A Christian Liberal is NOT an oxymoron.

Posted by XT on February 12th, 2010 in General

Linsay Lohan, never before confused with Jesus Christ, is apparently such the very image of the Messiah that Bill Donohue is worried that Catholics will…well, it isn’t exactly clear what he’s worried about.

Bill Donohue, head of the Catholic League, told Politics Daily: “Not only is the pose inappropriate, the timing is offensive.” (Catholicism’s most sacred season begins next Wednesday — Ash Wednesday — with the start of Lent, the annual period of pentinence and abstinence that leads up to the Easter celebration.)

First, Catholicism doesn’t own Lent – it is celebrated by many denominations. Second, if something is sacrilegious, then it doesn’t matter what time of year it is. Third, the photo is for a French fashion magazine – which is, last I checked, far beyond the range of an American instituted special interest group.

Beyond that, the whole idea of art is to invoke powerful emotions in people. Then you discover what it is within yourself that responds to what it without. Why, for instance, are people finding this offensive? Is it because it is a woman posing as Christ? Is it because Lohan is not a Christian (actually, I don’t know if she is or not)? Is it the unspoken message that being Christian is simply a fashionable thing to do…like a garment you put on for others to see?

That brings up another point. Catholics United says that Lohan is an “ex-Catholic who is spiritually homeless.” Well, how do they know about her spiritual home? If, as the Catholic Church teaches, there is one baptism for forgiveness of sin, and she’s been baptized, then she’s not an “ex-Catholic” so much as she’s just a Catholic who isn’t attending church. But if she is an “ex” Catholic, then she presumably left for some other belief – they mention Karma, as if she had converted to Hinduism. Again, I don’t know if she has or not, but that’s up to her…and if she has converted, then she isn’t homeless, she’s just found a home she likes better.

Maybe if self-important pricks like Donohue didn’t set themselves up as judge and jury for what is and isn’t appropriate for everyone in the world to do; then Lohan and a few more “ex-Catholics” would never have felt like they had to leave that church. At any rate, she has nothing to apologize for. We are all supposed to live our lives as the image of Christ, and it looks like maybe she was a bit more literal than others.

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