Compare and Contrast The Holy/Unholy Relationship Between Jesus and Mary

Here's an assignment for you over the holidays as we are still in the Christmas season: compare and contrast the relationship between Jesus and The Virgin Mary.  You will need two points of view on their relationship.  From the University of North Carolina at Wilmington's Writing Center:

COMPARE Focus on all important similarities between the two concepts or
topics presented. Some professors may use just “compare” when
they really mean “compare and contrast,” which calls for
examination of differences as well.

DEFINE Give a clear meaning of a term or issue, with detail to indicate you
really understand it. A good definition should show limits or
restrictions of the term as well as some comparing and contrasting
elements. You may also use examples, but an example alone is an
inadequate definition.

There is a reason I used UNCW Writing Center's link.  One of the points of view on the Jesus/Mary relationship comes from a newly hired English literature professor at the university.

The first view (as heard in the Gospel lesson in the Fourth Sunday of Advent) Luke 1:39-45:

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.  When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb.  And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.  And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?  For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy.  And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord."

The second view on the Jesus/Mary relationship is from Alessandro Porco, newly hired English literature professor at UNCW,  From PopMatters:

Tell us about your latest book:
My latest collection of poetry is Augustine in Carthage, and Other Poems (ECW Press), which will be officially released in late March / early April. It’s been four years since I finished writing The Jill Kelly Poems (ECW Press)—my book-length ode to the adult-film star affectionately referred to as “the anal queen.”

Basically, these little artifacts began as a dare and evolved into something quite lovely (albeit, depraved, too). As a whole, these limericks make The Jill Kelly anal-sex poems seems like a rather Victorian G-rated affair—hence, my nervousness. While I certainly don’t want to spoil anything (here’s my pitch: by the book to read what I’m talking about), I can give a hint of what I’m describing: e.g. the Holy Mother Mary satisfying Jesus and, maybe, just maybe, there may be some sexual intercourse involving amputees. If that sounds like something you’d be into, please do pick up the book (and, then, maybe you should see somebody)!

To compare and contrast, it is important to evaluate the information from your sources.  From the Writing Center:

EVALUATE React to the topic or problem in a logical way, applying theories or
principles learned in the course. If available, use other reliable
sources as well as your own reaction to support your statements.
Include reasons for your opinions and how and why you formed
your evaluation.

In researching the first view from the Bible verse, it would be helpful to research other verses and scholarly works about why Mary is considered blessed because of her relationship with Jesus.

In researching the second view of "the Holy Mother Mary satisfying Jesus", here is some information on Professor Porco from campusreform.org:

The University of North Carolina-Wilmington has hired an English literature professor whose pornographic poetry verse include fantasies of sexual relations with freshmen female students, an education watchdog (John William Pope Center) reported this week. (MEW note: for more poems by Porco and discussion on the professor's writings, access this link)

Professor Alessandro Porco, who was just hired by the UNC-Wilmington, has authored a number of explicit pornographic poems.

In Prof. Alessandro Porco’s poem “Hot Girl-Girl Action University” the fictional university president Jill Kelly offers a welcome to the freshman class.

“Who would say No to a gang-bang?
Who would say No to Prof. Poon-Tang?
Who would say No to my scholarly toungin’?
Thank you fathers for your daughters.”

That poem is part The Jill Kelly Poems, ranked 3,963,932 on Amazon, which chronicles the life of a porn star through poetry.

In another collection, Augustine in Carthage (MEW note: where Mary/Jesus poem appears), Porco included what he describes as the “21 of the filthiest limericks I could think to write.”

Does it seem to you that Professor Porco thinks women are used to satisfy others and themselves regardless of their relationships?  How would you feel about your 17 year old freshman daughter being taught by a man who might just view women as sexual beings used for his pleasure?  Oh, silly me!  It's based on a fictional female university professor so I take that to mean it isn't the professor's true beliefs and young women should welcome a different way of behaving and thinking about themselves, right?

An education watchdog group is not too happy with Porco's hiring at UNCW:

Jay Shalin, of the watchdog group the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy pointed out the controversial hiring in an opinion piece earlier this week and argued that parents should be wary of placing their young adults in the classroom with Porco.

“Parents should think twice about placing their impressionable offspring into the hands of Dr. Porco and his UNC-Wilmington colleagues who found him to be an acceptable,” wrote Shalin.

“[T]here is something disturbing and predatory—and all too real—about that line, when written by the lascivious Dr. Porco,” he added.

The university's response?

Campus Reform was unable to reach Porco for comment, but a spokesperson for the University of North Carolina -- Wilmington said the school had hired Proco based on his expertise.

He "was hired based on his record of scholarship, experience, subject matter expertise, and references,” Janine Iamunno, executive director for university relations, told Campus Reform in a statement on Friday.

“[W]hile some may disagree personally with the content of an individual’s writings, the content of those writings constitute protected speech,” Iamunno added.

Compare and contrast the two points of view on the Jesus and Mary relationship.  Is Mary The Holy Mother and Blessed or should she be seen to satisfy Jesus?

We would love to hear your comments.  One reader did point out that protected speech may only flow in one direction, but that's a subject for another day:

Mary Creekmore · Top Commenter · Toccoa Falls College

Disgusting that taxpayers have to support this. But let a conservative Christian professor try to get hired at UNC. Court Denies Conservative Pundit-Professor's Bias Claim Against University.
By Peter Schmidt.
A federal court has rejected a claim that the University of North Carolina at Wilmington committed viewpoint discrimination against Michael S. Adams, a prominent conservative commentator and associate professor of criminology, by denying him a promotion based partly on its review of online columns and other expressions of opinion that he included in his application to move up the ranks.