A New York artist is lifting up the holy grail of art controversies. But he’s being damned for actions that are anything but a sin.

Cosimo Cavallaro has created his second version of an anatomically correct statue of Jesus made out of chocolate called “My Sweet Lord,” which is evoking some resistance from a Roman Catholic group in the city. He began receiving opposition for the statue, which resembles Jesus on the cross, when the first version had its debut at an art show four days before Good Friday when Christians mark the crucifixion of Christ. Cavallaro created a new statue after mice nibbled away at the first, and has received negative feedback, some in the form of death threats, but he also has garnered a positive response.

The Catholic League, the outspoken minority in the issue, claims they are not making a fuss of biblical proportions about this new statue this time around because it is not being shown during the Holy season, but the more likely reason is they realized how ridiculous and fanatical their claims sounded in the media after the first time they protested.

Also, the fact that people would send death threats to Cavallaro over something as petty as an expressive piece of art is more than a light gesture. It is hypocritical of those who call themselves Christians to threaten to take the life of another person.

Cavallaro is simply expressing his artistic vision of Jesus through an unconventional medium. If people would stop, they might see the correlation in using chocolate to depict Christ. Chocolate is recognized as an intimate food with strong emotions – the same traits Christians hope to have with Jesus.

This disdain for Cavallaro’s experimentation with mediums is small, and those who support him are seeing past the controversy and into the intended interpretive nature of art.