This painting by Ron DiCianni has been making the rounds in the blogosphere.  Perhaps the most insightful meditation it has inspired is that of writer Jeff Sharlet.  Sharlet does not merely make fun of Christian kitsch.  As he observed & I wholeheartedly agree, "it's more interesting to take it seriously and try to understand what its creators and consumers see in it."  His provocative thesis:

As religious art traditionally uses eroticism to channel worldly desires toward spiritual concerns, contemporary fundamentalist art uses eroticism to channel sex -- the visual currency of power in an advertising culture -- away from women and toward men.

How does Sharlet get from civil religion to Christian eroticism?  Click here for more.