So, apparently there was a Met Gala last night in New York City which featured a Christian/Catholic theme. All of the beautiful people were there trying to out-do each other on the weirdly camouflage carpet. As a Christian, I am supposed to be appalled and distraught by this blasphemous display. The event has provided me with a huge opportunity to have my feelings hurt. The above photograph, I am assured was the most offensive of the lot, featuring Rihanna dressed like some sort of Pope/Prostitute. The whataboutism brigades were out in force this morning wailing about how when some teenager in Utah dares attend a prom in a traditional Chinese dress, charges of cultural appropiation fly around all over the place, but a bunch of Hollywood liberals can denigrate Christian traditions with impunity. The more sarcastic Tweets observed that they will eagerly await next year’s Islam-themed gala where the likes of Kim Khardasian and Rihanna will come dressed in provocative skin tight burkas, images of the Prophet plastered onto their ample bosoms.
What to think of all this?
Well, for starters, most of the loudest critics of this event were Catholics, and I am not a Catholic so I can’t speak for them. Maybe if I were all of this would feel more offensive. I’m told that the local Cardinal in New York actually provided Rihanna with her head gear, and that the theme of the event had something to do with a collection of Catholic art and artifacts at one of the Met’s sister museums. Be that as it may, it should come as no surprise to anyone who hasn’t been held captive in a cave for the last fifty years that given the opportunity, Hollywood celebrities will always make fools of themselves where fashion is involved. Throw religion into the mix and you’ve got a recipe for..well, for...this...
To which I say...who cares?
Here’s the thing people, I’m exhausted. Enjoy a couple of tacos anymore and you get accused of culturally appropriating Mexicans. You can’t swing a dead cat without either offending someone or being offended by something. I just can’t keep up with it all anymore. I suppose I should look at a photograph of some starlet in a low cut gown festooned with a crucifix and feel spiritually violated, but I just can’t summon up anything approaching indignation. You know why? Because I really don’t care. These people don’t offend me. Why should they? Why should I expect people outside of my faith to be sensitive to my tender feelings? How they choose to dress is their business. There are far more calamitous things going on in this world for Christians to be concerned with than some silly fashion gala in New York City. Sure, the Christian faith is a much more inviting target than Islam would be, but the reason for that is a compliment to my faith since the concepts of freedom of expression and tolerance found the tender soil required to survive and grow in the soil of the Judeo Christian ethic in the first place. So, of course Christian traditions come in for more mockery than Islamic ones in the West...people who regularly mock Muslim traditions in Muslim countries mostly wind up dead.
So, save yourselves the aggravation and stop letting everything hurt your feelings. Just smile and move on. Save your passion and energy for something that really matters. The world has enough snowflakes.
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