Religious controversies
There have been a number of religious controversies over the teaching of science, certain religious practices, and in the depiction of religion or religious figures in culture.
Science and religion
The greatest contemporary controversy involving religion and science is the teaching of evolution in schools. This debate is most prevalent in generally conservative regions of the United States and there is little serious debate on the subject outside the United States.
Society
The Chinese Rites controversy was a dispute within the Catholic Church from the 1630s to the early 18th century about whether Chinese folk religion rites and offerings to the emperor constituted idolatry or not.
Female genital cutting and circumcision attract controversy especially when practiced outside of the countries in which they are commonly performed.
Art, literature and popular culture
Visual arts
- The controversial photographic exhibition Ecce Homo
- Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy
- Piss Christ, a photo taken by American photographer Andres Serrano of Jesus Christ in a glass of the photographer's urine
- Strelnikoff Mary of Help of Brezje controversy
- Chris Ofili and his Sacred Virgin Mary montage
- Tania Kovats' Virgin in a Condom attracted protests at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
- Stanislav Shmulevich was facing hate crime charges for dumping a possibly-stolen Qur'an into a public toilet and publishing a photo of it in 2007[1][2] He later plead guilty to disorderly conduct and must perform 300 hours of community service.[3]
Books
- The Da Vinci Code has had many complaints centered on the book's speculations and alleged misrepresentations of core aspects of Christianity and the history of the Roman Catholic Church. (see Criticisms of The Da Vinci Code)
- There is controversy surrounding Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses and the author was threatened with death. (see The Satanic Verses controversy)
- Lajja, a novel by Taslima Nasrin which led to protests and death threats in Bangladesh and the author having to flee the country
- His Dark Materials is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman that has attracted criticism from some religious individuals and groups due to the negative portrayal of organised religion.
- Religious debates over the Harry Potter book series by J. K. Rowling stem largely from assertions that the Harry Potter novels contain occult or Satanic subtext.
Film/Television
- Monty Python's Life of Brian, a controversial comedy film about religion, attracted controversy and was censored in some British towns, such as Aberystwyth in Wales for almost 30 years after it was first released.
- South Park's controversial Bloody Mary episode.
- The Last Temptation of Christ film, as with the novel of the same name, depicts the life of Jesus Christ while free from sin, was still subject to every form of temptation that humans face, including fear, doubt, depression, reluctance and lust.
- Innocence of Muslims, a low-budget film that ridicules Islam and its prophet, Muhammad, and as a result, it causes furor in the Muslim world including the 2012 diplomatic missions attacks.