On October 2, the Brooklyn Museum of Art exhibition in New York City, called 'Sensation,' has caused quite a controversy. A collection of British artworks contains highly controversial works by Damien Hirst, including a partially decomposed shark and a bisected pig preserved in formaldehyde, as well as an elephant-dung-stained portrait of the Virgin Mary by Chris Ofili and the bust of a man made from his own frozen blood. After seeing the exhibition catalogue, Mayor Rudolph Guiliani expressed personal outrage and called the works "sick stuff," a similar phrase uttered by many who saw the same exhibition in London and Berlin. How should we think about this?

• Mayor Guiliani has threatened to withhold city financing from the Brooklyn Museum unless it cancels the exhibition. The Mayor has said, "If someone wants to do that privately and pay for that privately, well, that's what the First Amendment is all about. But to have the government subsidize something like this is outrageous." The city gives the museum nearly $7 million a year, almost a third of its budget. The city also owns the museum. In effect, then, the city is underwriting this exhibition, i.e. the taxpayer is paying for it!! This is clearly unacceptable. The taxpayers of New York City should not underwrite this kind of drivel in the name of art. Because "art" today is so difficult to define and because there is simply no consensus on what art is in our culture, the taxpayer should not have to support such exhibitions with tax money.
  
  
• The desecrated portrait of Mary is likewise offensive. Mayor Guiliani: "You don't have the right to government subsidy for desecrating somebody else's religion... you can't do things [with the public's money] that desecrate the most personal and deeply held views of people in society. I mean, this is an outrageous thing to do." Public tax money should not go to support what many regard as obscene or blasphemous. This is not a First Amendment issue; instead, it has everything to do with whether the public should be expected to foot the bill for moral rubbish! This is a critically important issue that must be the focus of the exhibition--it is not a First Amendment issue.
  
  
• Should that which experts call "art" be exempt from critical evaluation? Just because a specialist might call something "art" do not mean that we must accept that characterization as art and then simply fund it. That is not even common sense! As Roger Kimball has said, " Part of the answer to this has to do with the confusion of art with 'free speech.' More precisely, it has to do with the confusion of art with a debased idea of free speech that supposes any limits on expression are inimical to freedom." In fact, freedom without limits quickly degenerates into a parody of freedom; it becomes wanton license! In many cases today, the art world has demonstrated its emancipation from all manner of social and aesthetic norms.
  
  
• The exhibition has in effect advertised its own perversity. In a mock health warning that accompanies advertising for the exhibition, the following is stated: "The contents of the exhibition may cause shock, vomiting, confusion, panic, euphoria and anxiety. If you suffer from high blood pressure, a nervous disorder, or palpitations, you should consult your doctor before viewing this exhibition." This is perverse art and Mayor Guiliani has shown true courage here, not the artists!! "He at least has shown that he knows how to respond appropriately to a self-advertised health hazard."

See Roger Kimball, "'Art' Isn't Exempt From Moral Criticism," WALL STREET JOURNAL.

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THE DISAPPOINTMENT OF ASIA

Asia is a huge continent but it is now one which greatly disappoints, especially in the economic and political arenas, as well as in the religious arena. Some points for consideration:

• The hottest emerging market in Southeast Asia--Indonesia--now looks like a candidate for national disintegration, not prosperity. High tech firms were building next-generation power plants and wiring the country's 13,000 islands for cell phones but now fear that Indonesia is imploding.
  
  
• Communist China, which two years ago seemed to be soaring as fast as Japan, is now falling. Two years ago it skillfully sidestepped the Asian economic crisis. After two decades of spectacular growth, China's leaders are beginning to admit that they cannot stop the deflation and mushrooming unemployment drowning the country.
  
  
• Asia has no equivalent of NATO, no institutions like the European Union and until a few weeks ago it leaders always rejected the idea of getting involved in a neighbor's internal affairs. But the East Timor crisis changed all that. The Philippines, Malaysia, New Zealand and Australia joined the United States in a peacekeeping mission to East Timor. This crisis could be the beginning of an integrated Asia, politically and economically, to maintain the stability that they all desire. This could be a critical turning point in the history of Asia.
  
  
• There are really two Asias one that seeks integration and interdependence, that relies on the increasing globalism; the other that brutally fights the ethnic and religious wars in Timor and Kashmir for example. As with the rest of the world, these two forces are at war with one another. Will the forces that pull toward the center, to integrate and develop more interdependence triumph; or will the forces that push out from the center and fragment triumph. This is the real battle going on in Asia.

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DR. LAURA--A NEW HEROINE FOR THE CONSERVATIVES?

Five days a week on more than 450 stations, broadcast live in most markets, tape-delayed in others, "The Dr. Laura Program," is really a three-hour sermon using questions she takes from her audience as the forum. She argues that the program is not about one religious faith; it is centered on religious values. She supports people in whatever religion they choose and that makes them comfortable. How should we think about Dr. Laura?

• Dr. Laura gave up her role as an entertainer a few years ago, when in the midst of her spiritual rebirth, she was studying the Old Testament. Exodus 19:6 became her key mission in life--"And ye shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation." She interpreted that passage as a personal assignment from God--to proclaim His existence and His righteousness. As a Jew, her model is the Old Testament and its focus on separation unto God.
  
  
• Today on her radio program she rails against the hypocrisy and inconsistency of America. She blasts abortion, divorce, pornography, unwed mothers and deadbeat dads--all evidence of a godless society. She often does so in scathingly sarcastic and cynical ways.
  
  
• Dr. Laura is an educated woman, with a Ph.D. in physiology and is certified in marriage and family counseling.
  
  
• The major caveat of Dr. Laura's program and her stance on so many things is she offers no cure, no solution to the desperate human condition. It is only Jesus Christ that will bring the solution to the modern dilemma that Dr. Laura finds so repugnant. Railings, cynicism and sarcasm alone do not a changed culture make. Dr. Laura has the right diagnosis-- moral and spiritual perversion; she just does not know the cure--a personal relationship with Jesus!
  

See Jeff Hooten, "Doctor's Orders," CITIZEN (August 1999): 6-9.

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