Exposed Genitals of Jesus Displayed in Catholic Church
No this is no April Fool’s Joke or anything this really is a painting of Jesus Christ dated back to 12th Century art where his genitals wee exposed during the crucifix. This painting is displayed in a Catholic Church near Oklahoma City, OK. The church is not taking the painting down and surprisingly most of the visitors to a news website in the city agree that it is ok to leave up.
Keep in mind this is a 10-foot-tall crucifix hanging above the alter at a Catholic church. One Facebook comment makes the point “The image is quite obvious; but, I find it interesting that many people don’t… seem to notice (on a 10-foot-tall crucifix), and that 62% of people polled don’t find it offensive (whereas people sure were “outraged” when Erykah Badu exposed herself at Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas, Texas on March 17). According to the Church, there are no plans to remove it.”
I agree that our bodes are art and so are the clothes we wear for that matter. We may be disgusted by seeing one person walk around nude but someone else we may get turned on by but when we came out of our mommies we certainly were not dressed and we bared all. We were in our birthday suits. I am surprised there is not more art that depicts nudity in our true form and the beauty of our different bodies.
Jesus in this painting definitely had something sticking out of his skirt or dress that looked mighty powerful and that was not your ordinary sized penis. I am not sure if I was in shock it was so big or because the balls were so big. In some of the same paintings dating back to this time it seemed to show more abs and images of the genitals. The crucifix hanging at this Catholic Church resembles other San Damiano crucifixes except for Jesus’ abdominal area, which is noticeably more pronounced than on similar crucifixes. Very hung if you ask me.
Could this be a sexual depiction of Jesus? Could this be a bondage type depiction? I do not think so I think it is just the way the artists captured this moment. I do find it strange that some captured abs in that area that look similar and this painting has a full out private part sticking out for the world to see.
The Catholic Church certainly has their problems with some Priests who are pedophiles (people who molest children) which has been confused with gays serving in the church. There is a big difference there because gays are not pedophiles they are attracted to the same sex of someone who is consenting adult. But this Vatican problem is something that has been crippling the church and as for the artwork it is certainly not going to be a problem because it has been around for thousands of years and no one has bothered to remove the genitalia from the paintings as they should not.
Wow, I looked at this painting and was at a loss for words. Not that I was shocked, but I wasn’t exactly quite comfortable with what I was looking at either. One part of me says that this reinforces the idea that Jesus was a man, a real man. He had the body of a man. But his spirit was Godly. And even though I’m not sure if this is depicting God in a less respectful way, I also keep in mind that we were created in his image… and perhaps He himself wouldn’t be too upset by this painting. Thanks for a great post.
so why the garment then?