A work of art, which I will not reproduce here, depicts Bernie Madoff with horns. (The sculpture by Chen Wenling is titled "What You See Might Not Be Real," and is on display in Beijing.) On Alas, the blog that posted this image, I objected. Depicting "Jews with horns" is gross, antisemitic and disgusting. I gave some famous examples. (Moses with horns, Trotsky as the devil.)
Well, I got taken down a notch. Shut up, ignorant white trash!
Although I belong to the same Big Church that Michelangelo did (and have consequently had Pieta prayer cards foisted on me at more funeral masses than should be allowable), I was nonetheless patronized by someone of another faith who thinks I don't know (you silly redneck!), Michelangelo didn't mean it like that. (Well, maybe he did and maybe he didn't--have you spoken with him directly?)
Granting the point that Michelangelo probably did not mean that Moses had devil-horns, I clarified that I was speaking of the way his work was subsequently USED, not how his work was INTENDED.
And finally, I am lectured that the Jews-with-horns/Jews-as-devils trope is "relatively obscure" (!!!) so knock that silly shit off.
From the link above:
"Holy shrines were erected to honor innocent Christian victims [of satanic rituals said to be conducted by Jews], and well into the twentieth century, churches throughout Europe displayed knives and other instruments that Jews purportedly used for these rituals. Caricatures of hunchbacked Jews with horns and fangs were depicted in works of art and carved into stone decorating bridges. Proclaimed by parish priests to be the gospel truth, each recurrence of the blood libel charge added to its credence, thus prompting yet more accusations. This vicious cycle continued to spiral."Italics mine.
Not obscure. APPROVED BY THE CHURCH.
Now, if yall want to praise sculptures of Jews with horns (progressive, anti-capitalist sculptures, of course!), well, who am I to argue with that? Obviously, nobody. What do I know? Yes, I know my place. Never mind! (This is my usual experience at the blog in question, which is why I rarely post there now.)
First, I offered the Trotsky example too (no horns, just devil). Second, this isn't "relatively obscure" at all (see above paragraph) and the horns reference even made it into the Oscar-winning (that is to say, not obscure) movie NORMA RAE. Then again, she was white trash too, wasn't she?...so never mind!
Further, if a religious believer dared write about our "Spidey senses tingling" --in judging whether something is offensive, they'd EAT US ALIVE. (The educated atheists and agnostics can be as irrational as they wanna be and it's okay. But us uneducated, dumb hillbillies better back everything we say up with copious links and footnotes, or we are stupid.)
Duly noted! Another day, another lesson in Elite Blogdonia Etiquette.
...
Just wondering: why does everyone at that blog talk down to me like they do? If I changed my commenting name to "OxfordGrad"--would they instead thank me for my quick eye and sensitivity, and gush all over me like they do those other people?
What other name should I choose for my next visit to ALAS? VassarGal, OrangeCountyTennisChamp, YachtMan (oh wait, they already have the popular "Sailorman"--one of the Head Patronizers), HarvardRadical, YaleGrrl, something catchy like that?
With one of those dynamite handles, I'll bet they'd even ask me to come back! That's certainly never happened before! ;)