In the News-Art Critics, Religious, and Atheists Hot about Sin
Posted: Saturday, July 10, 2010
by Jean Purcell
OpineBooks.com
About the time of the Fourth of July this year, an exhibition of Norman Rockwell 's art was in town, in the capital city. Those two events spawned sin being called-out from unexpected camps. Is this a new trend emerging? Art critic Blake Gopnik , for The Washington Post, and a few religious people, as well as atheists, publicly converged over the issue of sin last week.
The Rockwell sin of expressing himself through what he admired, respected, and loved disgusts his critics, few though they be. Showing warm and humorous moments of family and community life nauseates Rockwell 's accusers, Gopnik would have us believe. Gopnik did not repent of pouring a lot of ink onto Rockwell 's work.
The second sin recently noted also reached me via The Washington Post. This sin is celebrating the Fourth of July, a sin repeated every year. A few religious people are calling out this wrong; they increasingly focus on politics at the center of faith action. It is a sin, they believe, to celebrate the occasion of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, 1776, July 4. Never mind that the document is directly attached to the liberties of those who judge this sin of celebrating the day of the document-a point clear, surely, to them.
The July 4 Celebration-accusers of the brethren who do celebrate the Fourth do not focus on the document of independence. Their focus is on the war of revolution that followed. Apparently they blame the document for leading to war. Do they perhaps also blame Christians' affirmations of faith, which led to bloody Roman persecutions? These post-modern religious views see celebrations on the Fourth as a celebration of violence, war, and bloodshed. Ironically, those are the things for which Mr. Gopnik in The Post accused Mr. Rockwell of avoiding, in his art.
Atheists, interestingly, now hold their own Fourth of July celebration, a symbolic protest against I'm not sure what. Whatever, all of these groups, albeit small, are speaking out and demonstrating, heatedly, about sin.
"And here is more of Gopnik leaving the sanity zone: < Rockwell 's greatest sin as an artist is simple: His is an art of unending clich. The reason we so easily 'recognize ourselves' in his paintings is because they reflect the standard image we already know. His stories resonate so strongly because they are the stories we've told ourselves a thousand times...." Read more: here.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)I guess it takes all kinds, huh Jean? Whaddyagonnado?? :)It was a pleasure to try defending Mr. Rockwell, one of my faves (smile).Thanks for commenting!All the best to you, JeanIt was a pleasure to try defending Mr. Rockwell, one of my faves (smile).Thanks for commenting!All the best to you, Jean
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