I am declaring war on Jon McNaughton.

Forgive me for this untypically opinionated and finger-wagging post. Some of my readers might happen to like McNaughton. We are still friends. Just know that I will never compliment you for hanging him on your wall.

The man's propaganda is, if I may borrow Huxley's term, "herd-poisoning" the people with the artistic aesthetic of a Thomas Kinkade (had Kinkade painted people instead of cozy cottage landscapes).

(At least cozy cottage landscapes aren't offensive, short-sighted, and self-righteous.)

I've also declared war on Glenn Beck, but at least he's mostly a comic strip character. McNaughton is selling his works to be framed over sofas as religious proclamations (which they are most definitely not). Except instead of being inspirational reminders of our own humility and dependence on God, he has created political allegories that blow into flame whatever ignorant opinions are stereotypical of green Jello culture. Doesn't he realize the riskiness of such overt and shameless symbolism? Does he feel no regret at polarizing complex problems, or refusing to suspend his own judgment long enough to consider other viewpoints as valid as his own?

And how are so many good people fine with accepting his interpretations of God, country, and mankind? Have we lost the art of questioning? Do we believe anything we see if it's been painted with soft lighting, contains familiar faces, and sold at a Deseret Book?

Enough! Propaganda is not art! It's delusive and breeds fear and prejudice. It does not inspire community or brotherhood or self-examination, but rather it builds walls between neighbors and promotes self-congratulation.

I declare war on you, Jon McNaughton. I'm disappointed that a man with access to so much light and knowledge still hasn't learned what it means to think before mass-producing disinformation under the guise of religious art. I've seen your latest, and I'm sick from it. I can't sit down about this any longer.

Didn't President Hinckley teach us that, "There is too much intolerance in the world. There is too much of it in our own society"? In his essay to college students, "Out of Your Experience Here," he says, "How enriched is the individual who, as he or she goes out into the world, knows that all men and women are sons and daughters of God, each endowed with a divine birthright. How beneficial to come to the realization that, since we are all children of God, we all are brothers and sisters in a very real sense." So why paint pictures that are going to turn brothers against brothers with stereotyping and the slandering of people from Charles Darwin to President Obama? Your images are nothing but straw men, but the people look to your work as if you've paved them in brick. Have you no conscience?

If you want to draw a political cartoon, draw one. Make a statement. But don't tout your opinions as if they were gospel. Don't sell them into homes on the premise that it will make their dwellings holy.

I declare war on you, Jon McNaughton.