Struggling artists who include Christian iconography in their work might want to show their portfolios to William Donohue. Donohue is the president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights in the United States. He has defended Mel Gibson's anti-Semitism, blamed the victims of the Catholic Church's pedophilia crisis and criticized President George W. Bush for sending out "holiday" cards instead of Christmas cards. Recently, he was effective in getting a Smithsonian Institution museum, the National Portrait Gallery, to pull a short film from an acclaimed exhibit of same-sex portraiture called "Hide/Seek." If Donohue can propel a little known and long dead artist from obscurity to headlines, just imagine what he could do for the careers of emerging artists whose works Donohue would wish to censor or ban? The most recent controversy in the seemingly endless culture wars is over a few seconds in a short film by artist and activist, David Wojnarowicz. The four-minute film, "Fire in My Belly," is a sometimes brutal expression of anger and rage over the AIDS epidemic that claimed the life of Wojnarowicz's lover, and would also kill the artist in 1992. "Fire in My Belly" was filmed between 1986 and 1987; a time when our government was silent and far too many others, including some faith communities, were critical of people with AIDS. Then, as now, it was artists who made us see things we might rather avoid. What William Donohue doesn't want you to see in Wojnarowicz's film is a brief scene of ants crawling over a crucifix. Donohue called the film anti-Christian and the Smithsonian pulled it from the "Hide/Seek" exhibition "because the attention it was receiving distracted from the overall exhibit..." Fortunately, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and its director, Olga Viso, are not intimidated by religious extremists or politicians who threaten to pull public funding of the arts every time a work of art upsets their personal aesthetic. Three versions of Wojnarowicz's "Fire in My Belly," including the version no longer being shown at the National Portrait Gallery, are being screened for free at the Walker through December 31. There were four of us in the audience at the screening of "Fire in My Belly" that I attended. I watched the scene of ants scurrying over a crucifix and did not see it as anti-Christian. Rather, I saw the scene as a visual depiction of a timeless question that most of us have heard – especially from people in pain and grief: If God is loving, how can he close his eyes to such suffering? In a way, William Donohue has done me a favor. I was not familiar with the work of David Wojnarowicz prior to this controversy and "Fire in My Belly" has given me a new way of looking at HIV/AIDS. I'm curious to see which artist will be in Donohue's crosshairs next. Whether dead or alive, being criticized by someone like William Donohue can only enhance one's career.