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Thread: I Want to explain, in case anyone doesn& #39;t get the full resonance, why it& #39;s so utterly appalling that the Guardian chose to use a cartoon showing Jeremy Corbyn as John the Baptist on the day of the EHRC report into anti-semitism in Labour: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2020/oct/29/steve-bell-labour-antisemitism-starmer-corbyn-cartoon">https://www.theguardian.com/commentis...
The cartoon is a rendering of Caravaggio& #39;s Salome with the Head of John the Baptist:
The painting depicts an incident mentioned in the gospel of Matthew but at greater length in Mark Chapter 6: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%206:14-29&version=NKJV">https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/...
I& #39;m a Christian and as such think the stories recounted in the gospels convey some form of ultimate truth. They& #39;re personally important to me.
But an omnipotent God is above being offended by cartoons.
I think there are multiple human reasons why use of this image is offensive.
But an omnipotent God is above being offended by cartoons.
I think there are multiple human reasons why use of this image is offensive.
John the Baptist is a key figure in the gospels. He& #39;s presented as a fulfilment of the belief that the prophet Elijah will come back to prepare the way for the messiah.
As such, he& #39;s a key figure in the relationship between the Jewish and Christian traditions. He points the way to Christ from a Jewish perspective.
The story of his beheading, meanwhile, is one that has been the subject of multiple reimaginings, many of them highly problematic.
John had been imprisoned by Herod, a Jewish leader in league with the Romans, for criticising Herod& #39;s personal sexual morality.
John had been imprisoned by Herod, a Jewish leader in league with the Romans, for criticising Herod& #39;s personal sexual morality.
The story of the beheading is deeply creepy and has inspired much creepy art.
The daughter of Herod& #39;s wife, previously married to Herod& #39;s brother and hence Herod& #39;s niece, dances for him and so pleases him that he says she can have anything she wants.
The daughter of Herod& #39;s wife, previously married to Herod& #39;s brother and hence Herod& #39;s niece, dances for him and so pleases him that he says she can have anything she wants.
On her mother& #39;s prompting, she asks for John& #39;s head.
The girl& #39;s dancing has generally been portrayed as sexualised and imagined in all kinds of elaborate plays.
The girl& #39;s dancing has generally been portrayed as sexualised and imagined in all kinds of elaborate plays.
Much of that art, it seems to me, feeds into ideas about human corruption. It& #39;s not hard given the context to see elements of anti-semitism in how some of it has been presented.
Steve Bell& #39;s cartoon presents Keir Starmer as Herod& #39;s sexy-dancing niece, presenting the head of a saintly Jeremy Corbyn to a corrupt king.
In the context of a day when Jeremy Corbyn had rejected comprehensive evidence presented in a report detailing unlawful acts during his leadership to discriminate against Jewish people, that image is quite breathtakingly offensive.
It depicts Jeremy Corbyn as essentially a reincarnation of an old testament prophet killed by the corruption and immorality of more worldly, corrupted figures around him.
We know that& #39;s how many of his followers see him. But for a national newspaper to publish such an image on such a day seems to me unconcionable.
I hope the Guardian will consider the full context of this appalling image, apologise for its publication and remove it.
I& #39;m no great theological or art history expert so apologise for any factual errors here.
I believe my wider points are valid nevertheless.
I believe my wider points are valid nevertheless.
The end.
I apologise for the mis-spelling of unconscionable.
Someone has queried whether Corbyn rejected the evidence. It& #39;s a fair question. He said the issue had been exaggerated for his opponents& #39; political gain. I think that comes to much the same thing but accept some may cavil.
I& #39;m still gettting lots of people saying he didn& #39;t reject the evidence. Here& #39;s Corbyn& #39;s statement: https://www.facebook.com/JeremyCorbynMP/posts/10158939532253872">https://www.facebook.com/JeremyCor... It says he acted to speed up disciplinary processes when the report disagrees. He says it& #39;s exagerrated when the report says it was unlawful.
