And yes there is the question of could the same have happened to him in modern times. What if he was one of the the poor, uneducated, marginised men with no funds to pay for a decent attorney who are frequently convicted to die on little if any evidence.

I think that he has done his job.

I will go out on a limb and say this represents apathy.

Art is subjective, sometimes you can make something out of nothing. Nothing out of something.

I’ll throw a dart blindly and say this represents how people will use a once sacred image, make a controversial piece of artwork of a religion that in some practices states to not worship idols while some religions revere statues.

Up to modern time, the recent incarnations of Jesus and God are in parodies or to stir up those who either once believed or still believe.

Yet in mainstream, most feel more and more apathetic and numb. Both were once shock images that are now almost common to the point of “argumentum ad nauseam”.

There is little respect and chivalry in the decadence of a prosperous country. Little can shock, most everything is just annoying.

Also, I’d be willing to bet that if Jesus were alive today, he’d either be a)a little-known hippy or b)a well-known philanthropist. To suggest he’d be persecuted and executed nowadays is to force an old situation and societal context on the new.

Could you expand on how you think us Europeans do view capital punishment these days, just out of interest?

Whereas “Piss Christ” was a deliberate statement regarding the human side of Jesus, this particular juxtaposition could mean many things. My first reaction was, ah- God is dead.

The Roman authorities, mighty superpower of the known world, were absolutely certain that Jesus was a threat to their arrangements and dominance. He was tried in their courts of law, found guilty, and sentenced to be executed.Without an established system of appeals, there was no reason to delay the sentence.

So Jesus was fastened to the wood contraption and killed.

Yes, if he was to be executed today, he would be strapped to a chair instead of to a cross.

How many people are executed today although innocent of any crime? And how many people are executed today for reasons that we are certain are valid but future opinion will consider barbaric.

I only hope that there is not an underground “Church of Saddam” growing in Iraq.

Good sculpture, good pose, but the “statement” lacks soul.

As we can see, it simply acts as a springboard for people to spout their own agendas.

I’m guessing this sculpture is taking on an anti death penalty view.