"God loves you...but not enough to save you"

Sometimes it easier for White Conservative Christian Cisgender Heterosexual Patriots to quash the messenger than to internalize the message

I LOVE this painting, but not because I’m an atheist and I hate God. It has nothing to do with that because I can’t hate something I don’t believe exists.

No, the reason I adore this painting is that it was done by a 17-year-old lesbian who managed to get a Virginia school board’s collective panties in a wad. There are few things I enjoy more than seeing a group of uptight adults having their carefully constructed religious prejudices stomped on by a child making a sound argument they can’t refute without making fools of themselves.

Say hello to my new hero, Abby Driscoll.

In this case, the school board wanted to ban the offending objet d’art because a 17-year-old artist had offended their tender sensibilities.

Oh, the humanity.

Last weekend, a school board in Virginia gathered together in their secret lair for a five-alarm emergency meeting … about a high school girl’s art project. Some members thought it was highly offensive and disrespectful and wanted it burned in a pyre or, barring that, removed from the school premises.

Was it porn? Was it something encouraging children to shoot up either heroin or their school? It was not.

The work in question was created as part of a Defiance High art class assignment on trauma. Abby Driscoll, 17, painted several pieces, but it was just one that caused all the drama: a painting titled “But Not Enough to Save You,” about the religious trauma she experienced as a lesbian, being told that she couldn’t be “saved” because of the way she was born.

The painting itself is pretty freaking awesome. It depicts praying hands holding a rosary over a patchwork of pages from the Bible, dripping with rainbow “blood,” with the words “GOD LOVES YOU BUT NOT ENOUGH TO SAVE YOU” emblazoned across. (You can buy a print here if you like!)

I thought it was fascinating how it took a 17-year-old lesbian to reflect the board’s hateful, homophobic Christianity back at them—and they did not like it, NOT ONE LITTLE BIT.

That’s how bullies react when you hit them in a vulnerable spot, though. It’s all fun and games for them until you get them in a soft spot—in this case, their precious Christianity, which they’ve defined in a way that’s comfortable and convenient—for them. They’ve defined their religion as something that fits their prejudices and fears, and when someone jumps in with both feet to call out their hypocrisy, that doesn’t sit so well.

"The whole thing is about showing light through the darkness of trauma," Driscoll told The News Leader last weekend. "That piece in particular was about religious trauma and trauma faced from not being accepted in a quote-unquote loving community. I wanted to really portray that. I know the message is a little strong and in your face, but the kind of shock factor is what I wanted to get out of it."

But once word spread on Facebook about the painting, people were offended, including the aforementioned school board members.

Via News Leader:

It all began Friday, shortly after Driscoll finished putting up the work for display, she started getting texts that her work was being posted on social media in part of Augusta County, and not in a favorable away. Someone had seen it in the lobby, was offended and started spreading the work on social media. More people were then critical of the work, including at least two school board members.

A day later, on a Saturday night, the Augusta County School Board was meeting to talk about Driscoll's work and whether or not it should be allowed to remain in the show. The News Leader first found out about the issue when Tim Simmons, who represents the Pastures District, posted on his Facebook page that people had reached out to him about the art and the school board was going into a closed meeting Saturday night to discuss.

In a text response to The News Leader Saturday, Simmons said he would happily send a link to the art but he hadn't included details on his page because, "I personally find it offensive."

Hey, guess what? Good art is supposed to offend. At the very least, it should make the viewer question their perspective. That Tim Simmons was offended by Ms. Driscoll’s work is apropos of precisely nothing. If he can’t handle something that contradicts his precious belief system, then perhaps he needs to examine why he’s so insecure in those beliefs. If a painting can cause him to have the vapors, he has bigger problems than a painting produced by a high school student.

Perhaps we should also consider the perspective of young Ms. Driscoll, who spoke of her work addressing “not being accepted in a ‘loving community.’” It’s interesting that instead of considering her viewpoint, adults like Tim Simmons have focused on how Ms. Simmons’ work has offended their tender sensibilities—as if their feelings should be given priority.

Even more curious is that the school board meeting about Ms. Driscoll’s art was held without the board bothering to notify her parents. If I were one of her parents, I would be raising all manner of Hell if such a meeting had taken place regarding my child with no notification provided.

(Gentleman, start your lawyers!!)

What was that about “not being accepted in a ‘loving community?’” ‘Cuz not accepting Ms. Driscoll is precisely (not) what Jesus would do, don’tchaknow?

Of course, Simmons has never expressed what about the painting offended him, but I don’t think it requires a Ph.D. in Religious Bigotry Studies to figure this one out.

They can’t say “We’re offended because of course Christians would never do any such thing! And if they did, we would disagree with it!” because that’s not true. In fact, it’s not the kind of thing that would offend anyone who would disagree with it. Surely, any Christian who wouldn’t agree with it would also be aware of the fact that there are a whole lot of people out there like that, and would believe they were deserving of criticism.

What they’re upset about is that they believe they should be able to say things like this to people and believe things like this without ever being directly confronted with the damage they do.

But there is a bright side to all of this — the bad guys actually lost this time. Abby Driscoll’s painting will stay up after all. It will be there in the school hallway, and perhaps it will remind some people that there are consequences to treating people poorly, even if God is the one who told you to do it.

I’ll chalk this one up as a victory for love, inclusion, acceptance, inclusion, understanding. Yes, those are the things the Jesus Christ worshipped by the White Conservative Christian Cisgender Heterosexual Patriots of Augusta County taught His followers—and the lesson they somehow failed to take to heart.

Quelle surprise.

It’s also a victory for Abby Driscoll, who probably never imagined being the one who would expose good, God-fearing White Conservative Christian Cisgender Heterosexual Patriots as hypocrites. If nothing else, Ms. Driscoll seems to have no small amount of talent and a voice behind it. For someone so young to have the courage of her convictions and a backbone as stiff as hers…all I can say is, “Well done!”

As for those who would’ve slapped Ms. Driscoll down, are you so insecure in your faith that the art produced by a 17-year-old lesbian would send you running to the school board seeking redress with the hope of “putting her in her place?” Because it seems to me she’s already in her place, and y’all are the ones who need to grow the fuck up.

If y’all want to be Christians, that’s great, but that’s your thing. You have no right to expect others to live by your rules or to respect your shaky faith.

That’s a “you” problem…and evidently a sizable one.

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