Religious controversies
Encyclopedia
There have been a number of religious controversies based around the teaching of science, certain religion practices and in the depiction of religion or religious figures in culture.
in schools. This debate is most prevalent in generally conservative regions of the United States and there is little serious debate on the subject outside the United States.
was a dispute within the Catholic Church from the 1630s to the early 18th century about whether Chinese folk religion rites and offerings to the emperor constituted idolatry or not.
Female genital cutting
and circumcision
attract controversy especially when practiced outside of the countries in which they are commonly performed.
Science and religion
The greatest contemporary controversy involving religion and science is the teaching of evolutionEvolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
in schools. This debate is most prevalent in generally conservative regions of the United States and there is little serious debate on the subject outside the United States.
Society
The Chinese Rites controversyChinese Rites controversy
The Chinese Rites controversy was a dispute within the Catholic Church from the 1630s to the early 18th century about whether Chinese folk religion rites and offerings to the emperor constituted idolatry...
was a dispute within the Catholic Church from the 1630s to the early 18th century about whether Chinese folk religion rites and offerings to the emperor constituted idolatry or not.
Female genital cutting
Female genital cutting
Female genital mutilation , also known as female genital cutting and female circumcision, is defined by the World Health Organization as "all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons."FGM...
and circumcision
Circumcision
Male circumcision is the surgical removal of some or all of the foreskin from the penis. The word "circumcision" comes from Latin and ....
attract controversy especially when practiced outside of the countries in which they are commonly performed.
Visual arts
- The controversial photographic exhibition Ecce HomoEcce Homo (exhibition)Ecce Homo is a controversial exhibition of 12 photographs of different biblical situations, in modern surroundings, taken by the Swedish photographer Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin. The first vernissage of the exhibition was in Stockholm, July 1998 and attracted a lot of attention. As the exhibition was...
- Jesus with erectionJesus with erectionJesus with erection is a controversial satirical cartoon published in the March 2006 issue of the Student Insurgent, a student newspaper at University of Oregon....
, a controversial satirical cartoon published in a student newspaper at the University of Oregon - Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversyJyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversyThe Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy began after 12 editorial cartoons, most of which depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad, were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on 30 September 2005...
- Piss ChristPiss ChristPiss Christ is a 1987 photograph by artist and photographer Andres Serrano. It depicts a small plastic crucifix submerged in a glass of the artist's urine...
, a photo taken by American photographer Andres SerranoAndres SerranoAndres Serrano is an American photographer and artist who has become notorious through his photos of corpses and his use of feces and bodily fluids in his work, notably his controversial work "Piss Christ", a red-tinged photograph of a crucifix submerged in a glass container of what was purported...
of Jesus Christ in a glass of the photographers urine - Strelnikoff Mary of Help of Brezje controversyStrelnikoff Mary of Help of Brezje controversyThe Strelnikoff Mary of Help of Brezje controversy began after a depiction of Mary of Help of Brezje holding a rat instead of Jesus was published by a Slovenian music group Strelnikoff as the cover of their album Bitchcraft....
- Chris OfiliChris OfiliChris Ofili is a Turner Prize winning British painter best known for artworks referencing aspects of his Nigerian heritage, particularly his incorporation of elephant dung. He was one of the Young British Artists, and is now based in Trinidad.-Early life:Ofilli was born in Manchester. He had a...
and his Sacred Virgin Mary montage - Tania Kovats' Virgin in a CondomVirgin in a CondomVirgin in a Condom is a controversial sculpture created by Tania Kovat in 1994.It was stolen from the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, Australia within days of being exhibited. It attracted Christian protesters when it was on display in 1998 at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa....
attracted protests at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa TongarewaMuseum of New Zealand Te Papa TongarewaThe Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is the national museum and art gallery of New Zealand, located in Wellington. It is branded and commonly known as Te Papa and Our Place; "Te Papa Tongarewa" is broadly translatable as "the place of treasures of this land".The museum's principles...
. - Stanislav Shmulevich facing "hate crime" charges for dumping a possibly-stolen Qur'an into a public toilet and publishing a photo of it in 2007
Books
- The Da Vinci CodeThe Da Vinci CodeThe Da Vinci Code is a 2003 mystery-detective novel written by Dan Brown. It follows symbologist Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu as they investigate a murder in Paris's Louvre Museum and discover a battle between the Priory of Sion and Opus Dei over the possibility of Jesus having been married to...
has had many complaints centered on the book's speculations and alleged misrepresentations of core aspects of Christianity and the history of the Roman Catholic Church. (see Criticisms of The Da Vinci CodeCriticisms of The Da Vinci CodeThe Da Vinci Code, a popular suspense novel by Dan Brown, generated a great deal of criticism and controversy after its publication in 2003. Many of the complaints centered on the book's speculations and alleged misrepresentations of core aspects of Christianity and the history of the Roman...
) - There is controversy surrounding Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic VersesThe Satanic VersesThe Satanic Verses is Salman Rushdie's fourth novel, first published in 1988 and inspired in part by the life of Prophet Muhammad. As with his previous books, Rushdie used magical realism and relied on contemporary events and people to create his characters...
and the author was threatened with death. (see The Satanic Verses controversyThe Satanic Verses controversyThe Satanic Verses controversy was the heated and sometimes violent Muslim reaction to the publication of Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses. Many Muslims accused Rushdie of blasphemy or unbelief and in 1989 Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran issued a fatwa ordering Muslims to kill Rushdie...
) - His Dark MaterialsHis Dark MaterialsHis Dark Materials is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman comprising Northern Lights , The Subtle Knife , and The Amber Spyglass...
is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman that has attracted criticism from some religious individuals and groups due to the negative portrayal of organised religion. - Religious debates over the Harry Potter book series by J. K. Rowling stem largely from assertions that the Harry Potter novels contain occult or Satanic subtext.
Film/Television
- Monty Python's Life of BrianMonty Python's Life of BrianMonty Python's Life of Brian, also known as Life of Brian, is a 1979 British comedy film written, directed and largely performed by the Monty Python comedy team...
, a controversial comedy film about religion, attracted controversy and was censored in some British towns, such as Aberystwyth in WalesWalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
for almost 30 years after it was first released. - South ParkSouth ParkSouth Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
's controversial Bloody Mary episodeBloody Mary (South Park)"Bloody Mary" is the fourteenth episode of the ninth season of the series South Park. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on December 7, 2005. In the episode, Randy drives drunk and loses his driver's license. He then forced to go to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, where he...
. - The Last Temptation of ChristThe Last Temptation of Christ (film)The Last Temptation of Christ is a 1988 drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is a film adaptation of the controversial 1953 novel of the same name by Nikos Kazantzakis. It stars Willem Dafoe as Jesus Christ, Harvey Keitel as Judas Iscariot, Barbara Hershey as Mary Magdalene, David Bowie as...
film, as with the novel of the same name, depicts the life of Jesus Christ while free from sin, was still subject to every form of temptation that humans face, including fear, doubt, depression, reluctance and lust.
See also
- Censorship by religionCensorship by religionCensorship by religion is a form of censorship where freedom of expression is controlled or limited using religious authority or on the basis of the teachings of the religion. This form of censorship has a long history and is practiced in many societies and by many religions...
- Freedom of speech versus blasphemyFreedom of speech versus blasphemyTension often exists between political freedom, particularly freedom of speech, and certain examples of art, literature, speech or other acts considered by some to be sacrilegious or blasphemous...
- Christian God and Islamic God