Blood of Christ popsicles elicit Catholic whine

Chilean-born artist Sebastian Errazuriz, who uses his work to speak out on various social and political issues, has taken aim at fundamentalism with Jesus-on-a-Stick popsicles.

Last weekend, he handed out:

. . . 100 "Christian Popsicles" made of "frozen holy wine transformed into the blood of Christ" and featuring a crucifix instead the tongue depressor that typically hosts the frozen treats, he said.An image of Jesus Christ positioned traditionally on the cross is visible once the ice pop is consumed.

As for the frozen wine, Errazuriz said, he concealed it in a cooler and took it into a church, where it was "inadvertently blessed by the priest while turning wine into the blood of Christ during the Eucharist."

Sacrilicious! Image: Sebastian Errazuriz

Oddly, the bulk of the Religious Right has ignored this sacrilicious (or maybe more Catholicious?) taste treat. Then again, maybe it’s not so odd; Catholics are the only Christian sect who believe in “transubstantiation”, whereby the blessing of a priest magically turns wine and crackers into blood and flesh, but only in your tummy, and they change back to wine and crackers if you throw them up.

The lone exception to the silence? The lonesome Bill Donohue of the Catholic League, who’s got a whine to pair with every cheesy artistic or political statement.

Purporting to represent Catholics throughout the United States and defend them against the trampling of their religious liberties (like the right to campaign for or against candidates from the pulpit, and to email pornography to strangers, and to prevent employees of Catholic-affiliated institutions from getting health insurance which covers contraception, and of course the right to threaten the owner of the Empire State Building if he won’t light it up to celebrate international monster Mother Teresa), the Catholic League’s last reported membership numbers were estimated at 350,000 in 1999.

Whines Donohue this time:

I never heard of this guy until about 10 minutes ago, but I already know he is a bigot, a hypocrite and a rip-off artist.

He is a bigot for making “Christian Popsicles”—the wooden stick is inscribed with the image of Jesus on the Cross. The flavors are made from what CNN is reporting as “frozen holy wine transformed into the blood of Christ”; the wine was “inadvertently blessed by the priest while turning wine into the blood of Christ during the Eucharist.”

…

He is a hypocrite because he says that although Americans should be “rightly worried” about the threat that radical Muslims pose, he decided to stick it to Christians instead. Why? Because religious extremism can be dangerous, he explains. So can sticking it to radical Muslims.

He is a rip-off artist because he recently ripped off the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators: while expressing solidarity with the anti-capitalists, he capitalized on their campaign by selling folding chairs with some of their signs painted on the back. My favorite was the stunningly brilliant, “I’m So Angry I Made a Sign.” The asking price was $2,500. Not a bad profit, especially for a socialist.

Errazuriz is a hypocrite for saying that radical Muslims pose a threat, because he decided to “stick it” (get it? Popsicle stick? Clever!) to Christians “instead”? I suppose Donohue missed Errazuriz’ “Twin Towers“.

Maybe Donohue could use a refresher on who has political influence in the United States, where Errazuriz lives and works. Radical Muslims? Or Christians?

Could the fact that Christians and Catholics are working overtime to give more and more of their religious regulations the force of law in the US be a reason that nonbelievers and secular-minded believers alike–people who want to make their own decisions on moral issues such as contraception, abortion, or same-sex marriage–are fighting back? Could that fighting back be why Donohue feels the need to shriek like an unchanged infant at every perceived slight?

That’s my guess. What’s yours?

Donohue has asked his followers to contact Sebastian at info@meetsebastian.com. I wonder how much positive feedback he’s getting?

Related articles:

1. Donohue: Catholic Reporters Are Anti-Catholic
2. Harvey: Progressives, Gays And Lesbians "All Hate Jesus Christ"
3. Old Whine in New Bottles
4. Catholic League’s Bill Donohue Cries out for Attention
5. Fischer: Gays and Islamists Are Driven By The Same "Dark Energy," Anti-Christ Spirit