Taking Christian values into the Twilight Zone

[salvorhardin]

It's hard to believe that this didn't appear as satire on the Onion or Objective Ministries, but it's real. Apparently Christian parents are upset about a piece of whimsical playground sculpture at an UC Berkeley playground loosely modeled after the structure of DNA.

"My daughter suggested that it was funny," said John Copeland, whose 7-year-old daughter attends summer camp there. "She shouldn't be talking to me about this. Now I'm forced to explain genetics to her, and why the Bible doesn't say anything about it."

..and..

Jenny Garrotte, Claremont Park PTA president, said she found it distasteful and verging on obscene, and e-mailed parents Wednesday morning, asking them to file complaints with Pegro and with Alameda County Code Enforcement.

"Everybody is entitled to their own opinion regarding what art is," said Garrotte. "If this piece weren't visible to passersby and available for children to play on, I would not have a problem with it."

Full blog post by Bora Zivkovic over at ScienceBlogs: http://scienceblogs.com/corpuscallosum/2009/08/dna_sculpture_is_vile_and_offe.php

[ZombieHorde]

1. Creepy parents. nt

[laconicsax]

2. That genetics line is hilarious!

I'm trying to imagine Christian parents lying awake at night, terrified that someday they might have to give their kids the DNA talk.

[salvorhardin]

3. The best part was the "...and why the Bible doesn't say anything about it."

An inadvertent admission perhaps that his bronze age myths and adulterated tribal histories don't quite jibe with reality? Nah, it's just indecent because we all know where talk about macromolecules leads. Next thing you know his kid will be genetically crossing mice with firefly DNA. Fear the glowy flying rodents! And get that kid into a chastity belt stat.

[moggie]

4. Some people really shouldn't have kids

Kids have an insatiable appetite for learning new things, and ask a million questions. One of a parent's greatest responsibilities is nurturing that inquisitiveness, answering questions, suggesting new ones, sharing learning activities with the kid, and of course supporting their school. And then you have parents like this:

Meanwhile, Copeland said he hopes the owner of the plaza removes the sculpture before school starts next month.

“There are 1000 kids in the school that are going to be exposed to it,” he said. “It’s vile and offensive, and kids have no business seeing what God thought fit to hide from our eyes.”

If your kid looks at that sculpture and asks "what's that?", that could be the start of a fascinating learning experience, which will increase their sense of wonder about the world. You can even extract DNA at home! But no, anything not in the bible is suspect, and making tiny things big is sinful. So you hobble your child's educational development, and try to impose your iron age tunnel vision on everyone around you, whether they agree or not.

Fuck it, now I'm depressed. Will we never be rid of these freaks?

[charlie]

5. I dunno. Be careful

There doesn't seem to be a Claremont Park Elementary in Berkeley. The only "Claremont Park" near UC Berkeley is an apartment complex. The only Google returns for the cited "Ovum" artist, Nabry Gussom, point to this story. Likewise, for art galleries named Novato Ignacio.

The only source for this piece is the State of Protest blog, which published an unmarked satirical piece a week later about humanists burning atheists in Arkansas.

I figure it's another satire.

[moggie]

6. Ohhhh

And the story is by "By Richard Vernon, P.O.E."
Poe. Big clue right there.
Now you've got me wondering whether that sculpture looks ray-traced.

[charlie]

7. Yeah

P.O.E. is also "Purity of Essence", short for rightwing nuttery.

Google is unaware of anyone named Ashe Kutchya, the purported artist.

I don't know when it was erected, but here are photographs of the sculpture from 1997:

http://arch.ced.berkeley.edu/kap/gallery/gal094.html

[salvorhardin]

10. I think you're right

The sculpture is real, but the rest of the story seems to be contrived. There's Claremont Canyon preserve which borders on Berkeley's campus but not Claremont Elementary and the only references to Claremont PTA I could find are from State of Protest. I think Bora and I both got taken by this one. Which makes me much relieved.

[charlie]

12. Well, Poe's Law ain't a law for nothing

It's as dependable as sunshine. Who can tell what's what anymore?

The story's fiction, but it's nowhere in the vicinity of implausible. I've got a state school board here that blorts out crazier shit whenever a mic is around. To make a farce out of farce, you've got to stretch the loopiness a bit, and this guy didn't do that.

[Soylent Brice]

8. i'm missing something

what's so appalling about DNA?

"...Now I'm forced to explain genetics to her, and why the Bible doesn't say anything about it."

well dude, just like santa, eventually one day you were going to have to explain to her the bible was bullshit too.

what's the big deal?

[Goblinmonger]

9. Oh Teh Stuupid

It burns.

Just when I think I have heard every crazy religious thing, some other whackadoodle shows up to prove me wrong.

Man. I'm speechless.

[salvorhardin]

11. Read up thread

It's looking more and more like both Bora and I succumbed to Poe's Law.

[Soylent Brice]

13. how's it going GM?

[phantom power]

14. This totally reminds me of a thought I had...

about an idea for why humans invented the idea of gods. It was totally because of children asking "why?why?why?why?" I recall one such episode where my kid started in on the "why?" and in less than two minutes had my trying to explain the Big Bang and why matter has mass.

Oh fuck, I don't know! Even Stephen fucking Hawking doesn't know! I'm just a guy! Make it stop.

And think of it, I at least have the benefit of 5000 years of progress in natural science. Picture some poor bronze-age parent trying to cope with it. I'd break down and invent a creation myth too, just to make it stop.

[moggie]

16. "Why matter has mass": what a great question!

And that leads into talking about the search for the Higgs boson, and particle accelerators. Could be fun.

A creation myth doesn't stop the questions, though. Tell a kid about Adam and Eve, and pretty soon you're having to explain why incest was ok back then...

[salvorhardin]

15. OK. Confirmed. It's satire.

From Fark I learn that it's a satire of this case (in Florida, natch).

Nude sculpture at shopping plaza turning heads, sparking complaints
PTA president asks school's parents to file complaints with the county

WEST DELRAY - Think of Michelangelo's David . . . down to the last detail.

The bronze statue parked outside Addison Plaza shopping center, west of Delray Beach, is drawing the ire of parents of children who attend nearby Morikami Park Elementary School.

"My daughter has been joking about it," said Jeffrey Cohen, whose 6-year-old daughter attends summer camp there. "She shouldn't be talking to me about this."

The anatomically correct figure is part of a sculpture by artist Itzik Asher titled Journey to the New, which represents the journey of Russian and Ethiopian Jews from their homes to Israel.

It depicts a family -- a father, a mother holding an infant and an older child by the hand. The figures are larger than life and elongated. Their nudity is subtle.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/sfl-west-delray-nude-sculpture-p072309,0,5834016.story