Voltaire’s Voltage

By AM Saturday, August 27, 2011

Share Tweet Share Share Email

An abundance of disturbing events bear out the fact that radical Christianity, like radical Islam, is quite capable of violence, and contrary to what Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter would have us believe, the examples are numerous – Alex Henderson

Hans Kung, the theological professor the Vatican refused to allow to teach, once asked the question if people are for or against France. He was merely introducing the element of nuance into perspectives, underlining that yes or no answers often do not suffice.  On some matters I am certainly for France. It gave us such sacrilegious gems as Voltaire and is a country that we have come to regard as being at the forefront of ensuring religion does not intrude on the lives of its citizens. Its vibrant secular tradition has long protected its citizens from religious encroachment. 

Even in terms of Irish history French culture is something to be envied. When French troops landed in the 18th Century as part of a bid to help oust the British they were disdainful of the Irish fondness for priests and their pope. Their view was that the Irish needed liberated from more than just the British.

It was French leftwing magazine Charlie Hebdo, with its huge circulation, that challenged Islamic intolerance through its decision to publish the Danish cartoons that so enraged the Imans in 2006 when other media outlets were vying with each other to lift the Cowardice Cup. The enraged clerics, driven by censorious zeal, took the magazine to court accusing it of racism for having made ‘public insults against a group of people because they belong to a religion.’ Charlie Hebdo, probably to the chagrin of those fellow leftists, who shamefully sold the pass on the matter, won the case.

Now the Piss Christ incident in Avignon has exposed a few cracks in the edifice of secularism in France while reinforcing suspicion that the recent burka ban was specifically against the intrusion of Islam rather than religion per se.

The religious thugs that destroyed the Piss Christ work of Serrano belonged to Civitas, a group that states its objective is to re-Christianize France. This dovetails neatly with the resentments toward the country’s strong secular tradition shown by the right wing archbishop of Vaucluse, Jean-Pierre Cattenoz. He, in the style of fellow Christian bigot Jesse Helms, claimed Piss Christ was "odious trash’ and demanded that it be removed from the gallery walls. None of his business what people care to look at even if it is upsetting to his own brand of superstition. No one was dragging him by the scruff of his odious neck and forcing him to tour the gallery.

All of this has helped fuel the Christian sponsored "extremist harassment" which prompted the owner of the gallery, Yvon Lambert, to talk of ‘a return to the middle ages.’ Gallery director Eric Mézil took the view that the attack was a modern form of the "inquisition" against the art work.

It is in the political timing of the controversy that adds an ominous aspect to it.   Serrano’s photograph had previously featured in the country several times, provoking little ire. Gallery director Eric Mezil claimed that what ignited the protests were comments from French President Nicolas Sarkozy in support of France’s Christian heritage.  Referring to a demo the day before the Psalm Sunday attack where 1000 Christian protestors took to the streets, Mezil said: ‘clearly we saw in Saturday's demonstration that a Catholic fringe wanted to take the president at his word, with extremely violent appeals.’  Sarkozy is suspected in some circles of having encouraged Christian populism as an electoral ploy aimed at tapping into the country’s growing anti-Muslim sentiment.

Equally portentous was the vacillation of the French culture minister, Frédéric Mitterrand. Initially he appeared to take a progressive line when he condemned the attack as an act of vandalism against creative freedom and expression.  Later however, he hobbled the forcefulness of his own critique by adding that art work could shock audiences.

And what? In their separate ways and days Galileo shocked as did Teilhard de Chardin via their own creativity, driving the dictators of Catholicism into paroxysms of rage.

Promoting one religion over another instead of forcing it all back into its caverns is hardly the way to tackle the phenomenon. France, hopefully, will strive to maintain the porous vibrancy of its healthy secular tradition and not allow religious zeal of whatever hue to suffocate it.

Religion will always be shocked by reason. Time to increase the voltage.