The Blasphemy Collection
The concept of blasphemy seemed for some decades to be in decline in the West, but not any more. It may be useful to look back at some recent cases of militantly religious outrage...
Rated by
Vulgarity –the piece shocked through its conflation of the sacred and the profane
Criminality –the piece contravened laws in a given country
Religious impact –the work caused outrage from religious leaders
Political impact –speeches were made by governments, laws were created or changed.
Deaths – outrage at the work led to the death of one or more people
20. Jesus Christ Superstar
Crowds gathered in protest outside the Broadway theatre where this musical about Jesus and Judas was first staged. Some Christians took offence at the portrayal of Jesus as a man rather than as God and the sympathetic rendering of Judas Iscariot. The omission of the Resurrection was also a point of controversy. Some Jewish groups counted the performance as anti-Semitic in its depiction of Jewish crowds calling for Jesus’ death.
Vulgarity: 0 Criminality: 0 Religious impact: 4 Political Impact: 0 Deaths: 0
19. Popetown
An animation of the life of fictional character Father Nicholas, who lives in Popetown (Vatican City) and works as the cartoon Pope’s handler, protecting the public from the truth that the animated pontiff is actually very stupid. The series, produced by the BBC was removed from scheduling before being aired on British television because of fears it would offend Roman Catholics. In Germany a full-scale campaign against the series continues.
Vulgarity: 3 Criminality: 0 Religious impact: 3 Political Impact: 0 Deaths: 0
18. Chocolate Christ
Cosimo Cavallaro’s My Sweet Lord, a rendering of the crucifixion in chocolate was pulled from a New York art gallery during Holy Week this year under pressure from the Catholic League.
The 200lb sculpture, which exposed the genitals of the dying Christian saviour, incensed the Catholic League who bombarded the Lab gallery in Manhattan with protest emails.
Vulgarity: 5 Criminality: 0 Religious impact: 4 Political Impact:0 Deaths: 0
17. Ecce Homo
Photographs showing Jesus eating with homosexuals and transsexuals in an exhibition in Sweden, raised eyebrows in Europe between 1998 and 2000. The vivid images caused Pope John Paul II to cancel a meeting with the Swedish Lutheran Archbishop Karl Gustav Hammar who supported their exhibition.
Vulgarity: 3 Criminality: 0 Religious impact: 7 Political impact: 0 Deaths: 0
16. Strelnikoff Mary of Help of Brezje
An album cover showing Mary of Help cradling a rat above the title “Bitchcraft” was the Slovenian band’s statement on the Catholic teaching on abortion. There was subsequent outcry - almost 4000 public protests were made to the State Attorney’s Office in Ljubljana and over 1000 requests for indictment. It was refused by the High Court who said the album was “tasteless” but did not cross the line of what is permitted.
Vulgarity: 3 Criminality: 0 Religious impact: 4 Political Impact: 3 Deaths: 0
15. Jerry Springer the Opera
Based on the daytime TV phenomenon but with a sacrilegious twist, the British opera featured a character Jesus who dressed as a baby and regularly soiled his nappy. Protests when the opera was screened on British television saw Christians burning their TV licences outside BBC Television Centre, but other demonstrations were relatively sparse and tame.
Vulgarity: 7 Criminality: 0 Religious impact: 4 Political Impact: 0 Deaths: 0
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