Mideo’s Cross and the Philippine Art Contretemps

ASIAN CORRESPONDENT
By James Cordova

A scene in La Mala Educacion, a film on sexual abuse by priests

PHILIPPINES - Mideo Cruz, the Filipino visual artist who is the subject of a modern-day Inquisition in the Philippines, must be feeling like Jesus Christ these days. That is to say, every bit of abuse he suffers from the mouths of charlatans — online, in the halls of the Philippine Senate, and on the pulpit — must feel no differently from the blows to the nails through Christ’s hands and feet. I am a Christian. I was shocked to see it. But was I offended? Unlike the bigots and ignoramuses who went after Mideo Cruz with a terrifying religious zeal, I don’t worship these symbols. Unlike these bigots, I am secure in my faith, in the knowledge that my god will not be taken down or diminished by the work of an artist.[link]