A very personal skirmish in the culture wars

Submitted without comment.

Independent News, The law lecturer who launched 'a war against crap' in Madame Tussauds

By Cahal Milmo

25 January 2005

As a law lecturer well versed in the distinctions between criminal damage and public protest, James Anstice knew exactly what would happen to him if he carried out his mission to take his "war against crap" to Madame Tussauds.

Even as he entered the room containing a nativity scene depicting David and Victoria Beckham as Joseph and Mary with George Bush looking on as one of the Three Wise Men, Anstice admitted yesterday, he knew that there was no justification for vandalism.

But such was his disgust while visiting the celebrity-strewn tableau at the famous London waxworks museum on 12 December that the God-fearing academic conducting a "war against crap" could no longer reconcile his intellect with his faith.

Within 30 seconds of stepping over the rope protecting the display, Anstice had pushed the figure of the England football captain to the ground and ripped off the head of Mrs Beckham's mannequin before dropping it on the floor, where it smashed to pieces.

Appearing at Bow Street magistrates' court in central London yesterday, the lecturer accepted that his religious convictions had led to a criminal one when he admitted a single charge of causing criminal damage costing £2,500.

Anstice, from Northamptonshire, who has taught at Northampton College and at the King Henry VIII College in Coventry, insisted that his actions had neither been those of a "militant Christian" nor a personal vendetta against the Real Madrid galactico and his pop star wife whom many in the nation already love to loathe.

Speaking outside the court, Anstice said: "I have nothing against David and Victoria Beckham - I have no opinion of them really. I am certainly not a nutter who's going to start stalking them. It was the combining of celebrity with religion that I found so offensive. Jesus was born in poverty and it was an absolutely absurd representation.

"I have done my bit in the war against crap but I do not think I am going to get involved in any more protests."

The attacktook place after furious public debate about the suitability of the festive scene, which showed the Beckhams standing by a crib, with the pop singer Kylie Minogue hovering above them as an angel. Mr Bush, as one of the Magi, was accompanied by Tony Blair and the Duke of Edinburgh. The tableau had been chosen on the basis of suggestions by visitors to the museum, one of the most popular attractions in Britain. But it caused outrage among religious leaders and commentators. The Vatican described the scene as "certainly in very poor taste" while the Daily Mail spluttered that it was "tawdry and vulgar".

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, head of the Roman Catholic church in England and Wales, said: "It seems incredible that Christianity, particularly Christmas, is displayed in a way that is so tasteless. To have a special part of Christianity depicted in this way seems to me to be not just disrespectful to Christians, it is also disrespectful to the heritage of Britain and also does damage to the culture of this country."

Anstice told the court yesterday that he felt the only way to resolve the situation was through direct action.

On the Sunday of the attack he travelled by train from his home in West Haddon, near Coventry, before queuing to pay his £21.99 entrance fee.

The court heard he then waited for a group of children to pass the exhibit before climbing over the barrier, attacking it and fleeing the scene via a flight of back stairs. The damaged display was removed for repair but did not return in time for 3 January, when it was scheduled to be dismantled.

Despite his years steeped in the intricacies of criminal law and jurisprudence, the lecturer showed little knowledge of how to escape a crime without punishment. He was caught on closed-circuit television inside the museum and police traced him using the credit card he used to pay for his ticket, the court heard.

District Judge Daphne Wickham, who said that the lecturer had been "moved to act in this way", sentenced him to a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered him to pay £100 in damages to the museum.

Mr Anstice remained combative about the reasons for his desire to abandon his learning and smash up waxwork celebrities in the name of faith.

He said: "It was very difficult to know what to do. I cannot justify vandalism. There had been very large protests but Madame Tussauds weren't doing anything to review that or respect that.

"No church gave me blessing to do what I did but there did not seem to be another way of protesting. I apologise to the court but I find it very difficult to apologise from my heart to Madame Tussauds."

Mr. Asnis, if it's any consolation, Majikthise won't apologize to Mme Tussauds, either.

Comments

[Herbert Browne]

WOW... another skirmish in the War on Nouns. Our hero, taken down by the captured info on his credit card and a security cam... fantastic. He must have spoken well in court, to get out with a 100-pound fine, though... wonder what it would have been for a perpetrator who was a Maronite Syrian dishwasher? (Ahhh, such a one could never afford the $40 price of admission!) ^..^

[marksteen]

Hey LB, I like the pictures of you casting the spell on Rude-y, who most likely deserved it. But, whenever I see large chunks of articles printed out in a blog post with no commentary, I always wonder what to think. Is it just as a weird curiosity? Just another way to fill in some space, what with blogs needing to stay alive by constant postings? Perhaps another way to get some more comment, whatever it's like, even like mine? I'm not sure. It is pretty funny and weird, I admit, I'm glad to know about it. But what do you think? Did Antstice do something wrong? (excepting the rather boring question of whether he did something illegal, which he obviously did). I'm rather split. I think the display was rather disgusting, but I also think what Antstice did was wrong as well, esp. as a Christian. A better thing to do was to kneel down and pray in front of the display, perhaps [I don't even know about that, and expect some sardonic reactions to even that comment no doubt]. I would hope that non-Christians would be somewhat sickened by the display as well, but I'm probably wrong about that as well. [the reason I say this as that I imagine a lot of non-Christians would take particular exception to Christian displays of non-tolerance, which would entail, to be consistent, some kind of tolerance of Christians]. That display, when I heard about it, brought about many split feelings. It was kind of funny, in it's odd way [I don't mind the irony of showing G.Bush as a wise man], but it seemed kind of gross. Whatever you think of Jesus' divinity, most people would admit at least that he was a wise, compassionate man. So, what would the motives be behind the display? It seems like the worst kind of crass commercialism. So, there's a certain good feeling [which I feel bad about] in knowing that it crashed down. I would think that even some non-Christians would share the same thoughts. Whady'all think?

[Kevin Hayden]

I suppose, after 'Piss Christ' a proper progressive should defend art as art, period.

But then, Mr. anstice wasn't really a vandal. He was a performance artist.

I rate him a 'B' artist, though. An 'A' would require a lit candle to the magi's 'jewels'...

[Lindsay Beyerstein]

Mark, I posted the entire article to "archive" it for posterity. It struck me as incredibly funny and I would have hated to see it disappear behind the Independent's firewall in 24 hours.

The display was incredibly tacky, but I think it was wrong to smash it. The idea of a Beckham/Victoria nativity scene doesn't offend me on any deep level. Nativity scene spoofs are a standard trope--everyone from Monty Python to the Simpsons has done one.

If the guy wanted to do something, he could have commissioned a piece of Christian art and donated it to his church, or something. That would have been much more appropriate than smashing the display.

[rob helpy-chalk]

Hey Lindsay,

You know that those pictures only confirm my suspicion that you only own one t-shirt. Or perhaps you just own several identical shirts?

[John Emerson]

If conservative Christians genuinely were interested in a war against cheesiness, I would be sorely, sorely tempted. I might end up abandoning my atheist calling entirely, or perhaps becoming a hyphenated atheo-evangelical.

But fortunately for everyone, there is no dilemma. This is a struggle between two competing brands of cheese.

[marksteen]

LB and John and Kevinseem to have it right...
[btw, LB, I think mere funniness is enough to justify posting it].
Also, where does Monty Python do a spoof on a Nativity scene? I have all the Flying Circus episodes, seen all the movies, etc. I just don't remember it.
My favorite media scene involving a Nativity scene is in "Diner", where a drunk Kevin Bacon in his underwear sits in the manger, and when his friends try to deal with him they get in a fight, knocking over the wise men, and Bacon brandishes the plastic baby Jesus as a weapon.

[Lindsay Beyerstein]

Monty Python spoofs the nativity in Life of Brian. Maybe elswhere, too, but that's all I can think of off hand.

[Kriston]

I sometimes wonder what it would be like if Robert Mapplethorpe were still alive and exhibiting today. The general conversation in art has strayed from some of these topics, so you don't see too many Piss Christs floating around (pardon the pun), but I have wondered how today's more prominent fringe Christians would respond to those NEA artists.

[oliver]

Destruction and censorship of public art out of religious intolerance deserves more serious treatment in the newspaper, especially when so many people feel the same temptation as that guy decided to indulge. I don't see it as a lot different than shattering a shop window because it has a Jewish star on it.

[markg]

Imagine that! someone exploiting christ for personal gain, and christians protesting. just think if politicians tried it, say the president of the U.S. for example. christians all over would be up in arms, right?

[Karan Sharma]

Mr Anstice,
You are a legend!!!!!!!!!! U rule Hahaahahahaha
David becks

[max stern]

i love you sir. u are a legend for what u did and i love u more thn pete doherty.

[David]

Well this isnt entirely true. James Anstice is my politics teacher and he tells it a little differently. Also there is the fact that he is not religious.

[AR]

lol, James Anstice is my law teacher!
He cracks me up!
-max stern - James is surely religious, if u believe in God u must b religious. i have heard him say he believes in God. Also do u go bedford college den?
-Karan Sharma - lol, u love him more than pete doherty, im sure he'd b pleased t know dat. lmao
n hu is Markg? y did he put david becks, im pretty doubtful dat it is actually david beckham.

[Ali Galt]

I was in Mr. Anstice's class wen he was at my school bak in the west midlands. I found this and i wanted to ask him- has he finished writing his book and wot's it called? if anyone can get bak to me on tht thnx.

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