Posted on 08/22/2012 4:31:56 AM PDT by Kaslin
If Justin Bieber or the Rolling Stones suddenly decided to stage an impromptu concert in a public place somewhere in America without a permit, would the authorities ignore it and shrug it off? Doubtful. Even buskers performing in the New York City subway system can't play without formal authorization from the city.
What about taking such a musical performance into a church? If Jennifer Lopez or Madonna just showed up in a place of worship, stripped down to their skivvies and started dancing around the altar, would that fly in any Western democracy? Not likely.
So why, then, are three young women in Russia getting so much sympathy from the mainstream media for doing precisely this inside a Russian Orthodox church?
Last week, three members of the activist group Pussy Riot were each sentenced to two years in prison for hooliganism motivated by religious hatred. The group's members are part of a larger protest group called Voina, which has previously been involved in various acts of public nuisance, including group sex in a museum and shoplifting a whole chicken from a supermarket by stuffing into an activist's lady parts.
Voina and Pussy Riot are the Russian version of the Occupy Wall Street protest crowd. Their modus operandi is to use "art" in its various forms as a cover for acting like jerks and flaunting police warnings. They exploit the sentiment that artists worldwide generally should be given more behavioral license than the general public because they've historically pushed the boundaries of free expression.
One would hope that the public is able to tell the difference between Pussy Riot and, say, Voltaire -- who was thrown into a French prison for criticizing government and the Catholic Church in his extensive body of writing. Voltaire's career was writing, while Pussy Riot's entire career consists of hooliganism with a sprinkling of poor-quality "music" thrown in. Voltaire published several novels, plays, poems and essays, and in doing so, just happened to tick off the powers that be. Pussy Riot hasn't even recorded an album. Their credibility as artists is poorly established, unlike their activist background.
Boiled down, the Pussy Riot case is just another example of the social media generation's demand for instant gratification and attention in the absence of any sustained hard work. The protesters chose the shallowest form of subversion possible, their rationale apparently being that by doing a lewd can-can-girl number in a church, they can successfully overturn the government of a G8 country. That's some serious stoner logic.
The longer game of subversion would have required them to spend years working to get into a key position within the power structure, then influencing and subverting the system to change what they don't like. The effects of such an effort would have been more organic, credible and durable.
Or, at the very least, they could have practiced for several years to hone their "art" in the event that they were serious about being artists and not just serious about being hooligans. That's why Madonna can say all sorts of nonsense from a concert stage and constantly push the boundaries of free speech without getting arrested -- because she's actually earned the "artist" label and the leeway society affords it.
Somehow Russian President Vladimir Putin has been dragged into all this, presumably because this story is sexier with a Bond villain -- and because it's always preferable to hold someone else responsible for one's own bad behavior. Pussy Riot supporters claim that Putin has the long knives out for the band because they mentioned him in a song. The idea of Putin sitting around blubbering over being badmouthed by some girls in a YouTube video certainly undermines any evil image. The smearing of Putin as hypersensitive and vindictive would have been more credible had they intelligently addressed Putin's policies without breaking any laws, or associated themselves with a larger group of activists known for flaunting it relentlessly and treating it as a joke. Pussy Riot didn't keep its powder dry.
It's not as if Putin just invented the Russian law against hooliganism. The penalty of up to seven years in prison wasn't concocted especially for Pussy Riot. In fact, the same crime of religious hooliganism in Germany carries a maximum penalty of three years imprisonment -- a year more than the sentence Pussy Riot members received.
The Western media should save its tears for those who truly deserve them.
You keep assiduously avoiding the issue that a Putin KGB associate was placed as the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Church has become a mouthpiece for Putin's fascism.
I'm Episcopal. If that Church were named as the state church and Eric Holder were put in charge, and it aided and abetted an Obama crackdown on political liberties, I would approve doing far worse to that church than Pussy Riot did in that video. You act like the Russian Orthodox Church is a true Christian church now instead of an organ of a fascist state. I'm sure there are millions of good Christians who worship with the church. But the very institution has been corrupted to its core.
I was going to say that, but while I was sorting laundry, you said it. It's not "viewpoint discrimination," but consequences for actions.
I guess those guys who threw tea into Boston Harbor were wrong also, then, in destroying property to stand up to tyranny.
This writer is exactly right. These “girls” and their boyfriends/husbands had been creating a lot of mischief (to put it politely). And Putin had little to do with the case - he even called for leniency, as did the Russian Orthodox Church. The “girls” were facing a maximum seven years in prison; the prosecutor asked for three years; and they were sentenced to just two. They seem to be enjoying their worldwide fame.
“I don’t care what their court statements are. Their actions were vile and deserving of punishment. “
Well, at least we have established that your strutting, preening know-nothing ignorance is beyond remedy.
The Pope is looking at the issues of reconciling the Catholic and Orthodox churches, not making a statement about Putin's placing a KGB toady in charge. What would YOU think if Obama could put one of his henchmen in charge of your church?
You continually avoid the issue of the ROC's role in promoting Putin's fascism. And that is far more dangerous than three liberal twits putting on a protest that offends your sensibilities. Tyranny offends mine.
The Pope is looking at the issues of reconciling the Catholic and Orthodox churches, not making a statement about Putin's placing a KGB toady in charge. What would YOU think if Obama could put one of his henchmen in charge of your church?
You continually avoid the issue of the ROC's role in promoting Putin's fascism. And that is far more dangerous than three liberal twits putting on a protest that offends your sensibilities. Tyranny offends mine.
FYI ping. There is a discussion here about Putin.
Indeed, they were charged with felony-level hooliganism.
The courts are one way to suppress politically-inconvenient critics. Just look at the recent cases of Max Abramson and Ademo Freeman.
Max is a town councellor who's an outspoken critic of the corrupt and self-dealing Seabrook, NH police department, and they railroaded him on felony reckless conduct for firing a gun into the ground next to his feet in order to break up a bloody drunken brawl among miscreant, known-criminal acquaintances of his roommate.
Ademo Freeman, who reports for CopBlock.org, just got railroaded on felony wiretapping for recording phone interviews with the police department and the school principal after a cop was caught on tape slamming a student's head into a table.
If you piss off people who have control of the justice system, you can't expect justice from the system. This case in Russia is just another example.
American-style democracy is not for everyone, especially Russia, where the people are not conditioned to handle it.
During WWII, the Russian Orthodox Church was accused of cooperating with the Nazi Occupiers....however it should be pointed out, that the Nazis actually treated the ROC with a heck of a lot more respect than Stalin did. The ROC does what it has to do to survive, and sometimes that means making deals with the Devil.
I will call them what they are - fascistic.
Toodles, life is too short to waste with apologists for such.
You have proudly and defiantly refused to consider the court statements, and reveled in your ignorance of the cultural, intellectual, religious and political context and meaning of their acts and statements. To the aid and comfort of corrupt fascist gangsters.
If you think that’s winning the argument, then I heartily congratulate you on your victory.
What would you propose doing to stop it?
And if anything, China is a heck of a lot worse than Russia.
Thank you for posting the statements by Pussy Riot. Exceptional.
I highly recommend they be read.
They crossed a very serious line by doing what they did in a church. This made them, without their realizing it probably, the sharp tip of the sword against Christians that is scandalizing the world.
The fact that we don’t like Putin and his treatment of dissidents is almost irrelevant here, except that it has confused the issue enormously.
Does anyone remember the “abomination of desolation standing where it ought not”?
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