Issues@Hand
AFA initiatives, Christian activism, news briefs
September 1998 – Like some proverbial creature in a “B”horror movie, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has escaped death once again, to live and terrorize the countryside with its toxic ooze.
The 33-year-old agency, created by President Lyndon Johnson to help promote and support the arts in America, has been the target of conservative ire for a decade. It has continually sustained so-called artists who appear to delight in shocking the sensibilities of average Americans, especially Christians.
The most recent travesty is the Terrance McNally play, Corpus Christi, about a homosexual Christ-figure who has sex with his disciples. Produced by the Manhattan Theater Club (MTC), a brochure about the play says, “Terrance McNally gives us his own unique view of ‘the greatest story ever told.’” (See AFA Journal, 7/98.)
AFAhas obtained a copy of a grant award letter, sent to MTC in June of 1996, in which the NEA committed $31,000 “to support expenses for the development and world premiere of the new play, Corpus Christi, by Terrence McNally.”
When outraged Christians objected to the blasphemous nature of the play, defenders of the NEA argued that MTC did not use the art agency’s money to fund the play. Technically,that is correct. In December of 1996 MTC asked for and received permission to use the grant monies originally awarded for Corpus Christi for another play, postponing the McNally work for later.
But AFA President Donald E. Wildmon said that,while technically correct, the money switch amounts to nothing more than a smokescreen. “This is splitting hairs. The NEA awarded the money for Corpus Christi in 1996. That’s enough of a disgrace as it is,” he said. “But then MTC took the Corpus Christi money to produce other plays, thus being able to substitute other theater funds to produce Corpus Christi. It’s a classic shell game.”
Conservatives in Congress have been promising to kill the agency, but once again, the necessary votes could not be garnered to slay the NEA. Funding was restored by the House of Representatives at the current level of $98 million by a 253-173 vote. Wildmon said the decision to drop funding for the NEA should have been a no-brainer. “It’s difficult to imagine how the existence of the NEA, given their tendency to fund pornographic and blasphemous art, can be justified by anyone – Democrat orRepublican,” he said. “If Congress won’t stand up for decency on this one, when will it?”
Wildmon urged Americans to let their congressmen know how they feel about the NEA vote. “People should speak loudly and clearly, letting Congress know they don’t appreciate this lack of moral fortitude. 
Voted to continue funding for the NEA: Abercrombie, Ackerman, Allen, Andrews, Baesler, Baldacci, Ballenger, Barcia, Barrett (WI), Bartlett, Bass, Becerra, Bentsen, Bereuter, Berman, Berry, Bilbray, Bishop, Blagojevich, Blumenauer, Boehlert, Bonior, Borski, Boswell, Boucher, Boyd, Brady (PA), Brown (CA), Brown (FL), Brown (OH), Capps, Cardin, Carson, Castle, Clay, Clayton, Clement, Clyburn, Conyers, Cook, Costello, Coyne, Cramer, Cummings, Danner, Davis (FL), Davis (IL), Davis (VA), DeFazio, DeGette, Delahunt, DeLauro, Deutsch, Diaz-Balart, Dicks, Dingell, Doggett, Dooley, Doyle, Edwards, Ehlers, Engel, English, Eshoo, Etheridge, Evans, Farr, Fattah, Fawell, Fazio, Filner, Foley, Forbes, Fowler, Fox, Frank (MA), Franks (NJ), Frelinghuysen, Frost, Furse, Ganske, Gejdenson, Gephardt, Gilchrest, Gillmor, Gilman, Goode, Gordon, Goss, Granger, Green, Greenwood, Gutierrez, Hall (OH), Hamilton, Harman, Hastings (FL), Hefner, Hilliard, Hinchey, Hinojosa, Holden, Hooley, Horn, Houghton, Hoyer, Jackson (IL), Jackson-Lee (TX), Jefferson, Johnson (CT), Johnson (WI) Johnson (E.B.), Kanjorski, Kaptur, Kelly, Kennedy (MA), Kennedy (RI), Kennelly, Kildee, Kilpatrick, Kind (WI), Kleczka, Klink, Klug, Kolbe, Kucinich, LaFalce, LaHood, Lampson, Lantos, LaTourette, Lazio, Leach, Lee, Levin, Lewis (CA), Lewis (GA), Lipinski, LoBiondo, Lofgren, Lowey, Luther, Maloney (CT), Maloney (NY), Manton, Markey, Martinez, Mascara, Matsui, McCarthy (MO), McCarthy (NY), McCollum, McDermott, McGovern, McHale, McHugh, McInnis, McIntyre, McKinney, Meehan, Meek (FL), Meeks (NY), Menendez, Mica, Millender-McDonald, Miller (CA), Minge, Mink, Moakley, Mollohan, Moran (VA), Morella, Murtha, Nadler, Neal, Oberstar, Obey, Olver, Ortiz, Owens, Pallone, Pascrell, Pastor, Payne, Pelosi, Peterson (MN), Pickett, Pomeroy, Porter, Poshard, Price (NC), Quinn, Rahall, Ramstad, Rangel, Regula, Reyes, Rivers, Rodriguez, Roemer, Ros-Lehtinen, Rothman, Roukema, Roybal-Allard, Rush, Sabo, Sanchez, Sanders, Sandlin, Sawyer, Saxton, Schumer, Scott, Serrano, Shaw, Shays, Sherman, Sisisky, Skaggs, Skeen, Slaughter, Smith (MI), Smith (Adam), Snyder, Spratt, Stabenow, Stark, Stokes, Strickland, Stupak, Sununu, Tauscher, Thompson, Thurman, Tierney, Torres, Towns, Traficant, Upton, Velazquez, Vento, Visclosky, Walsh, Waters, Watt (NC), Waxman, Weldon (PA), Wexler, Weygand, Wise, Woolsey, Wynn, Yates.
Action Address:
Capitol Hill switchboard: 202-224-3121
Internet: www.house.gov/writerep
