You know, over an offensive artistic insult to our religion?

An Italian museum on Thursday defied Pope Benedict and refused to remove a modern art sculpture portraying a crucified green frog holding a beer mug and an egg that the Vatican had condemned as blasphemous.

The board of the Museion museum in the northern city of Bolzano decided by a majority vote that the frog was a work of art and would stay in place for the remainder of an exhibition.

The wooden sculpture by the late German artist Martin Kippenberger depicts a frog about 1 metre 30 cm (4 feet) high nailed to brown cross and holding a beer mug in one outstretched hand and an egg in another.

Called "Zuerst die Fuesse," (Feet First), it wears a green loin cloth and is nailed through the hands and the feet in the manner of Jesus Christ. Its green tongue hangs out of its mouth.

I find the work to be both offensive and blasphemous. But I'm not going to embark on a campaign of senseless violence over it. neither are other followers of Christ.

After all, we are not Muslims.

I'm curious, though -- would the artist as readily depict Muhammad holding a beer and a bacon sandwich, perhaps while molesting his child-bride Aisha? If not, why not?

Would it be because they have greater respect for the faith of the false prophet?

Or just that they recognize that involvement with such an artistic project would significantly shorten their life expectancy?