The Christian Anti-Defamation Commission has put out a list of the Top 10 Anti-Christian Acts of 2009.
Dave at An Ethical Hedonist has done an excellent job of fact-checking their list and found that (surprise!) many of their claims are untrue.
My favorite “debunking” from Dave is below. I think his last sentence tells you everything you need to know about how seriously you ought to take the CADC’s list:
8. The Claim: HBO’s program “Curb Your Enthusiasm” aired an episode where the main actor urinates on painting of Jesus. When confronted HBO would not apologize.
I saw this particular clip when it first aired and I found it somewhat amusing, if maybe a little puerile. Here’s the setup: Larry David has taken a medication that makes him pee. A lot. Whenever he goes to the bathroom they set up a water hose to just spray water wherever he’s looking. So one day, when he’s visiting his very religious employee’s house, he goes to the bathroom to pee, and notices a picture of Jesus on the wall. His pee is so forceful that a little drop gets on the painting, but because Larry David is such a schmuck, he leaves without cleaning it up. The employee notices it, and long story short, believes that a miracle has occurred and that her painting of Jesus is crying.
So yes, it’s shocking to be sure, and only funny if you have a three-year-old’s sense of humor. (Guilty as charged.) But is it:
- Defamation? No. The only person in the setup who is seen negatively is Larry David himself, because he’s so uncaring and socially maladjusted that he wouldn’t even wipe off the painting.
- Bigotry? No. There is nothing at all being said about Christians or Christianity here.
- Discrimination? No. Doesn’t even qualify.
The CADL is upset because HBO didn’t apologize. But I don’t think they have anything to apologize for, and neither do they. I am of the opinion that art should never be apologized for, but I further think that the only people who would be offended by this program are the ones who think that no one should be allowed to say anything negative about Jesus, ever.
(Oh and also, guys? A little drop bouncing onto a painting is not the same as “urinating on a painting.”)
By the way, that item was #8. Which I assume means it’s more “anti-Christian” than #9.
What was #9?
Rev. Fred Winters was murdered while preaching in his pulpit in Maryville, Illinois.
So the CADC thinks that a fictional comedy show is more anti-Christian than a murder.
That makes perfect sense…
(via An Ethical Hedonist)
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