"Where Have all the Penises Gone?" by Joel McKerrow

I am glad the  above title of Joel McKeerow's article on RED LETTER CHRISTIANS didn't prevent you from clocking to read more (:              Good article, and yes, it's a safe click to read the whole post.
Except below:

I am writing this from Rome, the epicentre of the empire that was. Today was spent walking around Vatican City, the religious epicentre of the empire that was. Aside from the grand spectacle of the place, the magnificent architecture, the stunning frescoes there was something missing that decidedly caught my attention. It wasn’t Benedict. It was the penises. Yes, you did just read that correctly. It was the absence of the penises…on the statues that is.

It became apparent to me today that many of the statues within Vatican City museum have had their penises lopped off and replaced with a fig leaf. I do not claim to be an art historian of any variety, my interest lies more in the social implications of such an act. Historically, as far as I was able to tell through some quick research, the penis’s were removed by order of various popes in the middle ages. It is a sad desecration of these beautiful pieces of art that, in itself, symbolises a sad religious emasculation of all things sexual. Perhaps it was simply seen as improper in their time. Perhaps it was a fearful running away from anything to do with sexuality. A separation of sexuality from anything to do with spirituality. A separation of the person who is good from the body that is not.

I have heard it said that the church offers guilt without sex and that society offers sex without guilt. 

-Joel McKeerow, continued here