Posted on 08/17/2012 4:22:14 PM PDT by BurningOak
Moscow (CNN) -- There is no basic human right to barge into a church to make a political statement, jump around near the altar, and shout obscenities. But there is most certainly the right not to lose your liberty for doing so, even if the act is offensive.
But that is exactly what happened Friday. A court in Moscow sentenced the three members of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot to two years in prison.
In my two decades monitoring human rights in Russia I've never seen anything like the Pussy Riot case -- the media attention, the outpouring of public support, the celebrity statements for the detained and criminally charged punk band members.
The image of three young women facing down an inexorable system of unfair justice and an oppressive state has crystallized for many in the West what is wrong with human rights in Russia. To be sure, it is deeply troubling.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
What, and let the opportunity to print & say PUSSY RIOT all over the airwaves go to waste?
Good point.
But there is most certainly the right not to lose your liberty for doing so, even if the act is offensive.
Really? Are you saying that queers busting into a Catholic mass face no consequences for doing so? Or when that guy in Maine rolled a pig’s head into a mosque, that would be ok?
I understand that the church and state there may be intertwined. But that particular sentiment is not what we would want to see applied here....imho
They condemned the corrupt church leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church and its marriage to the Kremlin tyrant. If Christ was alive today he would be seating in jail with them.
The only thing that stops pussy riots from killing you is the law.
The self-generated high profile of these young women created a direct challenge to the regime whose hand they seemed determined to force (they had been arrested and “warned” before the church incident). I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they thought it would make a difference when Putin either looked away, or overreacted and showed himself to be a thin-skinned little fellow posing as a dictator — knowing they would pay a heavy price. (A two-year sentence starving in Russia’s TB-infested jails can be the death penalty.) They deserve respect for courage, and in Russia, sitting in prison for a cause traditionally wins sympathy (no benefits, but private sympathy). Putin was boss, is boss, will be boss. This required demonstration?
2 years for a protest? I think a 50 dollar fine would be enough. Again, their real offense was pointing out the uncomfortable fact that the church is currently in the service of the KGB. Freedom of speech is there so people can tell uncomfortable truths.
These chicks would have cheered when Stalin blew up the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.
Pretty sure if they pulled the same stunt in the National Cathedral with an anti-Hussein Obama song complete with face masks they would have been taken down permanently by the apparatchiks here in the good ole USSA.
I agree, although I think a few months of cooling off would have been adequate.
I don’t think that there is a “natural right”, there OR here, to disturb the religious observances of others as long as those observances aren’t in themselves a public nuisance or an offense (i.e., animal sacrifice, etc.).
A $50 fine? A traffic ticket is more than that.
” the church is currently in the service of the KGB. “
Currently?
Thanks for clearing all that up, BurningOak.
So they did a less violent, more polite version of what Christ did at the Jewish temple? Granted these girls are obviously leftists and sexual anarchists, but they did a righteous thing by pointing out corruption at a house of worship.
Yeah, they picked the wrong place to protest. But I don’t think they have a right to trespass and create a disturbance. But 30 days would do it, not 2 years.
Martyrs? Are you joking? These women are disgusting.
Putin is indeed a gangster as well
What does that add up to? Me not giving a s*** and hoping the USA stays completely out of it, as there is absolutely nothing to be gained from getting involved.
The current leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church is married to the exact same people that blew up cathedrals under Stalin.
Not sure where this writer gets his information; he must make it up. These three nasty women burst into Moscow's golden-domed Christ the Saviour Cathedral wearing bright ski masks, tights and short skirts to storm the alter during a service. They smirked and giggled when the verdict was read to them.
A poll of Russians released by the independent Levada research group showed that 94% agreed with the verdict and 51 percent found nothing good about them.
Facts overlooked by Madonna and the liberal press.
Oh, really? This is the same Russian Orthodox Church that struggled to survive under murderous atheistic Communism for more than six decades? They're going to ally with a guy you say is pushing Communism and new (Communist) Soviet Union?
Get real, and quit unjustly demonizing Christian clerics because you don't like Putin.
The Church deals with Putin because he's not anti God, anti Christian or anti Jew.
Putin is pro Russia, interestingly, so is the Russian Orthodox Church.
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