Art Funding Controversy

According to your editorial “In the Matter of Mapplethorpe” (July 23), it is self-evidently true that “Federal support for the arts should be free of political interference.” It follows that the Andres Serrano photograph of a crucifix submerged in urine ought not to be a subject of political discussion by “a few noisy congressmen and senators.” Your editorial position completely misses the central issue.

In the world inhabited by real people (as opposed to the world of artists and, perhaps, editorial writers) our most pressing problem is not political censorship. Rather, the problem is how to nurture the respect of one individual for another, and of one community for another. Needless to say, a so-called artist who immerses a crucifix in urine demonstrates total disrespect for the dignity, the sensibility and the revered symbols of other people. Such actions, born of sheer artistic egotism, drive a wedge between one person and another and contribute to the declining sense of community so evident in our insecure age.

Deriding the sacred symbols of others is an action of callous insensitivity that has no place in our society. Nor are the citizens of the United States somehow obligated to fund such inanity. You may sneer at “lawmakers-turned-critics,” but who else can we turn to to vindicate our dignity and afford some protection for community sensibilities. The lawmakers who cut the budget of the National Endowment for the Arts by $45,000 deserve our thanks, not our contempt.

DAVID E. BOMAR

Tarzana