Pass The Lord and Praise the Ammunition
Artist
Ed Sorel
Date1967
Dimensions41 x 30 in. (104.1 x 76.2 cm)
ClassificationsPoster
Credit LinePoster House Permanent Collection
Object numberPH.6637
DescriptionOne of the favored topics in Sorel’s political cartoons is organized religion. Here, he features the outspoken Cardinal Francis Joseph Spellman leading the charge into Vietnam. Spellman had served as the Apostolic Vicar for the U.S. Armed Forces since 1939, the same year that he was appointed Archbishop of New York. After becoming a cardinal in 1946, he used his influence to push a strong anti-Communist agenda, going so far as to promote “necessary” conflict with Vietnam. Here, Sorel references the popular 1942 patriotic song “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition” by Frank Loesser, written in response to the attacks on Pearl Harbor. Knowing how hawkish Spellman was about the Vietnam War, Sorel inverted the lyric to indicate the cardinal’s unlikely support of violence over peace.On View
Not on view
