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College Displaying Crucifix in Rectum Got Millions in Tax Dollars
CNSNews.com ^ | June 10, 2008 | Keriann Hopkins

Posted on 06/10/2008 8:36:57 AM PDT by Sopater

(WARNING: This story contains graphic descriptions of artwork that is offensive.)

(CNSNews.com) - Federal taxpayers are subsidizing a college in New York whose art school is currently displaying works that include a drawing of a man with a crucifix coming out of his rectum, a drawing of a man with a rosary coming out of his rectum, and rosaries decorated with penises.

Over the last eight years, at least $4.6 million in federal tax dollars have been provided to the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, which is displaying the controversial artworks. Some of the money has come in the form of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Most of the $4.6 million in federal tax dollars that has gone to Cooper Union over the last eight years has been given to the school's engineering and science programs. But Cybercast News Service has learned that the National Endowment for the Arts has given the school's art program more than $122,000 during that same period.

The NEA awarded the grants because, in its words, they "(enrich) our Nation and diverse cultural heritage by supporting works of artistic excellence, advancing learning in the arts, and strengthening the arts in communities throughout the country."

According to the NEA's Web site, the art school received:

-- $17,000 in 2001, $20,000 in 2002, and $10,000 in 2003 to support and expand a community arts partnership (CAP). This money went to provide pre-college studio art classes to the community "outside of the academic setting."

-- $400 in 2002 for design arts.

-- $45,000 in 2006 to support the school's Saturday Outreach Program, and its Outreach Track. These projects provide high school students with free visual arts education.

-- $10,000 in 2004.

The NEA grants did not go directly to fund Cooper Union's "best of" student art exhibition, which includes the controversial drawings of student Felipe Baeza that depict a man with an erection and a halo over his head; a man with a rosary hanging from his rectum; a man with a crucifix extending from his rectum, and a man with his pants down over an angel holding two rosaries with penises attached to them.

Cooper Union is a private institution that provides full-tuition scholarships to all enrolled students. Like most private universities, it uses federal grants for research projects and for funding education programs.

Federal grants to Cooper Union over the last eight years went mainly to the school's engineering program. According to the federal government's Web site, the grants included:

-- $22,537 from the U.S. Department of Education -- $62,445 from the U.S Air Force -- $1.1 million from the National Science Foundation -- $7,175 from the National Institute of Standards and Technology

The college also received $2.8 million for student financial assistance programs, mainly in the form of Pell Grants.

Matt Barber, policy director for cultural issues at Concerned Women for America, said that since money is "fungible" it did not matter what program the federal tax dollars were directed toward. Money that is obtained for one purpose, he said, typically frees up other money that can then be used for other purposes.

The Cooper Union Web site boasts that since 2000, the engineering school received funding from NASA, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, the National Security Agency, the City of New York Department of Transportation, the U.S. Department of Energy and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

Calls to Cooper Union were directed to press officer Jolene Resnick, who directed Cybercast News Service to a news release that said: "The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art End of Year Show is curated by faculty of the schools of architecture, engineering, and art, as it has been for more than 40 years. Hundreds of student works are shown annually without censorship -- a tradition at the school since its founding by Peter Cooper 150 years ago."

The student art exhibit runs until June 10.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: New York
KEYWORDS: aclumia; antichristian; arts; churchandstate; cooperunion; crushliberalism; doublestandard; felipebaeza; homosexuals; liberals; mentalillness; moralabsolutes; nea; obscenity; taxdollarsatwork; thearts; youpayforthis
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Now I realize the Christians are not likely to go on a violent rampage as members of some other religions might if it were their religious symbols being displayed this way, but I would think that tax payers should be furious.
1 posted on 06/10/2008 8:36:58 AM PDT by Sopater
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To: Sopater
And, out of “respect”, they will not reprint any of the muslim cartoons...
2 posted on 06/10/2008 8:39:02 AM PDT by 2banana (My common ground with terrorists - they want to die for islam and we want to kill them)
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To: Sopater

I want my $4.6 Million back. NOW!


3 posted on 06/10/2008 8:39:42 AM PDT by WayneS (What the hell is wrong with these people?)
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To: Sopater

Homosexuals are such lovely and normal people it just makes one proud of such an alternative lifestyle. Billions is shoveled to this group to pay for their venereal diseases, why not more for their art.


4 posted on 06/10/2008 8:42:21 AM PDT by Neoliberalnot ((Hallmarks of Liberalism: Ingratitude and Envy))
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To: Sopater

Thank The Good Lord that I live in the United States, where stuff like this doesn’t happen.


5 posted on 06/10/2008 8:42:43 AM PDT by A_Former_Democrat
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To: Sopater
A couple thousand years later and they are still not done beating on Jesus.
6 posted on 06/10/2008 8:45:04 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper (McCain will be the first ex-POW President.)
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To: WayneS
I want my $4.6 Million back. NOW!

Make the wash it fist . Laundered perhaps .

7 posted on 06/10/2008 8:45:34 AM PDT by kbennkc (For those who have fought for it , freedom has a flavor the protected will never know)
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To: Sopater
A great deal of Modern Art (I won't say all of it) is just pure concept and not a matter of technique.

If I say that a painting consists of a bridge over a small pond with lily pads, I have described a Monet. But you need to SEE the Monet to understand why the work is significant and how it speaks to the human heart.

The artwork described in this piece is different. There is no need to see it. A brief description tells you everything. Ooooh! They're bashing the church! So creative! The concept is equal to, probably "superior to" any possible implementation of the art.

This is an indication, I think, that what we have here is not Art at all. This is such crass polemics.

8 posted on 06/10/2008 8:47:22 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (Et si omnes ego non)
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To: Sopater

The same US government that is prohibited from endorsing Christianity is also prohibited from channeling tax dollars to condemn it.


9 posted on 06/10/2008 8:48:20 AM PDT by weegee (In 1988 Lenora Fulani was the 1st black woman to appear on presidential ballots in all 50 states)
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To: Sopater

Why does the National Endowment for the Arts still exist????

There was talking of killing off this abomination in the Reagan years, but nothing has happened since.

Conservatives need to again take up this small issue as a sign of a bigger cause.


10 posted on 06/10/2008 8:48:20 AM PDT by PGR88
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To: Sopater
Federal taxpayers are subsidizing a college in New York whose art school is currently displaying works that include a drawing of a man with a crucifix coming out of his rectum, a drawing of a man with a rosary coming out of his rectum, and rosaries decorated with penises.

This is the counter example to a momument to the 10 commandments being placed on public property.

If the 10 commandments are not permissible, neither is this.

11 posted on 06/10/2008 8:49:53 AM PDT by weegee (In 1988 Lenora Fulani was the 1st black woman to appear on presidential ballots in all 50 states)
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To: 2banana

Yep, my thought exactly. Would they show anything coming out of Mohammed’s private areas? No, because they want to be respectful of other religions. Plus, they don’t want to get killed.

Yep, we preach tolerance and respect of other cultures and religions, just don’t show that respect to our own mainstream religions and our own culture.


12 posted on 06/10/2008 8:53:24 AM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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To: PGR88
Why does the National Endowment for the Arts still exist????

There was talking of killing off this abomination in the Reagan years, but nothing has happened since.

It was talked about again in 1994 just before the elections. It was just talk (pandering). There was absolutely no intention of following through.

13 posted on 06/10/2008 8:55:00 AM PDT by Spirochete
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To: Sopater

Picture Abe Lincoln giving his famous Cooper Union speech against this backdrop.


14 posted on 06/10/2008 8:59:46 AM PDT by metesky ("Brethren, leave us go amongst them." Rev. Capt. Samuel Johnston Clayton - Ward Bond- The Searchers)
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To: Sopater

Only a moron would believe these kids are doing this for any other reason then they can do it and with impunity.

Bashing Catholicism is in vogue and kids being kids and rarely having any original thoughts, will follow along mindlessly.

The point made by another here that they would lack the courage to portray the religion of the pedophile Allah in such a way is well taken.


15 posted on 06/10/2008 9:00:19 AM PDT by lexusppd
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To: Sopater

Obama Speaks On Economy At New York’s Cooper Union School
http://www.jamd.com/search?assettype=g&assetid=80397604&text=Cooper+Union+for+the+Advancement+of+Science+and+Art


16 posted on 06/10/2008 9:00:28 AM PDT by DogBarkTree (The correct word isn't "immigrant" when what they are doing is "invading".)
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To: A_Former_Democrat
Thank The Good Lord that I live in the United States, where stuff like this doesn’t happen.

This is in the USA.
Unless you forgot the </s> tag.

17 posted on 06/10/2008 9:03:35 AM PDT by Bon mots
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To: Sopater

...isn’t this “hate speech” that violates some student speech code?


18 posted on 06/10/2008 9:04:03 AM PDT by Tzimisce (How Would Mohammed Vote? Hillary for President!)
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To: PGR88

Why does the National Endowment for the Arts still exist????

and NPR?????


19 posted on 06/10/2008 9:05:04 AM PDT by AngelesCrestHighway
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To: Sopater

This is preverted.


20 posted on 06/10/2008 9:10:44 AM PDT by Dante3
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To: Dante3
This is preverted.

And not only that, it's perverted.

21 posted on 06/10/2008 9:12:01 AM PDT by dfwgator ( This tag blank until football season.)
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To: Bon mots; A_Former_Democrat
Unless you forgot the </s> tag.

You ain't from around here, are ya?

22 posted on 06/10/2008 9:14:01 AM PDT by thulldud (Congress does not want answers. They want scapegoats. (andy58-in-nh))
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To: weegee
Excellent point. I wonder if I started a Christian art studio would that qualify me for federal grants? (sarc)
23 posted on 06/10/2008 9:19:12 AM PDT by RU88 (The false messiah can not change water into wine any more than he can get unity from diversity.)
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To: Sopater
I would think that tax payers should be furious.

To be honest, I'm somewhat grateful. It's rare that enemies allow themselves to be seen for what they truly are. This is one of those rare times when we receive a valuable reminder of just who's fighting alongside whom.

24 posted on 06/10/2008 9:22:05 AM PDT by Romulus ("Ira enim viri iustitiam Dei non operatur")
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To: Sopater

It’s amazing how just by the invocation of the word “art” we can easily dispense with morality. Why is that?


25 posted on 06/10/2008 9:22:58 AM PDT by Blind Eye Jones
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To: thulldud
You ain't from around here, are ya?

I kinda thought you were being facetious... but one never knows.
Actually, I am NOT from around here. If 'around here' is the USA, the closest corner of my home to the continental United States is about 5000 miles away.

I live overseas.

:-)

26 posted on 06/10/2008 9:23:28 AM PDT by Bon mots
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To: thulldud
I posted ages ago about the 'dung Madonna' and 'Piss Christ' paintings that were published in CNN and the photos of these abominations posing as art are somewhere on their online edition.

I remember when there was the big blowout over pictures that were 'insulting' to Islam... CNN would not publish them. Yet at the same time, they had the "Piss Christ" and "Dung Madonna" proudly displayed on their webpage.

They may have taken it down since then, as I did write them a nasty letter and pointed out the links on several online forums... but the fact of the matter remains that they did not hesitate to publish images insulting to Christians, and would not dare to publish a cartoon which freaked out the Islamonazis.

I'm curious which of the major news media firms still has these images on their online version. Has anyone been able to dig it up elsewhere?

27 posted on 06/10/2008 9:27:28 AM PDT by Bon mots
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To: Sopater; kingattax
You're right. Nothing will be done about this "hate speech."

Place a quran there in place of the crucifix and see what happens, Cooper.

28 posted on 06/10/2008 9:27:34 AM PDT by taraytarah (He will come as a thief in the night. Are you ready?)
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To: Bon mots
Well, it wasn't me you were responding to, but I could see the sarcasm dripping from his every line. Just added a bit more of me own.

On FR, sarcastic/satirical is the default tone. That makes it very difficult for us when the libs break out and perform in reality what we only conjectured in jest.

29 posted on 06/10/2008 9:28:18 AM PDT by thulldud (Congress does not want answers. They want scapegoats. (andy58-in-nh))
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To: Dante3

I’d assert that it was beyond perverted,

in other words, not preverted, but postverted.


30 posted on 06/10/2008 9:30:23 AM PDT by MrB (You can't reason people out of a position that they didn't use reason to get into in the first place)
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To: A_Former_Democrat

I wish Jesse Helms was still in the Senate, he would bring attention to this and call out the little cowardly trash peddlers.


31 posted on 06/10/2008 9:35:38 AM PDT by Reagan79 (Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys)
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To: Sopater

Substitute ‘koran’ for ‘crucifix’ and ‘rosary’, and see what happens. The exhibition would never have opened, due to “cultural insensitivity.” As we all know, white, Christian caucasians are the new n*gg*rs, and it’s perfectly all right to discriminate against them. Being a bigot has never passed out of fashion, providing only that one is a bigot for the leftist, one-world, multi-culti, PC fascist world view.


32 posted on 06/10/2008 9:35:57 AM PDT by Jack Hammer (here)
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To: Sopater

Tome for Catholics and all decent people to speak out by witholding their donations.


33 posted on 06/10/2008 9:37:11 AM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: Bon mots

Yes, the sarcastic switch was turned on.

What’s happened to our beautiful country?


34 posted on 06/10/2008 9:38:51 AM PDT by A_Former_Democrat
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To: Salvation

Should have been:

Time for Catholics and all decent people to speak out by witholding their donations.


35 posted on 06/10/2008 9:38:53 AM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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Comment #36 Removed by Moderator

To: Sopater
Furious? No. In fact, I'm completely satisfied.

The NEA awarded the grants because, in its words, they "(enrich) our Nation and diverse cultural heritage by supporting works of artistic excellence, advancing learning in the arts, and strengthening the arts in communities throughout the country."

I'm fully enriched, thanks to yet another example of what can be produced with a mere $100k or so in NEA funding. It may be time to admit success - that the art world is saturated with all the art of this kind that we could possibly need. Forever. The NEA has accomplished its mission, and there will never again be a need for government-funded religious art or for that matter for any government-funded art. This level of excellence cannot be matched, nor is there any possibility of further advancement in artistic learning in an NEA that has already reached this peak. Diversity has been fully satisfied with all possible combinations of Christian symbols with bodily functions. In the words of our Commander in Chief: "Mission Accomplished."

There can be nothing left to accomplish other than a nice going away party for the people who have so creatively managed the NEA through decades of difficult funding choices (another urine work or do we go rectal with this year's religious works?), a nice plaque recognizing that they have completed their mission, and two weeks notice before the NEA is completely dismantled. I'm eager to applaud their success at the NEA's closing ceremonies, with the same enthusiasm I would show at the Olympic closing ceremonies.

37 posted on 06/10/2008 9:50:55 AM PDT by RogerD (Educaiton Profesionul)
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To: Sopater

38 posted on 06/10/2008 9:51:30 AM PDT by henbane
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To: Sopater; taraytarah

CONTACT US:

Department of Human Resources
30 Cooper Square, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10003
(212) 353-4140

hr@cooper.edu

Trustees of The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art

* Ronald W. Drucker CE’62, Chairman of the Board
* Mark Epstein A’76, Vice Chairman
* Robert Bernhard, Chairman Emeritus
* Marc Appleton
* Robert Aquilina CE’78
* Lawrence Benenson
* Michael Borkowsky ME’61
* François deMenil AR’87
* Thomas R. Driscoll ME’77
* Edward Feiner AR’69
* Jeffrey Gural

Saskia Bos, Dean of the School of Art

David William, Student Exhibitions Coordinator


39 posted on 06/10/2008 9:57:30 AM PDT by kingattax (99 % of liberals give the rest a bad name)
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To: Sopater

As a taxpayer this angers me. As a Christian I almost want to laugh at these pathetic dolts and their attempts to besmirch Christianity and/or anger Christians.


40 posted on 06/10/2008 10:09:13 AM PDT by opus86
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To: Sopater

My husband is an alumni of this school and gives money to it. I will try to persuade him to rethink his position. I have also called Cooper Alumni and let them know how unhappy I was. May The Lord have mercy on their souls./Just Asking - seoul62........


41 posted on 06/10/2008 10:12:44 AM PDT by seoul62
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To: MrB

I agree.


42 posted on 06/10/2008 10:12:46 AM PDT by Dante3
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To: 2banana

you mean “out of fear for their lives”....


43 posted on 06/10/2008 10:22:41 AM PDT by Getready (Wisdom is more valuable than gold and diamonds, and harder to find.)
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To: Sopater

I’ve been searching to no avail. If someone can find Jolene’s picture, I’m sure we can do something particularly offensive with it.


44 posted on 06/10/2008 10:47:19 AM PDT by doug from upland (Stopping Hillary should be a FreeRepublic Manhattan Project)
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To: Sopater

Obama spoke there recently. Someone needs to ask him about this.


Thursday, March 27, 2008
Obama Cooper Union Speech on The Economy — Full Text

About | Popular | Superdelegates | Predictions | Polls | Game
The full text of Barack Obama’s Speech on the Economy delivered this morning at Cooper Union in Manhattan.


45 posted on 06/10/2008 10:49:42 AM PDT by doug from upland (Stopping Hillary should be a FreeRepublic Manhattan Project)
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To: Sopater
Hundreds of student works are shown annually without censorship — a tradition at the school since its founding by Peter Cooper 150 years ago.

It is time to test this statement. I'm sure there is an anonymous student artist out there who would love to have national attention on his depiction of Mohammed's consummation of marriage with his 9 year old bride.

46 posted on 06/10/2008 11:13:45 AM PDT by HundredDollars
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To: Sopater

Folks, this is BAD journalism. Buried in paragraph seven of the article is “The NEA grants did not go directly to fund Cooper Union’s “best of” student art exhibition.”

We complain when the MSM does it, no different here.


47 posted on 06/10/2008 11:19:41 AM PDT by PurpleMan
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To: HundredDollars

the 9 year old or his son’s wife that allah told him to take


48 posted on 06/10/2008 11:20:03 AM PDT by sloop (pfc in the quiet civil war)
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To: sloop

3-some. OK now I’ve disgusted myself.


49 posted on 06/10/2008 11:42:42 AM PDT by HundredDollars
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To: Sopater

It’s not art, it is nihilism.


50 posted on 06/10/2008 11:46:35 AM PDT by TASMANIANRED (TAZ:Untamed, Unpredictable, Uninhibited.)
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