Leather Last Supper Poster
The following are excerpts from an article on the Folsom Street Fair Leather Last Supper poster which features folk in S&M garb in the positions of Jesus and the apostles.
Pastoral Issues of Interest (PIOI)
posted on Google by Rick Mitchell
The brouhaha over this is reminiscent of the female Jesus/black Jesus
controversies of some years ago. Meet the black Jesus with attitude -- and
leather/drag queen disciples. Amazing how any real move toward inclusiveness
is immediately greeted with cries of "Blasphemy!" and "Heresy!" or
"Sacrilege"... Oh well, be confident that the real Jesus would also be
greeted with great disapproval.
The 24th annual Folsom Street Fair will take place this weekend in San
Francisco, billed as the "world's largest and best loved" leather event.
People of all sexual orientations and gender identities will gather around
the vast diversity of leather-related parties, demonstrations, dinners,
exhibits and of course the street fair itself.
This year, the fair has been advertised with a poster that seems to be
evoking an image of the Last Supper styled after da Vinci's famous painting.
But this depiction includes leatherfolk as the disciples and the table
replete with not only bread and wine but also various leather paraphernalia.
It includes a shirtless African American "Jesus" with an outrageous drag
queen on his right and a harnessed leatherman on his left.
What ought religious communities and especially Christians make of this
portrayal of what is arguably the central image in Christian faith and
worship? For some, this poster will quickly be dismissed as a marketing ploy
in bad taste or perhaps as sacrilegious. Others will simply take it as
harmless playfulness.
Most people will probably not consider that these leatherfolk might be
taking religion and faith quite seriously indeed. A growing number of people
involved in the leather community understand their particular sexual
practices and relationships in deeply spiritual ways. Workshops on
spirituality are slowly starting to appear at leather conferences and
gatherings, such as the Folsom Street Fair. Many are actively and generously
involved in charitable work around poverty, hunger, and homelessness -- work
they understand as part and parcel of their leather spirituality.
In fact, the image of a Leatherfolk Last Supper might well capture a
traditional Christian insight. These leatherfolk have brought their whole
selves to the table, the very table to which Jesus welcomes all. This is
nothing more or less than what all of us are invited to do. Rather than
compartmentalizing our lives between the religious and non-religious bits,
we're invited to bring all of who we are to God's own table.
This Folsom Street Fair poster might even communicate the good news of
Christian faith better than some of the worship services in our churches:
There ought not to be any exception to the radical welcome of the Gospel.
And that's exactly what I see in this poster -- people who have put
themselves on the table, leather gear and all. It is at once a deeply human
and deeply spiritual portrayal -- exactly like the final meal Jesus shared
with his closest friends.
Should this poster be condemned as sacrilegious? Hardly. People of faith can
instead thank the organizers of the Folsom Street Fair for reminding us
about the radical welcome all of us find at God's own table.
The Rev. Jay Emerson Johnson, PhD
Senior Director, Academic Research & Resources
The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry
Upon my flowery breast, Kept
Upon my flowery breast,
Kept wholly for himself alone,
There he stayed sleeping,
and I caressed him,
And the fanning of the cedars made a breeze.
The breeze blew from the turret
As I parted his locks;
With his gentle hand
He wounded my neck
And caused all my senses to be suspended.
I remained, lost in oblivion;
My face I reclined on the Beloved.
All ceased and I abandoned myself,
Leaving my cares
forgotten among the lilies.
I posted the article because I was struck by the phrase, radical welcome. I think those two words are rich with meaning in the context of Eucharist.
But there is a deep S/M vein in the body of mystic literature as the above prayer of St. John of the Cross demonstrates. Surrender, abandon, trust, the willing endurance of pain in love are all part of the mystical tradition.
I would not automatically assume that because something bears the trappings of S/M, it cannot be sacred.
A lot of people turn to sex
A lot of people turn to sex or drugs when what they really seek is a sacred mystical experience. It may feel sacred to them, but it is not, because it is not focused on God. It is a misdirection of a capacity human beings have that enables them to have a personal experience of intimacy with God. The group involved in the festival mock religion, particularly Catholicism.
The capacity to misinterpret
The capacity to misinterpret anyone's religious experience, INCLUDING ONE'S OWN, can be dealt with no better in the arid script of purity codes than in the rhetoric of a piety that trumpets its "cause" in righteous judgment.
As Jesus taught and as Paul made paramount in the new religion called "Christianity", the authenticity of religious experience lies within a COMMUNITY of faith. It is informed by reason, faith, and traditionS. Such a community cares for its sisters and brothers with genuine empathy and compassion; is open to the discovery of Christ-among-us in all the complexity and diversity of the human incarnation; and stands together in awe of our Creator.
When we seek to protect each other against false piety and misplaced religious sentiment, let us first look into our own hearts and examine the degree to which we ourselves will stand in judgment:
37... “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” 40And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family,* you did it to me.” 41Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” 44Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” 45Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” (Matthew 25)
ALL judgment is reserved for God. We forget this - Jesus' primary teaching - at our peril. But if we are a community, let us straighten each other WITHIN this same community and seek not to judge the stranger nor dare to speak with God's voice against those for whom we offer neither care nor charity.
Rev. Dr. E. McCoy
"For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating..." (Is 65:17-18)
I think St. Paul would
I think St. Paul would disagree with you. He identified intercourse with the mystical relationship of Christ to His church. Observant Jews have intercourse on the sabbath because it reflects the union of God's presense and God's people that is the sabbath. Our Judeo-christian tradition teaches us that sex is sacred and sacramental.
This particular community was making fun of religion, particularly Catholicism. But when you think of the history between this community and Christianity, which includes torture, castration and burning at the stake, not to mention disenfranchising legistlation, a little satire seems a measured response.
But Marie, Frannie is
But Marie, Frannie is correct. Our mystical tradition does have a great deal of S/M nuance. Many of our mystical saints engaged in self flagellation or wore hair shirts, or practiced other forms of self mutilation. In these cases masochistic suffering is seen as a spiritual good, especially in that these practices were coupled with the notion of controlling sexual desires, and therefor wrapped up in a sexual context.
I don't mean to imply I find S/M sexual practices healthy or particularly spiritual, but this trend is hardly foreign to our spiritual tradition.
I won't dispute that there
I won't dispute that there is an element of sado-masochism involved in some people's experience of Christian mysticism. However, their purpose in pursuing this experience by way of these practices is different from the purpose of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, which is to be countercultural and iconoclastic. If the sisters actually do acheive a mystical-type experience through their activities, it is purely coincidental.
Self denial is and offering
Self denial is and offering up our sufferings is part of the the mystical tradition of the church. Not whipping each other or placing gags in each others mouths. sorry to get graphic, but we are talking about perversion and not an authentic spirituality.
Please don't apologize.
Please don't apologize. You're right. But the games or theater play you describe are about trust, surrender, abandon and these are the very core of the mystical experience.
There should always be
There should always be inquiry and challenge when someone's spritiuality leans in on self-stimulation. It's simply not authentic. Jesus did not self-stim, and it should not be encouraged but discouraged. Jesus tells us to take our hunger to show our love to helping others, not to self-stimulation. The shift of the Church toward a sprituality reflective of the Gospel message is the gift of the twentieth century that should not be destroyed by the twenty-first.
Is it possible that
Is it possible that anonymous web 'discourse', like anonymous sex, is a form of "self-stimulation"? Is it possible that such conduct, in both cases, results from isolation - both imposed and 'accidental' - an artifact of an alienated society and an alienating pseudo-community (religious or otherwise...)? Is it possible that the effort to break through the isolation, even when the discourse and "stimulation" is "simply not authentic" can be looked upon as an act of courage, or longing, or human ingenuity in the face of death and loneliness, rather than judged and reviled? IS IT POSSIBLE THAT ANOTHER'S EFFORTS TO 'SPEAK' INTO THE VOID THAT IS CONTEMPORARY ANGUISH can be encountered and held in the heart WITHOUT all the PROJECTED SELF-LOATHING that most judgment exemplifies?
Is it possible that Jesus broke the bonds of sin and death by teaching us HOW to love each other as He loves us?
The Rev. Dr. E. McCoy
"For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating..." (Is 65:17-18)
...The shift of the Church
...The shift of the Church toward a sprituality reflective of the Gospel message is the gift of the twentieth century that should not be destroyed by the twenty-first
God forbid I should contribute the distruction of anyone's spirituality.
But I have an intuition that Jesus awaits us, smiling, in the heart of our fears as truly as in moments of joy.
He fasted for 40 days and
He fasted for 40 days and nights. In addition, His whole life from relinquishing divine power to accepting the Father's will in the garden was about surrender.
I can't believe I am
I can't believe I am actually having this argument. those virtues which you attribute to Saint John of the Cross have nothing to do with Sex. I guess my question is do you find that poster offensive, as it takes the institution of the Eucharistic sacrifice and mocks it. Or does anything go with you?
You ask the wrong question.
You ask the wrong question. It's not a matter of 'anything goes' is it? For us Christians, isn't it really a matter of what we are willing to bear to participate in the redemption of our brothers? If we care enought to condemn - that is, to presume the judgment reserved to God - are we not bound to take up the burden of the other's misunderstanding and try, WITH SOMETHING MORE THAN PIOUS WORDS OF CONDEMNATION, to bring them, with love, to a proper understanding.
What does another's salvation COST YOU?
The Rev. Dr. E. McCoy
"For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating..." (Is 65:17-18)
Thanks, Mavfan46, for the
Thanks, Mavfan46, for the question. I agree that the purpose of the poster was satire. But the meaning of a work of art does not lie in the artist's purpose but between the work itself and the observer. Let me tell you a story. Many years ago there was a poster pasted all over NYC that depicted Christ crowned with thorns with a ligature around his arm and a hypodermic hanging beneath it. My brother was furious. He said "They are saying that Christ was a junkie." To me it said the junkie is Christ. I'm sure that would be the attitude of the Christians who serve them. So you see we bring to a work our histories, our personalities and our faith.
My experience of sex and my understanding of its dynamic such as it is leads me to find that the virtues I listed have everything to do with love and its sexual expression. You see, it has everything to do with me.
Finally when I remember that Christ invited to that table the one who betrayed Him, the one who denied Him and the other nine who ran away, it does not seem to me possible that a little leather could overcome that radical welcome.
Oh Frannie, I so totally
Oh Frannie, I so totally understand what you are saying, but my experience as both a therapist and spiritual advisor have taught me so often what you have written here:
"You see, it has everything to do with me."
Until people really understand that, so much of what they think, say, and do has everything to do with them, and they can never get this:
"Finally when I remember that Christ invited to that table the one who betrayed Him, the one who denied Him and the other nine who ran away, it does not seem to me possible that a little leather could overcome that radical welcome."
But in the end, one person's sexual perversion is another man's suffering with Christ, and both are intended to dominate sexual desire. In the end it's all about one person's need to deal with their sexuality either with self inflicted or other inflicted pain. The sexuality doesn't go away, the pain just amplifies it through denial or acceptance.
It's all different sides of the same coin, but Jesus forgives and understands both.
Frannie, I think you
Frannie, I think you virtually disable the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence by your elevated interpretation of their activities. I imagine they were getting much more energized by the response of the Catholic League.
Miller apologizes for its
Miller apologizes for its logo on poster parodying 'The Last Supper'
By Dan Morris-Young
Catholic News Service
SAN FRANCISCO (CNS) -- Milwaukee-based Miller Brewing Co. has issued a formal apology for "the offense caused by the use of Miller brand logos on a poster promoting the Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco with an irreverent take on Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper."
In an Oct. 26 statement the company said it completed "an exhaustive audit of its marketing procedures for approving local marketing and sales sponsorships" and will tighten "compliance procedures" to ensure such an incident will not happen again.
The New York-based Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights and other Christian groups expressed outrage over the poster, which had what critics described as a sadomasochistic theme. It carried the Miller trademark as well as those of other sponsors of the Sept. 30 event.
A center figure in the poster is a muscled, shirtless man flanked by men and women in leather fetishistic garb, some in flowing wigs and in poses echoing da Vinci's mural. The table is strewn with sex toys.
On Oct. 31 the Catholic League said it was dropping its boycott of Miller products and its anti-Miller public relations campaign because the company had extended its apology to an acknowledgment of "disrespectful activities" at the fair.
Two days earlier the league said the Miller statement did not go far enough because it only apologized for inappropriate use of its logo.
The league had said that besides the poster it objected to the fact that "sacred symbols were sold as sex toys at the Miller-sponsored event, a stripper and a man dressed as Jesus were hoisted in cages above a Catholic church on a Sunday, and men mocked nuns in the street."
In its Oct. 31 release the league quoted Miller as saying: "We are aware of other disrespectful activities, objects and groups associated with or present at the fair which, like the promotional poster, violate our marketing policies. We extend our original apology to include these unfortunate events and items as well."
The fair is one of four annual "fetish events" in San Francisco produced by Folsom Street Events to support local charities serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities.
In its Oct. 26 statement Miller said it "received assurances from its local distributor in San Francisco and from Folsom Street Events that future marketing materials and event activities will fully comply with Miller's marketing policies and procedures."
"We do not have a sponsorship contract with Folsom Street Events. The sponsorship is through an independent Miller distributor," company spokesman Julian Green told Catholic San Francisco, the archdiocesan newspaper, when asked if Miller plans to be a Folsom Street Fair sponsor in the future.
In the future the distributor must "ensure that the future use of our trademarks, as well as our association with activities at Folsom Street Events, is in full compliance with our marketing codes and does not actively disrespect other groups," he said.
The local distributor, Green said, has supported the Folsom Street Fair for seven years.
"We deeply regret that we did not adhere to our own policies with regard to the Folsom Street Fair," said Nehl Horton, Miller's senior vice president, in the company's Oct. 26 statement. "We apologize to everyone we offended as a result. We hope people will forgive us for this serious error and have confidence we will not repeat it."
"Miller did not have the opportunity to review or approve the Folsom Street Fair poster, but accepts full accountability for this serious mistake," the release stated.
In its release, Miller Brewing quoted Andy Cooper, Folsom Street Events' board president, as saying the company "was never afforded the opportunity to review our fair poster before it was printed and distributed. The approval was made by a third party without Miller's knowledge and consent."
"I would like to apologize to anyone who felt that the image was disrespectful to their religious beliefs. No malicious intent was involved," Copper is quoted as saying.
In addition to its public apology, Green said Miller Brewing sent individual letters of apology to Archbishop George H. Niederauer of San Francisco, Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of Milwaukee and Chaldean Catholic Bishop Ibrahim N. Ibrahim of Southfield, Mich. A number of Chaldean-owned businesses had joined in the boycott before it was called off.
"Like all major brewers, Miller seeks to market respectfully to a wide and diverse array of consumer groups," Horton said. "But when one group actively disrespects another we cannot support its events and activities."
Archbishop Dolan and his social justice office staff hoped to have "firsthand conversations" with Miller officials so the church officials could both "express our serious concerns" and hear directly from Miller executives rather than base decisions or comments "on what other people might be presenting or saying," said Kathleen Hohl, Milwaukee archdiocesan director of communications.
Green said Miller officials had contacted the archbishop by phone and hoped to talk to him Oct. 29 but "we won't be releasing details of the conversation."
Dennis Coday, NCR cafe management
"A growing number of people
"A growing number of people involved in the leather community understand their particular sexual practices and relationships in deeply spiritual ways" First we have the gay community, then the LGBT community, now the Leather community. You can try and justify the picture all you want, it is wrong. The author of the post tried to say that they saw what they are doing posing in the photo with various sex toys as sacred. It is ok to say someone is doing something wrong, I seem to recall a work of mercy "instruct the ignorant". Thank God that we have an organization like the Catholic League to call a spade a spade.