Serrano Disrespect On Religion

The artist captured the message of Pope Urban's crusade sermon well, and it was likely an effective piece

Junipero Serra was essentially the founder of the mission system and he set much of the precedent as to how the missions would run and treat the indigenous people. Serra’s work on the missions had large effects on the native people besides just spreading Christianity to the New World. More recently, Serra’s canonization has been a rather controversial topic due to the history surrounding his treatment of the natives and the overall results of the missions. The Catholic Church is aware of this history and still chose to make Junipero Serra a saint even with the protests by different Native American groups. However, the Catholic Church feels they have good reason as to why Serra is considered a saint regardless of these arguments. This is an

Upon walking into Gallery 250 of Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, one will find on the wall a particularly eye-catching piece of art. The piece, set high on the corner of the wall encompassed by pictures depicting scenes from the life of Jesus Christ, is Giulio Cesare Procaccini's The Scourging of Christ. In this piece, Procaccini's masterful use of light and shadows in a technique called chiaroscuro dramatically portray the torturing of Christ, and it is this very application of chiaroscuro that immediately caught my eye. Through his masterful rendition of value, Procaccini successfully evoked within me a crushing sensation of agony. While I did not initially realize that the piece was one of Christ, research enabled me to witness how

At the council, 338 members met to rule on the use of images to depict religious figures and ideas. This assembly, including Emperor Constantine and Leo, rules that “the unlawful art of painting living creatures blasphemed the fundamental doctrine of our salvation—namely, the Incarnation of Christ, and contradicted the six holy synods” (Iconoclastic Council, 1). The Iconoclastic Council bans the use of images and pictures to depict religious ideologies and figures because they feared that worshippers honored the image over the actual person, place, or thing represented. To support their argument, the council recalls the Holy Book in which God states, “Thou shall not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath…They changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man,…and served the creature more than the Creator” (2). Unlike John, this council uses stronger textual evidence from the Holy Book in order to validate their argument against icons. Furthermore, they argued that “folly” painter constructed the icons to undermine the icons. Council members aimed to demonstrate the icons as evil creations because religious affiliates did not construct them. Nevertheless, the council banned all images, relics, and other representations of

When looking over the fresco The Miracle of the Crib at Greccio at the Church of St. Francis, I think I understand the empathy conveyed in the piece. Throughout the fresco, we can see how the piece shows references that the public could easily understand, to give themselves a feeling of being there in the scene. In the scene, one thing that can be seen first is that while the piece depicts a nativity scene, it’s not the center piece with the scene being displayed on the bottom right corner, with the rest being a depiction of the cathedral which the piece is located from. Another feature is that in the center of the piece which are friars, appear to be singing some form of religious song due to the expressions being similar to those singing

Christianity is the top most practiced religion in the world, but that does not mean it is truly a divine and sacred religion as it is made out to be. From the very beginning when Christopher Columbus, an expeditioner, was spreading Christianity with good intentions of converting natives into a civilized, Christian society. However, his intentions was soon changed due to finding gold and an entitlement over the natives. The natives were manipulated and forced to become believers of Christianity and such a tragedy is significant because this event had started the foundation of Christianity. Juan Rulfo, author of the novel, “Pedro Paramo,” portrays the Catholic Church to be built on the weak foundation of immoral, faithless leaders and community

Almost all religions around the world are based on a belief. Almost every religion have certain rules and principles that order together within a society: Many people misunderstand and misinterpret the holy texts the Bible, Quran, Torah, and others fabricate. Religion is defined as faith to a higher being who one believes has created us. It has also been used as laws through history to stop the committing of crimes. In many religions, the consequences of breaking rules and regulations of the religion are burning in the pit of hell. Religion is man-made and was created for many reasons but mainly to keep peace and justice in the world. But the words can be manipulated and used as an excuse to start wars on this planet. This caused many to believe that the world would be a better place without religion.

I personally learned a lot more than what the prejudice and discrimination that we saw in Chapter 9

“One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” These are the words we were taught as early young Americans. However, there is a man who’s actions have denied the Native Americans’ liberty and justice, and his name is Junipero Serra. Junipero Serra was a Spanish missionary who dedicated his life to spreading the Word of God to the natives of America so that He can forge his path: the path to Heaven. Although many of them were eager to become transformed by God, Serra’s methods of conversion became their destruction rather than their solution. Pope Francis recognizes him for his “selfless acts” rather than his acts of genocide. Ironically, Serra believed that teaching the Native

"The Adoration of the Shepherds" is obviously a religious painting. The birth of Jesus is clearly one of the most important and famous parts in the

There are many visions in the world and everyone is entitled to their vision. Art does not always have to be pleasant either. It should produce a response from the audience and stimulate the senses. With so many different viewpoints and agendas, controversy cannot be avoided.

When it comes to religion, not many people are welcoming to the idea of change, or converting from one religion to another. The Spanish had a particularly difficult time accepting Islam into their country, because they had been predominately Catholic for a long time. The idea of nationalism likely had a part in why the Spanish could not comply with this change. Nationalism is the idea that one's own countries religion, values, and traditions is superior to other countries. The Spanish were devout Catholics, nation-wide, and did not agree that any other religion was "true". However, in Rogozen-Soltar's article about a young Catholic girl converting to Islam, the conversion to Islam is globally on the rise and is the world's fastest growing religion.

It was a controversial display of a plastic crucifix submerged in a glass container filled with Serrano's urine. As expected, it was said that once this piece went on display, an immediate controversy, especially among Christian believers, arose. As a Catholic, I immediately took this display to offence and deemed it unethical. I automatically thought that this man was just another anti-Catholic advocate, much like the people who have accused me of worshiping Mary instead of God, due to the fact that the Catholic faith does in fact dedicate a prayer to her. When I found out that the liquid wasn't just any liquid, but rather a Serrano's own urine, I knew it was something deeper than just attacking the Christian faith. I decided to take some time and reflect upon this display beyond its physical appearance. Perhaps the purpose of this visual art was not to stir up a controversy among Christian believers but rather to initiate an in-depth reflection, much like what happened to me. I began to see the display as a representation of Christian believers and their life of sin. To me, the jar of urine represents the pool of sins that I as a Christian drown myself in. The crucifix represents Jesus himself and his presence in my life. Together the crucifix placed in the pool of filthy urine (sin) signify the great amount of impurity that Christ is witnessing as he is present within me. I begin to think about all my sins and realize that when I sin,

As far as the violence is concerned, The Passion was very gruesome and disturbing to watch at some points. Some people think it is too much to see someone getting their skin ripped off with metal claws but I think it was a necessary part of the ordeal to which Christ was subjected and it brings home the enormity of what happened. Other films made his crucifixion out to be a graceful and peaceful death almost leaving out the fact that he was nearly flogged to death before even touching his cross.

Another powerful scene that leads up to the cross is when Jesus carried the heavy wooden pole to a hilltop. In this scene, I was angry and shocked that the Roman soldiers made Jesus carry the heavy cross after his flogging. Jesus had no physical strength after his whipping. But this scene allowed us to see he was willing to take the cross and carry it up to the hill for our sake. We are constantly bombarded with this sacrificial and scandalous love where Jesus knows he is taking in the suffering for our sake. Many of the audience in the movie theatre are Christians, but can also be someone who wants to know Jesus more. When non-Christians see this scene, they may start questioning why is Jesus carrying the heavy cross up to the hill. The movie is portraying extremely why Jesus had to take the cross because he wanted to reveal his love for us. This is not the universal love that we relate to but is a sacrificial and scandalous love which Jesus wants to pour out to the audience. And the visualization of Jesus who is physically incapable of carrying the cross doing the impossible. This visualization allows me and others to sympathize with Jesus, but to understand why Jesus is taking the cross. Jesus is doing to show his love for us and humbling himself before the final act.