ART: Respect our views

It’s not about a Constitutional Amendment. No one, that I’ve heard, has said the artist doesn’t have the “right” to create it, nor the store owner to display it. It’s about respect and what’s best for a civil society. So often we rely on the Amendment of Free Speech to replace the latter at the cost of moral decay and discourse in society. The artist says he “respects those who hold true to their faith and religious practices.” The store owner says “the gallery respects their beliefs and their requests.” (As store owner, not sure why she distanced herself by saying gallery, but oh well.)

In either case, I find it difficult to see how this “respects my religious beliefs.” Nor would I want something that disrespects other faiths to be so dishonored as such. When we stop respecting others, and so definitively display this disrespect in front of society, society just further decays. My thought on why, for the “sixth time” this statue has been displayed in the storefront is that no one wants to buy it. My career was retail and when something didn’t sell we sent it back to the vendor. Maybe the artist should just add this to his personal collection and create a piece that draws us together, not apart. That would be worthy of store front!

And for the owner, if it takes something offensive to draw in customers, maybe you should rethink your business plan.

Oh, on one final note, Maureen, it is not Gordon but Fr. Gordon a man who has dedicated himself to making this world a better more respectful place.

STEVE GONNELLA

Post Falls