Not only do I think the world is going to hell (if there is such a place) just about every morning as I listen to the news describing one horror after another from mass genocide and war to homicide and corporate corruption — but today I had a special slide into misery as I heard a report on a Texas school teacher who was fired for taking her students to an art museum where they saw a nude sculpture (oh and I bet you anything that is was a woman's body that was deemed offensive!). Oh geezus - nudity! - the ultimate offense to ones aesthetics. Uh excuse me Mr. Prosecutor and Mr. Plaintiff (because again I'm just guessing that these two are men), are you or have you ever been nude?

This news disturbs me deeply because it invades a core value I hold dearly which is that art is to be revered. Art should be available to see (and touch when possible) for people of all ages in every place across the world. Art should be everywhere from public spaces, private collections, public museums and most especially in your mind - the most sacred of all places. Art is the representation of nature and simultaneously a powerful glimpse into the artist's mind. Sure art can offend you as some people's minds will, but that very dialogue or inner stirring is what makes art wonderful. Perhaps you'll question why you are offended or upset by what you see —ask questions and find the answers. If you can't handle your child seeing art from the conceptually abstract to the hyper realistic, then don't sign your child's permission slip to go on the museum outing in the first place. Secondly, you'd better move far far away from most civilization so you can be sure not to run into a nude sculpture or your neighbors cleavage.

Here are a mere few of the world's wonderful nudes from a variety of the worlds best museums, including Texas:

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