Evaluations of Perceived Offense to Christian, Muslim, and Nonreligious Artwork in a Higher Education Classroom

• In Event: 50461 - Section on Sociology of Religion Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 1: Culture, Belief, and Politics

Abstract

This survey experiment (N=1,025) examines differences in public opinion on whether Americans support a professor’s decision to display a piece of artwork, despite a subset of students finding the artwork offensive. We randomly assigned respondents to one of three vignette conditions, each describing an art history professor who, after a warning, displayed an image: either of Jesus, Muhammad, or an unspecified image that a subset of students believed was inappropriate. Overall, Americans did not differentiate between offenses against religious groups and unspecified offenses, nor between Christian and Muslim students. However, there were differences by demographic groups, and political polarization emerged: liberals were less likely to support the students when the image was of Jesus, while conservatives were more supportive. Open-ended responses revealed contrasting justifications, with liberals emphasizing inclusivity and conservatives focusing on religious rights and freedoms. Results suggest that individuals may be evaluating these offenses as entirely different situations, and that different political and social groups may be sensitized to different social issues. Implications of these results are discussed.

Authors

• Tania Ravaei, Indiana University-Bloomington

• Brian Powell, Indiana University-Bloomington