Artful Dodger:

> Desecrate A Quran, Go To Jail; Desecrate A Bible, Get Subsidized & Have It Displayed As 'Art'

(V):

> ".....By the book is a container of pens and a notice saying: “If you feel you have been excluded from the Bible, please write your way back into it.”

Sometimes what passes for art is dubious. I see the point of what the artist was trying to point out to. Man is made in God's image. It seems reasonable to feel excluded from the Bible since the Bible presents a relatively narrow view of right and wrong, and it excludes a large number of people in the world (basicly anybody who does not believe in the Abrahamic God).

At the same time, people write comments that express anger and resentment, without being constructive. If the artist had been smarter, he would have put several sacred texts. Put a Koran next to a Bible, a Bhaghavad Gita, a Book of Mormon, the Digha Nikaya, etc. Then present a juxtaposition: Made in what God's image? If you feel left out by any God in particular, write yourself back in.

Well, religion arises a lot of passion in people. The reason why I never had faith in any God is because while God may have made man in its (his, hers?) own image, man tries to portray God in his own image. In giving to God human qualities, we limit God to our own human foibles (God is jealous, vengeful, wrathful, etc.) We assign to God human limitations and emotions, and thus reduce God to our level. We view God as a petty minded, jealous, selfish individual, rather than as an all-encompassing limitless being who sees beyond the distinctions of organized religion, which is in essence a limiting human construct.

Organized religion reduces God a favoritist being who favours one group of human beings at the exclusion of all others. Those in my religion will go to Heaven. Those outside of it will go to Hell. God will make sure of that, because God, limited as we human beings are, plays favorites in the universe.

In that sense Buddhism is the superior belief system. The ego is the limiting factor, not God. It is the petty atttachments of the ego that limit humanity and make it selfish, jealous, vengeful, wrathful, etc. Our view of God within those limitations is merely a projection of our ego, and not a protrayal of God himself.

Well, it is hypocritical to single out the Bible that way, as it is hypocritical to burn the Koran, or to single out any organized religion. But the artist is trying to provoke a response. Unfortunately, western society is obsessed with religion and the validity of Christianity.