> Here's another example: The Popes of the Catholic Church used this
> technique to gain credibility: Great artists like Michelangelo sculpt
> statues and paint murals for the Church. People would make connections
> between genuinely great artwork and a completely bogus religion and
> would then think that the Church was great and had credibility. People
> did not have the word *non-sequitur* (meaning--it does not follow
> logically) to help them understand that there really was no logical
> connection between, say, Michelangelo's work and a silly religion. (A
> memetic term I've seen that is similar to a non-sequitur is "Trojan
> horse".)
Your point may be valid, but your Art History is incorrect. Artists such
as Michelangelo courted the Church. They went to the Church for
commissions, not the other way around. Why? Because the Church had all
the money. The same reason some artists today appeal to corporate
interests: to eat.
Prof. Tim