Modified 'Pieta' Sparks Controversy on NY Community College Campus
By Jim Brown
November 18, 2005

(AgapePress) - A community college in New York is being accused of anti-Christian bigotry for recently displaying a painting many felt was insulting to evangelical Christians and Catholics.
During its Hispanic Heritage Month, Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie showcased a painting by Hugo Bastidas called "Magdalene Mourning Her Lover." It is a modified picture of Michelangelo's "Pieta," which portrays Mary holding her dead son Jesus.

Longtime educator Thomas Reynolds from the nearby community of Hopewell Junction was among the many individuals who protested the display and urged its removal. He believes there is a "disregard" for the beliefs of Christians. "I don't think there would be any doubt that they would not put a picture up there that blasphemed the Islamic faith or the Jewish religion -- a picture of Abraham in some situation that was clearly not in a good light -- or perhaps the Koran, desecrated," he states. Story