![[maryjesusstatue.jpg]](http://alesrarus.funkydung.com/images/maryjesusstatue.jpg "Maternal Bond")
Hot on the heels of one controversial pro-life statue, we have another.
"A SCULPTURE OF the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus, proposed as a 'memorial for the victims of abortion' at Villanova University, has upset some students, including some who oppose abortion."
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"Pro-life freshman Clint Gilliam agrees with the concept of the statue, but thinks its high-profile placement is a bad idea. 'It's just a little in your face,' he said. 'It sort of makes people who don't believe in those things uncomfortable.' Adds freshman Peggy Costello, 'I'm personally pro-life and I don't like the statue at all.' 'I feel that putting up a statue like that completely counters the diversity we're trying to advocate or uphold,' said Costello, 19, who thinks the memorial could alienate non-Catholics."
Villanova is a Catholic university for heaven's sake! There should be no need whatsoever to justify a tasteful pro-life statue, especially one with of Mary and Jesus.
Funky Dung
Comments 1
Wrong.
Personally, I think the statue is quite attractive, but if nobody had told me it was supposed to be "pro-life," I wouldn't have derived that message. It looks more like "pro-cuddle-your-baby" to me. Shoot, I may not have even figured out that it was Mary and Jesus. But I'm not offended at all. Even knowing that it's intended to be "pro-life" I still see no need to pull that message from it, because it's art and putting explicit, objectively incontrovertible, conceptual messages in art is pretty hard.
But the moment you start saying that Catholics at a Catholic university shouldn't have to justify what they're doing, you've crossed into that bizarre realm where Catholics get to assume that whatever they do for the sake of their religion is automatically a-okay. Nope, sorry, that's not cool.
Come to the same conclusion if that's where it leads you, but don't say the process of worrying about sensitivity or justifying your actions can be bypassed simply because of your religion.
+0
Posted 11 Apr 2006 at 1:05 am ¶Post a Comment