If what I saw in this post at Sweetness and Light is what passes for art today then I am sad for all of us.

Artworks depicting Osama bin Laden in a Christ-like pose and a statue of the Virgin Mary covered in a burqa have caused a stir in Australia after they were showcased in a prestigious religious art competition.

“Bearded Orientals: Making the Empire Cross” by Priscilla Bracks is a “double vision” print that depicts both Jesus and bin Laden.

Luke Sullivan’s “The Fourth Secret of Fatima” is a statue of Mary, her head and torso obscured by a blue burqa like the one Afghan women had to wear under the militant Taliban.

The artworks were among more than 500 entries in the Blake Prize for Religious Art, and have been included in an exhibition at the National Art School in Sydney.

“The choice of such artwork is gratuitously offensive to the religious beliefs of many Australians,” Australian Prime Minister John Howard told Thursday’s Daily Telegraph newspaper.

While I agree with the Prime Minister, I think the word offensive probably is too mild for many Christians around the world not only in Australia.

I believe the following quote probably says it best.

“It’s really unfortunate people take liberties with the Christian faith they wouldn’t take with other religions,” Lobby spokeswoman Glynis Quinlan told reporters…

This is what “artists” Priscilla Bracks and Luke Sullivan consider “art”. It is nothing but blasphemous.

The Blake Prize entry titled ‘Bearded Orientals: Making the Empire Cross’ by artist Priscilla Bracks is exhibited in Sydney August 30, 2007. The ‘double vision’ print, which depicts both Jesus Christ and Osama bin Laden, in a Christ-like pose, depending on which side the viewer looks at the artwork, has been criticised by Australia’s Prime Minister John Howard for undermining Australians’ religious beliefs.

The Blake Prize entry titled ‘The Fourth Secret of Fatima’ by artist Luke Sullivan is exhibited in Sydney August 30, 2007. The statue of the Virgin Mary, wearing a burqa, has been criticised by Australia’s Prime Minister John Howard for undermining Australians’ religious beliefs.