not a dragon any more...

No. I don't think it's better than the original. When Michaelangelo painted the Sistine chapel, he did so because of his faith and his love for the church. The original, non-defaced paintings in the Sistine chapel express the creativity of Michaelangelo and the reason why he painted these things in the first place.

On the surface though, Michaelangelo painted his beliefs in biblical stories, so the flying spaghetti monster replacing some god in his painting is a criticism of his beliefs. I like the defaced painting more for that:)

I believe genuine art must stem from love and creativity. A use of art for the purposes of criticizing another's beliefs stems from hatred and is therefore not genuine art.

One thing I learned as a religious studies major is how to respect beliefs you don't necessarily agree with. It is quite difficult for many and I think it takes a life-time to master but defacing the icons of another religion is complete hatred and disrespect.

When beliefs effect the world then they don't get instant respect, they get analysed. Criticism can also come from hope, not just hatred. Like the hope of curing an illness.

"When beliefs effect the world then they don't get instant respect, they get analysed."

Sorry, my head hurts and I really don't want to debate this issue especially when such drivel is repeated non-stop without any prior education by the driveller. If you want to debate this subject, I suggest you go find a different site or thread (that isn't mine). Frankly, internet debates I've seen on this subject usually involve people who haven't even spent time or energy into studying these issues (which is one reason why I don't even debate them). But yeah...thanks for telling someone who spent their college training in this subject that they are wrong about how to approach it.

Hey, I went to college too!

CensoredReality,

1. You are still on my blocked list...why are you commenting in my forums? In full technicality, I can report you for harassment if you continue to do so.

2. I think it's more typical of modern "art" to criticize and question (which for modern artists is the same it seems). That doesn't make it "art" though. It breaks away from genuine art when it enters into the realm of hatred.

trysts,

So many have gone to college. However, not everyone majors in the subject pertaining to the issues you are trying to bring up here and those who have majored in subjects pertaining to these issues would find some of the stuff you are saying bogus.

I studied religion and history. I have not claimed to be an art expert. I have stated my opinion. I have learned much about iconography though.

I cannot. However, I do know that a defacement of religious art is not art but iconoclasm (as I have also said, while art is not my expertise, religion and history are--among those topics includes iconography). Also, I am ticketing you for harassment. As I have stated previously, you are on my blocked list and should not be posting in my forums. Since blocking apparently has not gotten the "job done", I am afraid I have to go to more extreme measures.

Well, if you did go to college then you probably know all about how discussions work. You know, like how you tell me your opinion and I tell you mine? I didn't see anyone getting away with just saying they know too much to be able to discuss opinions. And in the world of art and history, discussions of opinions dominate, unless you feel too conceited to do so

trysts,

"Well, if you did go to college then you probably know all about how discussions work. You know, like how you tell me your opinion and I tell you mine? I didn't see anyone getting away with just saying they know too much to be able to discuss opinions. And in the world of art and history, discussions of opinions dominate, unless you feel too conceited to do so"

I'm not saying that. I'm saying that in a world of opinions, respect matters first and foremost. You seem to disagree with this. It is simply not a matter of opinion whether respect matters or not. You cannot go very far in these fields if you cannot show any sort of respect.

CensoredReality,

I am not being childish. You are on my blocked list. I do not want you posting in my forums. There appears to be a glitch allowing you to post in my forums. As I do not want you posting in my forums and you are clearly abusing some sort of glitch in the system, your continuing to post in my forums qualifies as harassment. I am not acting "insane" due to your questioning my definition of art. You have been on my blocked list for a while and for some reason are still abusing a glitch to post in my forums which classifies as bona fide harassment.

I think you're confusing a respectful exchange of ideas with giving automatic respect to the belief in gods and angels? 

D_Mate19

"NE7, u change from a dragon because of all the probes you had with it. Now you choose a religious symbol and are starting fights over it. Just leave the forums alone, bro"

I did not start fights over a religious symbol. This is a painting from the 19th century by a man who was greatly influenced by his uncle who was a Roman Catholic priest. As such, religion greatly influenced his art-work. However, I did not start a religious debate over the painting nor did I intend to start a religious debate. Indeed, neverland_creature and I were having a wonderful discussion last night about the works of the artist of this painting and some other works of art came up as well and it was, for the most part, a discussion about art. The person who posted FSM defacement of Michaelangelo's work did...all I can say is "aye, aye, aye". Perhaps you missed my post in this thread telling that person also to find some other place on the internet to debate these issues because I really don't want to debate them.

"I think you're confusing a respectful exchange of ideas with giving automatic respect to the belief in gods and angels?"

trysts,

Please, please, please go find another place on the net to debate this subject. As I have stated, my head has been hurting me recently and I do not have the energy for debating stuff centering around religion. If you want to do that, go find some place else. There are also numerous groups here on chess.com you can join specifically for that purpose.

Being an authority on religion sounds exhausting

CensoredReality,

I have asked you politely to respect the fact that you are on my blocked list and not post in my forums. Why are you still posting and then stating I am being "controlling" by telling you not to post in my forums.

I am not debating these issues and I have told people who want to debate these issues to find a different place to debate these issues. I am not saying "I am right and can't handle others who don't acknowledge my correctness" I am saying "I don't want to debate, please find somewhere/someone else to debate".

Once again, I am not being controlling by telling you not to post in my forums. I am simply telling you that I have had you blocked for quite a while, stop harassing me by abusing this glitch.

"Being an authority on religion sounds exhausting"

Undeniably...so many issues we discussed and debated. OTOH, I was in a class with the same group of people for the cap-stone courses in the subject and we all practically became a family despite our differences. It ultimately though stemmed from respect. We would have probably been cutting each other's throats if we hadn't found a way to respect each other's beliefs.

Yes, I can imagine