United States heavy metal band Slayer's latest album has been recalled from music stores across India after the country's small Christian community said the cover depicting Christ with amputated arms and a missing eye was insulting.
The first thing I though when I saw the new Slayer album's cover was that people were going to be really pissed off by it. I also thought that it was very appropriate.
Not surprisingly Christians did overreact to the artwork on the album. As usual the first that came to mind was to protest it and ultimately have it removed from record store shelves. Ironically, they probably did the band a favor. I bet online sales of the disc will be quite brisk.
Why did I think the album art was appropriate? I believe that we Christian's are the ones who chopped Jesus' arms off and poked His eye out. We chopped His arm off by spreading the Gospel by the sword. We chopped His other arm off by co-opting Christianity to suit our own selfish national interests. We've poked out Jesus' eye by ignoring those we who live in so-called Christian nations should have helped.
More than that, Christianity has become so removed from the love an acceptance of Jesus Christ that it seems like the world is full of Christ illusions, but very little of the real Jesus Christ.
Just once I would like to see Christians display the meekness and humility that Jesus taught. Instead of protesting and seeking to have an album banned, why not engage people in dialog and seek to understand what the message behind the art is?
Is Slayer's album cover shtick, statement, or protest? Probably all of the above. Still, fascism, even Christian fascism, sucks.
Comments