A New Orleans Halloween display is receiving backlash for featuring a decapitated Jesus and crucified nuns.
New Orleans native Vic Miorana debuted the Halloween display in September. Since then, its offensive religious theme has sparked outrage both locally and online, with many slamming the decorations as “blasphemous.”
The display features Jesus’ decapitated body with Satan holding Jesus’ bloody head.
Other biblical and religious figures, including priests and nuns, can be seen dangling from crucifixes, as churchgoers sit on bloody pews below the figures.
At one point, the display featured a flamethrower aimed at Jesus’ body. However, a fire marshal requested Miorana remove the device as it posed a potential safety hazard and was in violation of the area’s burn ban.
Miorana’s neighbors have called the police as well as city code enforcement officials to complain his Halloween display. Meanwhile, protestors have taken to picketing outside his home. However, officials are unable to interfere with Miorana’s right to free speech and expression.
Miorana’s employer is also reportedly aware of the controversial holiday display after receiving phone calls and e-mails from offended neighbors, and The Daily Mail reports Miorana’s girlfriend of four years, who is also the mother of his child, broke up with him in fear of losing her job due to the display’s widespread backlash.
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Speaking to Nola.com, Miorana said that “religious churches and things scare people, they make you uncomfortable and they pull a different reaction, but it’s nothing you don’t see in a scary movie, video games or a haunted house.”
Still, many of Miorana’s neighbors and community members disagree.
“It’s horrible to our religion, it’s blasphemy, it’s not right. Any other religion would have a problem with this,” one neighbor told the outlet, to which Miorana countered, “To them it’s blasphemy, but blasphemy isn’t illegal.”
Miorana says the inspiration for his display came from his own “personal opinions of what is actually scary.”
“Mainly it’s all about fun. It’s all for pretend and I know it can be a touchy subject and not everybody was going to like it, but the insults and the attacks and the threats… We’ve got people inciting violence against my home and my family and it’s really gotten kind of out of hand,” Miorana told USA TODAY.
“To all the people that are insulting or bullying or threatening or inciting violence, I would just like to say that I forgive them. I love them. God bless them and Happy Halloween,” he added.
When it’s not spooky season, Miorana, an avid Donald Trump supporter, decorates his home with political messages, which typically take aim at President Joe Biden.
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Gallery Credit: Lauryn Schaffner
