Matthew 23:1-12 | BANKSY | They do not practise what they preach

Matthew 23:1-12   They do not practise what they preach

Napalm, Conceived by BANKSY, Conceived in 2004, Silkscreen print on paper, Edition of 150 © Pest Control Addressing the people and his disciples Jesus said, ‘The scribes and the Pharisees occupy the chair of Moses. You must therefore do what they tell you and listen to what they say; but do not be guided by what they do: since they do not practise what they preach. They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but will they lift a finger to move them? Not they! Everything they do is done to attract attention, like wearing broader phylacteries and longer tassels, like wanting to take the place of honour at banquets and the front seats in the synagogues, being greeted obsequiously in the market squares and having people call them Rabbi. ‘You, however, must not allow yourselves to be called Rabbi, since you have only one master, and you are all brothers. You must call no one on earth your father, since you have only one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor must you allow yourselves to be called teachers, for you have only one Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you must be your servant. Anyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and anyone who humbles himself will be exalted.’   READ MORE     Reflection on the Screenprint on Paper This work by Banksy is a powerful print, and in my view about the topic in today’s Gospel: hypocrisy and ‘not practising what they preach’. This image reinvents the internationally known photograph from the Vietnam War entitled The Terror of War, taken on 8 June 1972 by photographer Nick Ut (illustrated below). In that heartbreaking original photograph, Vietnamese children were seen fleeing from a napalm blast that had just hit their home in Trang Bang village. The picture shook audiences worldwide. The main little girl in that photograph is the girl central to our Banksy print. Despite suffering severe burns to her back, she survived the attack and now lives in Canada. Banksy flanked on either side of her the characters of Mickey Mouse and Ronald McDonald, representing two of the Western world’s biggest corporations. This establishes a disconcerting juxtaposition and provokes intense social criticisms of Western political approaches to poorer countries. The horror of the original scene in Vietnam is twisted by the pair of beaming, happy characters, seemingly unconcerned by her distress, forcing us as viewers to question their benevolence. Hypocrisy is being illustrated in a very tangible and shocking way… Patrick