Jane, I agree that offending a majority is not "equivalent" to offending a
minority.  There is no question that offending, insulting, provoking,
hurting, or attacking a minority group constitutes bullying--in addition to
the offense per se.  When it comes down to individuals, perhaps it is more
egregious to steal from a poor man than a rich one, more heinous to murder a
small, weak, defenseless woman or child than a large, strong, powerful man.
And perhaps the smaller, or more marginalized, or more long-suffering the
group, the more malignant it is to offend it and the greater the offense.
But that doesn't mean it's right or acceptable to steal from the rich man, to
murder the strong man, or to offend a non-minority group.  While there may be
some safety and comfort in numbers, the individual members of any group,
large or small, have their own feelings and sensitivities, independent of
their group membership.  Why is it necessary, desirable, or justifable to
offend anyone?  And what do numbers have to do with anything, anyway?

To justify an offense to the members of a group on the grounds that it is a
majority is an outrageous and illogical rationalization for any sort of
tasteless, hurtful, or offensive act.  No one deserves to have personal
beliefs or religous symbols attacked, parodied, or assaulted just because
they are shared by a large group.

As far as the size of the group is concerned, moreover, this is relative to
your point of reference.  Western culture may indeed be "Christian-dominated"
insofar as heritage, tradition, and customs are concerned, but even true
Christians, and more specifically practicing Catholics, themselves constitute
minority groups within this very secularized culture.  Nor does any claim
that an artist is actually a member of the group that he is provoking justify
an offense or make it any easier to swallow.

All that having been said, I'll still defend any artist's right to
self-expression.  I may question his motives, but I won''t condemn them.  I
question Giuliani's motives, but I also question the Brooklyn Museum's
motives.  Perhaps all art is political, but this whole episode seems to be
much more about politics than art, and it smells bad.

But, to return to my original point, I think the notion that only minorities
should be immune from offense and insult stinks.

David Haberstich

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