actual art movement like Modernism was, but considering that Warhol and Rauschenberg are now dead that distinction grows fuzzier by the decade. It is my guess that Emin titled her show "Modern Art" as a comment on the art world itself, but that is only conjecture on my part.
Salud.
Posted by: Katrina | August 29, 2008 2:54 AM
Cool! That sculpture is in Bolzano, Italy. I hope it's still there next month. We'll be there on a day-trip to see the city. Of course, we'll be stopping by to pay our respects to &0214;tzi the Iceman.
According to one source I read, curators at the museum are saying that this sculpture was a self-portrait that he did shortly after undergoing treatment for alcohol and drug addiction.
Posted by: Tony Sidaway | August 29, 2008 2:54 AM
mayhempix | August 29, 2008 2:35 AM, #142
I'm more a Gilbert and George type. The "life as art" schtick, the humor, the pofacedness, the suits, and of course the sheer fun of walking through an art gallery whose walls are caked with the artists' sperm, shit and piss.
Posted by: Katrina | August 29, 2008 2:58 AM
Nice mess up of the html. That should be Ötzi, the Iceman.
Posted by: scooter | August 29, 2008 3:00 AM
OOOO OOOOO I Know this one!!!!! Egg in your beer
My people come from South St Louis which was heavily German for at least a hundred years. My Grandparents were both German ancestry, and they used that phrase CONSTANTLY.
'Whaddaya want, an egg in your beer?'
My father used it as I was growing up, I've heard it a million times.
It is a sarcastic comeback line.
It addresses anyone who is whining or bitching and moaning.
Like
" I don't have anything to do, I'm bored"
'Whaddaya want, an egg in your beer?'
"The sprinklers keep coming on in my news room"
'Whaddaya want, an egg in your beer?'
"So and so is always mean to me"
'Whaddaya want, an egg in your beer?'
and so on. It means something like, whaddaya want, a new diaper?
I'm thinking this got translated from the old language and was handed down. In any case, I split a gut when I saw this crucified frog, who finally got his egg and his beer, for all the good it did him, not only is he crucified, which is bad enough, but the circumstances of his position also prevent him from putting the egg into his beer.
This is even better than some of the punishments those Greek Gods used to hand out: Tantal, Atlas, et.al.
Posted by: mayhempix | August 29, 2008 3:06 AM
@Tony Sidaway #144
My tastes are all over the map. The first time I saw a Gilbert and George exhibition I remember walking out of the gallery with a big grin on my face. The scale and polish of the work juxtaposed with the content was so funny and so very British. I would suspect they are Monty Python fans.
Posted by: Michael X | August 29, 2008 3:12 AM
The Pope should not come to see the show I just opened then. We have a vaudeville performer crucified in one of the first few scenes. Nailed to a cross by a pious and somewhat unhinged bounty hunter no less. Afterwards in a particular scene a gunfighter and an ex-whore get into a debate about how the bible is nuts by claiming the existence of talking snakes and magic apples. (No, this is not performance art!) Regardless, we've sold out the first 3 performances so far and got a standing O tonight, so the Pope and all his patriarchal buddies can kiss my heathen artisan ass. (Billy Hell, Creede Repertory Theater, use your google foo to find it. And if you live in CO, come see it!)
All this said, I'm not really impressed by the piece on display. It's actually kinda blah in my opinion. Not much that's terribly interesting or visually unique about it. It's unlikely that this would have gotten much attention had not a group of ninnies gotten together and pitched a hissy fit.
Posted by: scooter | August 29, 2008 3:14 AM
Egg in your beer, etymology. Turns out to be World War II era slang.
From the Word Detective:
Perhaps this phrase traveled in to other direction, from US GIs to Germany. There's been a hell of a lot of GIs stationed in Germany since the 40s
Posted by: Tony Sidaway | August 29, 2008 3:17 AM
I like the fact that Gilbert and George seem to have fun. They're like a couple of naughty kids who have stolen the key to the adult world.
Posted by: Arnosium Upinarum | August 29, 2008 3:20 AM
I AM SPARTACUS!!!
Posted by: Tony Sidaway | August 29, 2008 3:38 AM
If I had to guess the meaning of the beer and the egg, I'd say there are a few layers. Body and blood of course, it's the Eucharist again, and also the egg is associated with Easter in Germany as well as in the English-speaking countries. Also in Germany I understand it is traditional to drink strong beer (Bock) at Christmas and Easter, the two feasts of Jesus' birth and death.
Posted by: mayhempix | August 29, 2008 3:43 AM
@Tony Sidaway #150
"They're like a couple of naughty kids who have stolen the key to the adult world."
Nice analogy.
After midnight here in Los Angeles so time to crash. Have a good one.
Posted by: Tony Sidaway | August 29, 2008 3:51 AM
The interpretation of the frog as a self portrait rings true. He had done another self portrait in huge undies (like that loin cloth, but also reminiscent of a famous Picasso self portrait--Kippenberger had vast talents and he knew it, he wasn't too modest to compare himself to the master). He depicts himself with an exaggerate beer belly and spindly legs--like a frog. Another self-portrait showed him handcuffed to a beer can.
He was a master of several styles. Astonishing range. This conceptual piece doesn't really do him justice.
Posted by: Ragutis | August 29, 2008 4:11 AM
A piece of friendly advice to Mr. Pahl, Ratzinger, Bill Donahue, and the seemingly constantly outraged Catholics and other Christians out there: I know that some things in life are bad, and they can really make you mad. Other things just make you swear and curse. But when you're chewing on life's gristle, don't grumble... give a whistle. This'll help things turn out for the best. And Always look on the Bright Side of Life.
Trust me, you'll feel better.
Posted by: Chondrus | August 29, 2008 4:59 AM
Here is an organisation, the Catholic Church, that has as its logo a torture instrument with its victim and once a week performs symbolic cannabalism, which they actually claim is real cannabalism, and they are outraged because of a work of art that they find lacking of good taste.
Thay want this sculpure removed since they don't like. Well I dissaprove of cannibalism, then The Holy Mass should logically be banned.
I actually do not think that it should be banned since it is to be considered as a work of art - a happening constructed to expose people with other religions or ethical convictions that are actually against cannibalism.
Posted by: GothBiologist | August 29, 2008 5:04 AM
@ Ichthyic, #65:
Here's a photo of Ascaphus truei, the Coastal Tailed Frog of the Pacific Northwest. That "tail" isn't an extension of the spine: it's a copulatory organ.
http://www.californiaherps.com/frogs/images/amontanustail2.jpg
Posted by: secularguy | August 29, 2008 5:07 AM
So why do the religionists care about frog-Spartacus?
Posted by: Dunc | August 29, 2008 5:22 AM
Ichthyic (#66) wins the internet for today!
Posted by: Nick Gotts | August 29, 2008 5:30 AM
Maybe it is a satire or protest against Roman imperialism? - Seraphiel
In that case, the Roman Catholic Church has reason to be concerned: it is reasonable to see it as the Western Roman Empire. Consider: the name and headquarters location; the fact that the Pope is the "Supreme Pontiff" - originally one of the emperor's titles; the fact that it still is (or controls) a sovereign state, and claims the right to obedience from the entire world; the fact that most of the territories of the Western Roman Empire are still largely Catholic; the way its territorial organisation still reflects late Roman administrative divisions.
Posted by: Mike Higginbottom | August 29, 2008 5:45 AM
Much as I hate to get all petty and vindictive, I think it's getting to the stage when we have to fight fire with fire. I think I'll register banthecross.com and get everyone to go around covering up images of torture implements and death and mutilation for the sake of love wherever they appear. If these sickos have the right not to be offended then so do I. And so do the children.
Posted by: faux mulder | August 29, 2008 5:57 AM
popes have little to do.
a little fresh air and exercise might help with their colic.
Posted by: Andreas Johansson | August 29, 2008 6:02 AM
Consider my mind boggled. Don't they read the goddamn Bible in Catholic school?Posted by: Kim | August 29, 2008 6:15 AM
I don't think any of the people condemning the art has bothered to read what it's about. The artist says he did it in a time when he was battling alcoholism and spending time in Southern Tyrol, sitting in bars of rural inns, where the cross is always prominently on display in the corner, and underneath it drunken men tell sleazy jokes.
Hello from Austria :)
Posted by: Aj | August 29, 2008 6:22 AM
Not sure if anyone's mentioned it yet, but crucifying a frog has origins in ritual magic.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/oto/lib70.htm
(I seem to remember Grant Morrison including it once in the Invisibles).
Not sure what Kermit ever did to piss off Crowley...
Posted by: Sleeping at the Console | August 29, 2008 6:23 AM
I'm offended by stupidity. Or perhaps depressed is the right word.
Posted by: Wayne Robinson | August 29, 2008 6:43 AM
Of course it blasphemous. Where can I get a high resolution copy to put on a t-shirt?
Posted by: berty | August 29, 2008 6:53 AM
In frog we trust.
Posted by: Turambar | August 29, 2008 7:02 AM
Katrina: According to one source I read
You should add that it was BILD, not a particularly trustworthy source.
Anyway, I kinda like the sculpture. There's a lot of symbolism to it, as some have hinted at. But you have to expect some outrage if you show it in a place like Southern Tyrol. Strange folk there, they even had a terrorist bombing campaign from German-speaking separatists a few decades ago.
Posted by: theinquisitor | August 29, 2008 7:28 AM
The catholic church is offensive, can I get that removed?
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp, KoT | August 29, 2008 7:32 AM
mmmmmmmmm fried Jesus legs.
Think of the Eucharistic possibilities!
Posted by: bernard quatermass | August 29, 2008 7:35 AM
No one was ever killed _by_ bad taste or blasphemy; many people were killed _for_ them.
I fail to see how one's religious sentiments -- given that they are sincere, strong and all that -- can be so easily "wounded." If this church is so mighty why is it so easily set a-quiver by stuff like this?
Posted by: Thinker | August 29, 2008 7:42 AM
Usually, seeing a picture of a crucifixion makes me start humming "Always look at the bright side of life...". This time, however, it was "It's not easy being green..."
Posted by: Rik. | August 29, 2008 7:47 AM
@ Aj, #165:
Jesus the slave-god...I like that phrase. I think I'll use it from now on.
Posted by: OctoberMermaid | August 29, 2008 7:53 AM
Wow, Jesus sure is easy to hurt. Every little thing seems to be a grievous wound to himself and his followers.
Not quite an awesome God at all.
If Christ were real, he'd be the type to update a livejournal every day with emo whinings about how he cries black tears and the world is out to get him.
Current mood: Gloomy
Listening to: Sara McLachlan
Posted by: You | August 29, 2008 8:08 AM
Shame on you, readers. You should all know by now that Jesus is the only person in the history of the universe *ever* to have been crucified, ever.
There is only one possible person in the history of the planet that this frog could be referencing, and that's Jesus, due to the lack of any other crucifixions in any period of history ever in the world ever.
Also, sarcasm.
Why can't the vatican just claim that this is a suitable treatment of one of the thieves that was supposedly nailed up next to jesus? That way, everyone is happy, and no one cares. Someone should also teach the pope about the Streisand Effect
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp, KoT | August 29, 2008 8:13 AM
I know, I know. For a guy who can walk on water then turn said water into Cakebread Cabernet Sauvignon and has a dad who can smite at will, he sure is a wuss.
Posted by: Nick Gotts | August 29, 2008 8:23 AM
For a guy who can walk on water Rev.BigDumbChimp
Didn't you hear? He can't do that since he was resurrected. Doubting Thomas challenged him to do it to prove who he was, he tried it and sank. Made some excuse about not having had holes in his feet the last time!
Posted by: Scrofulum | August 29, 2008 8:38 AM
There's less room for controversy with the amphibian church, for did not the Frog Christ say unto his followers, "If thou eateth my legs, then thou art literally eating my flesh, not metaphoriaclly or pseudo-literally by muching on a cracker."
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp, KoT | August 29, 2008 8:39 AM
coffee>nose moment of the morning.
Posted by: Nick Gotts | August 29, 2008 8:41 AM
If someone were to combine two ideas by creating a new art work "Piss Frog" (which I'm sure you can imagine), would that be doubly blasphemous, or would the two blasphemies cancel each other out? Enquiring minds want to know!
Posted by: Haris | August 29, 2008 9:15 AM
There I was thinking that the cross is a symbol of Roman justice. Glad you straightened me out there.
Posted by: JustMe | August 29, 2008 9:28 AM
#1- How does Miss Piggy feel about this!?
Posted by: DuckPhup | August 29, 2008 9:30 AM
If you've got any more of those consecrated hosts left, one of them could probably be put to good use by nailing it to that crucified frog picture and posting the image here.
Posted by: MrMarkAZ | August 29, 2008 9:37 AM
HOW DARE THEY MOCK MY HOLY CRUCIFIED FROGGY JESUS!!!!1!11111 WWWAAAAAH! RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION!111!!!! WAAAAH!!!!!
Seriously, this has got me hopping mad. I'm driving right down to Toad Hall to see about this.
Posted by: AJS | August 29, 2008 9:51 AM
Only if the sticks are two different kinds of wood. Give someone two sticks of the same wood, and they can rub and rub till they are blue in the face without so much as a smoulder.Posted by: MS | August 29, 2008 10:12 AM
As #19 above states, actual religious art can often be truly disturbing. Once in a small church in Guatemala there was a statue of some saint or other who had apparently been flayed. The statue was lifesize, made of wood, and covered with very, very thin leather to simulate sking, which had then been peeled away in big strips, left hanging there over the painted musculature and blood. It was hyper realistic and actually brilliantly done, but very, very sick. Quite turned my stomach. Betcha there's no Vatican complaints about that one, though.
Posted by: Dunc | August 29, 2008 10:12 AM
A common misconception, and entirely false. The only firction fire technique involving sticks at right angles that I know of is the fire saw, which uses two pieces of bamboo. Most other friction fire techniques will also work nicely with two pieces of the same wood, provided a suitable wood is chosen.
Posted by: Fergy | August 29, 2008 10:20 AM
Our Frogger, who art in heaven Kermit be thy Name, Thy tadpoles come, thy frogs be done, in swamps as it is in heaven.Give us this day our daily flies, And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who eat our legs.And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from toads. (because toads are real assholes)For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Ribbit.Posted by: EastwoodDC | August 29, 2008 10:46 AM
Jesus Christ ... amphibian?
Posted by: Helena Mouse | August 29, 2008 11:00 AM
If they had made a sculpture of jesus, sitting on a lily pad going "ribbit" that would be just a bit blaspemous.
Posted by: Pi Guy | August 29, 2008 11:46 AM
@ #7, that reminds me of a Lenny Bruce joke:
The electric chair: a symbol of Faraday's love for us!
Posted by: Nick Gotts | August 29, 2008 11:53 AM
Pi Guy,
Not Faraday but Tesla.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Currents
Posted by: Ranger Jay | August 29, 2008 11:53 AM
Kermit died for somebody's sins, but not mine.
Posted by: Katrina | August 29, 2008 12:05 PM
RE: Turambar #169:
Acutally, I got it from here: Deutche Welle. I don't know whether or not this is a reliable source.In the same vein, according to the international edition of the Corriere della Sera, this was all about political elections in the region. And the museum board voted to ignore the papal decree.
Posted by: Darth Wader | August 29, 2008 12:09 PM
"wounds the religious sentiments of so many people who see in the cross the symbol of God's love".
Do you use a faith healer for a wounded religious sentiment?
Posted by: Darth Wader | August 29, 2008 12:20 PM
The pope is also mad at B. basiliscus. How dare this lizard make a mockery of Jesus' miracle? Join us in eradicating this blasphemous heathen reptile.
Posted by: bargal20 | August 29, 2008 12:23 PM
Has nobody here seen Peter Jackson's 1989 take on the Muppet Show, Meet the Feebles? The "Jesus" in the Feebles' universe was a crucified from, and eventually The Kermit the Frog character in that film gets crucified!
Posted by: bargal20 | August 29, 2008 12:26 PM
* a crucified frog
Posted by: Brownian, OM | August 29, 2008 12:36 PM
Sure, the Vatican's all bunchy ginches, but we won't truly know the depth of this heinous attack on Good Catholics until Bill Donohue weighs in.
Bill?
Bill?
Billy?
Posted by: snex | August 29, 2008 12:36 PM
has anybody ever seen a press release from the catholic league or any catholic organization expressing outrage over the use of a cross in KKK burning-on-the-lawn rituals? i havent.
Posted by: Nick Gotts | August 29, 2008 12:37 PM
Darth Wader@196,197
*snorts with laughter*
Posted by: Brownian, OM | August 29, 2008 12:44 PM
It gets worse, Darth. Godless heathen engineers are busily trying to develop a robotic version of B. basiliscus.
How many more grave insults must Our Saviour endure before we stop turning our backs on Him and instead accept Him into our Hearts, filling Us with such Godliness that We must capitalise every Noun?
Posted by: jayh | August 29, 2008 12:54 PM
"Jens Jørgen Thorsen was years later asked why he paints, and on the spot replied "to get pussy."
... and some people still claim that art has no evolutionary function....
Posted by: jayh | August 29, 2008 12:59 PM
" was a senior in high school, in Columbus, Ohio, in 1968-69. Seniors in biology class transplanted the heart of one frog to another. It lived for about six minutes.
...
Letter-writers to the local fish-wrapper went wild! "How dare they...
...
Sadly, the frothers' frothings have not changed overly much. Just the means of spreading the spews....
"
Well try that today in San Francisco or Portland and watch letter writers go wild, and it won't be the fundy frothers.
Posted by: johannes | August 29, 2008 1:17 PM
# 45,
I live in Germany, and I have been witness to a lot of anti-americanism, often bordering to madness. But nobody, not even headbangers with a crush on Codreanu, not even retired Stasi lieutenant colonels, not even Jihadist gangster rappers, ever considered it offensive if somebody called a frog 'Kermit'.
Posted by: Darth Wader | August 29, 2008 1:20 PM
"It gets worse, Darth. Godless heathen engineers are busily trying to develop a robotic version of B. basiliscus.
How many more grave insults must Our Saviour endure before we stop turning our backs on Him and instead accept Him into our Hearts, filling Us with such Godliness that We must capitalise every Noun?"
How dare these elitist engineers and reptiles deny the sanctity of surface tension?! These evil lizards and robo-lizards are the pied pipers of Satan, leading us across the water into the fiery pits of Hell!
Posted by: Qwerty | August 29, 2008 1:28 PM
"Posted by: Brownian, OM | August 29, 2008 12:36 PM
Sure, the Vatican's all bunchy ginches, but we won't truly know the depth of this heinous attack on Good Catholics until Bill Donohue weighs in.
Bill?
Bill?
Billy?"
Bill will weigh in when the froggie comes to an American museum. He'll write a diatribe... Er... press release. Then, he'll probably go out to dinner to dine on frog legs with beer and a hard-boiled egg!
Posted by: Thrillhouse | August 29, 2008 1:46 PM
I don't get it. All I can get out of it is "see how easy it is to piss off the Catholics?" (pretty darn easy). Okay, it's called "Feet First" and according to the linked article, "the artist, who died in 1997, considered it a self-portrait illustrating human angst." I still don't get it.
Posted by: Sili | August 29, 2008 2:03 PM
I see that the Vatican must have solved the little problem of suffering in the world, if they have time to get outraged over this.
What?
Oh ...
Well, nevermind then.
Posted by: kx | August 29, 2008 2:14 PM
This is happening in Italy, NOT in Germany....
Posted by: scooter | August 29, 2008 2:16 PM
Nick Gotts
The electric chair was invented by Edison, with stolen technology, the secret to Edison's success.
Posted by: Randy | August 29, 2008 2:18 PM
Oh, is Benny upset about that? Huh, I published a postcard from Gawd at my blog earlier, and He kind of assumed His Popeness would get a kick out of it. Live & learn, I guess.
Posted by: Crosius | August 29, 2008 2:25 PM
Does crucifixion even work on frogs? I thought it depended on asphixiation by a specific articulation between the shoulders and the rib-cage of the victim, said articulation not being present in amphibians.
Posted by: Darth Wader | August 29, 2008 2:38 PM
"Does crucifixion even work on frogs? I thought it depended on asphixiation by a specific articulation between the shoulders and the rib-cage of the victim, said articulation not being present in amphibians."
Well they could still die of dehydration.
Posted by: ndt | August 29, 2008 2:54 PM
News flash for the pope and sensitive Catholics: the Romans crucified lots of people over a period of centuries. You don't own the concept of crucifixion just because your god was one of them.
Posted by: ThirtyFiveUp | August 29, 2008 3:25 PM
Am I late? Remember that plastic light switch? Don't know about you, but it is hard wired into my brain, alas.
Posted by: Ichthyic | August 29, 2008 3:28 PM
@157.
Hey, that's a new one on me.
thanks for the head's up, but let's be clear that's a exception, rather than the rule.
I guess it shouldn't surprise me that every vertebrate species has developed an intromittent organ at one time or another, given that fish of course show the same thing.
Posted by: Jeeves | August 29, 2008 3:49 PM
It all makes sense.
Kermit=Jesus
Miss Piggy=Mary
Fonzi Bear=Paul
Uh..
Beaker= Pontius Pilate
Waldorf=Luke
Statler=Matthew
Gonzo=Judas
See, it all fits.
Posted by: JJR | August 29, 2008 4:12 PM
Janice = Mary Magdalene?
I'd go with Sam The Eagle for Pontius Pilate, though.
(Eagles being prominent in Roman iconography and all)
Most frogs get pinned up "St. Andrew" style...X cross instead of + for dissection purposes, don't they? ;-)
Posted by: Turambar | August 29, 2008 5:31 PM
RE: Katrina #195:
I stand corrected, DW is a good source.
Posted by: Dancaban | August 29, 2008 5:41 PM
You pissed hin off already with the lower case p(ope).
Posted by: zy | August 29, 2008 5:45 PM
WHERE CAN I BUY ONE?!
Bwahahahahahaha!
I can see the headlines now:
Christians and animal rights activists hold unprecedented joint press conference to denounce silly sculpture. In other news, Church calls for ban on Saturday... spokesman says, Saturday is like Sunday through the mind of an 8-year old, and people are just having way too much fun with it - we can't have that at all on something that was once the Lord's day....
Posted by: Todd | August 29, 2008 6:25 PM
If they find that silly thing worth the time to pursue, I would love to know how to get them to check THIS out!
http://www.divine-interventions.com
Anytime you hear somebody saying things like "be FILLED with the Lord", or "Feeeeeel Jesus INSIDE you!" --- you will now remember what they sell!
Posted by: Longtime Lurker | August 29, 2008 7:37 PM
Re MS@187:
Once in a small church in Guatemala there was a statue of some saint or other who had apparently been flayed. The statue was lifesize, made of wood, and covered with very, very thin leather to simulate sking, which had then been peeled away in big strips, left hanging there over the painted musculature and blood. It was hyper realistic and actually brilliantly done, but very, very sick.
I would bet you a platter of tamales that this figure represented a co-opting of the Mesoamerican god Xipe Totec:
http://members.aol.com/xiuhcoatl/xipe.htm
Syncretism has always been a hallmark of the Catholic Church, and such saintly figures as The Virgin of Guadelupe, St Brigid, and St Christopher have obvious pagan antecedents.
Posted by: Pierce R. Butler | August 29, 2008 8:40 PM
Speaking of the mighty revenge of the Holy Mother Church, Webster Cook (the notorious crackernapper) was just removed from the UCF Student Senate following his impeachment last month.
If only the US Congress could act so swiftly - or at all...
Posted by: Doctorb | August 29, 2008 9:22 PM
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?o=1&f=/n/a/2008/08/28/entertainment/e104610D02.DTL
Fantastic. A banner saying "while the frog on the cross is being shown do not enter the building" is funny enough. But when you also have pictures of the thing you are warning people not to look at, that's to funny forever, like the goatse disclaimer.
Posted by: Tony Sidaway | August 29, 2008 10:00 PM
Todd | August 29, 2008 6:25 PM, #224
A Baby Jesus butt plug? Somebody actually makes and sells those?
Posted by: Tony Sidaway | August 29, 2008 10:09 PM
Doctorb | August 29, 2008 9:22 PM, #227
That looks like a publicity stunt to me. The banner actually reproduces the crucified frog twice in approximately 1:1 scale, thus compounding any possible offense. That is either a spectacular "own goal", or somebody is going out of his way to make the Church look like idiots.
Posted by: Marcus Ranum | August 29, 2008 10:13 PM
scooter writes:
The electric chair was invented by Edison, with stolen technology, the secret to Edison's success.
I don't think it was stolen.
The whole electric chair thing was an offshoot of the marketing war between Edison (who wanted to promote the use of DC power for lighting) and Tesla (A/C). Tesla was backed by Westinghouse, who had purchased most of Tesla's patents. The main battleground between the two technologies was on safety, with proponents of both sides attempting to smear the other technology as more dangerous. If I recall correctly, the smearing began with a demonstration in Central Park in which live cats were thrown at an A/C powered grid to show that they died an instant horrible smoking death. One of Edison's employees was the actual inventor of the electric chair - which Edison promoted as "Westinghousing" a convict.
Edison was a really nasty bastard in a lot of ways, who did not understand the term "good loser." Being willing to consign people to a gruesome death for marketing purposes... Ugh...
Posted by: Tony Sidaway | August 29, 2008 10:15 PM
From artinfo.com:
This is the second time the Bolzano museum has faced controversy because of an artwork. In 2006, Museion officials were taken to court over an installation by Roman artists goldiechiari (Eleonora Chiari and Sara Goldschmeid) that involved a toilet flushing to the tune of the Italian national anthem.
Posted by: JoJo | August 29, 2008 10:53 PM
I'd like a toilet that flushes to Three Dog Night's "The Road to Shamballa" or Twisted Sister's "We Ain't Gonna Take It Anymore."
Posted by: Badger3k | August 30, 2008 12:42 AM
"Froggy went a crucifying...he did die...uh,huh..."
Posted by: Phentari | August 30, 2008 1:04 AM
Yep--anything involving two straight lines set at a right angle. Unless, of course, you're a science teacher burning them into a student's forearm--then it's an "X."
Posted by: Andreas Johansson | August 30, 2008 2:51 AM
So what you're saying is that the Germans are the chosen people?Posted by: Sauceress | August 30, 2008 4:24 AM
Not the first green crucifiction!
http://www.jesusoftheweek.com/
Posted by: Ragutis | August 30, 2008 4:24 AM
Edison and his staff electrocuted a lot of critters for demonstration purposes. They even electrocuted a temperamental and dangerous carnival elephant. In front of a couple thousand spectators at Coney Island. And filmed it. Then used the film for marketing.
Yech.
Posted by: Sauceress | August 30, 2008 4:59 AM
And not green...but rockin'froggin theology none the less
http://www.jesusoftheweek.com/jesii/479/index.html
Posted by: Nick Gotts | August 30, 2008 6:11 AM
scooter@212, Marcus Ranum@230,
Thanks, I got the roles of Tesla and Edison inverted. Error-correction karma.
Posted by: AJS | August 30, 2008 6:23 AM
Thomas Edison was a nasty piece of work who does not deserve to be remembered in so positive a light.
He must have already realised he was backing a loser with DC, so instead he started a dirty tricks campaign to demonise AC. "Utterly pathetic" doesn't even begin to describe it.
Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer must have read his books on both dirty tricks campaigns and patent abuse. Vide Microsoft's campaign against Open Source .....
Posted by: Pierce R. Butler | August 30, 2008 7:21 AM
Where is the video of the elephant being zapped by Linux?
Posted by: Trance Gemini | August 30, 2008 8:12 AM
Are they selling them? I want one for my living room ;-).
Posted by: CosmicTeapot | August 30, 2008 8:37 AM
Jeeves @219
Gonzo as Judas! How dare you sir!
Gonzo as John the baptist, I could accept.
Posted by: RT | August 30, 2008 10:09 AM
"The Vatican letter said that the work "wounds the religious sentiments of so many people who see in the cross the symbol of God's love"."
Boy, the arrogance! They automatically think "Jesus" whenever they see a cross. What about the thousands of others that were also killed off in this way? How do they know this isn't a modern art piece representing the Appian Way?
Jesus: "I'm Spartacus!"
Posted by: hery
|
January 26, 2010 12:27 PM
no time left for randomly screwing up various nations