In a reversal of its vote last year, the U.S. House of Representatives has approved continued federal funding for the National Endowment for the Arts.
In doing so, said Catholic League president William Donohue, the House has assumed responsibility for applying decency standards in the awarding of NEA grants:
“Last month, the Supreme Court made clear that Congress has the power to set and enforce standards of decency in appropriating money for the arts. In view of the NEA’s penchant for funding offensive material, the House vote to continue funding for this agency makes it incumbent upon our elected Representatives to exercise that power. A good place to start would be defunding the Manhattan Theatre Club, which is producing the blasphemous ‘Corpus Christi,’ in which playwright Terrence McNally depicts Jesus having sex with his apostles.
“Taxpayers should not be forced to defame their own religious beliefs by providing the funding for such a production. If members of Congress insist on continuing this subsidy for the rich, they must at least exercise their oversight responsibility, and see that public monies are not used to trash our moral values and religious beliefs.”
