The artist does not exist to decorate your walls and to paint your house. Her purpose isn't limited to making sure you are entertained.

The artist is your society's conscience. The artist is the one who reminds you that you are human. The artist is the one who shows you beauty and fear and kindness and ugliness so that you may see it all in yourself.

Without the artist you will forget who you are. Without the artist you will fail to be human. There is a reason the study of the arts is called the Humanities.

The artist doesn't hurt religion. She hurts your view of religion. And religion is not, as you think sometimes, a thing that came from above. It was the artist who gave you religion. And the artist gives you religion, every single day.

That which you consider religion is old art - art that was created in ancient times. It was poetry and paintings and narration and meaning. It was all that art does even today.

You have forgotten, but it was the artist who built all that you hold dear today. The sacred texts you revere, the gods and heroes you cherish, the holy places and shrines you wish to protect - the artist gave them to you. The artist wrote them, built them, drew them into existence. You're welcome!

You have forgotten that the rules you live by were made by artists. When you wish to disassociate your lifestyle from "those artist types" who say your religion has issues, you have no clue what you are doing. But still, if you want to continue to pretend your religion exists independent of its creators, feel free.

But know that even as you do that, the artist is creating belief systems of tomorrow. The artist is taking parts of your religion - her original code base - and building new ways of living that your children will swear by in the centuries to come.

In the meantime, we will decorate your walls, because why not? You’re not evil. You’re just misguided. But you’ll learn who we are. And more importantly, you’ll learn who you are.