Utah painter Jon McNaughton decided to remove all of his artwork from the bookstore after school officials decided they would no longer sell one of his most famous, and politically charged paintings, “One Nation Under God,” which features Jesus Christ holding the U.S. Constitution, flanked by public figures and representative individuals.
BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said they reached an agreement with McNaughton in December that they would no longer buy and sell that specific piece, and that decision was enforced again recently.
“It’s the bookstore’s prerogative to determine what the bookstore purchases and sells,” she said, adding that the bookstore focuses on religious art and adheres to a school policy of political neutrality…
Jennifer Barton hated it. The adjunct art professor at BYU found the piece way too politically charged, and expressed concerns to the bookstore that it was a propaganda piece for the tea party.
Her main concern was not Christ holding the Constitution, because most Mormons believe God had some role in the American founding, she said. Instead, her biggest problem was with specific ideological details portrayed - and explained by conservative McNaughton on his website.
There’s the “good” student who is holding a copy of Cleon Skousen’s book, “The 5,000 Year Leap,” which has been heavily promoted by Glenn Beck and somewhat “adopted” by the Tea Party, she said.
Among the “bad” people is a professor holding a copy of “The Origin of Species,” by Charles Darwin.
“For a university to have that promoted as a bad thing, where half the biology department probably has you read that, just seemed really out of place for BYU,” she said. “Really unprofessional.”
