Culture today isn't appropriate for public display

To the editor:

Regarding the debate over funding for a cultural center: Why are we so quick to turn religious buildings into museums and cultural centers? If you were to visit a European country today, you would encounter a dramatic decline in faith. A century ago, 98 percent of the people attended church regularly. Today it's under 10 percent. Almost half the church buildings have been destroyed or converted into restaurants, art galleries or cultural centers.

The people of the western world look to the United States as a model of a modern nation that maintains a vital religious faith. In Europe, churches that once dominated the continent for 1,500 years are now mostly hollow shells. Will the decline of faith occur here?

I believe in culture as much as everyone else, but in recent years what passes for culture many times doesn't serve to uplift souls. Instead, it drags us down to the gutter. If the cultural center is brought to Cape Girardeau, what guarantees do we have that we will not be forced to see plays portraying Jesus, his apostles or Mary as sexual perverts like those produced in New York? Would we see pictures of crucifixes in glasses of urine portrayed as art? If so, are we prepared for demonstrations outside along with all of the news media in attendance?

I am sorry, but what passes for art and culture today isn't fit for human consumption.

CHRISTINE E. STEPHENS

Cape Girardeau