[piasa]

They might have earned a sympathetic ear if they had kept their "political" protesting outside the church and in front of a political venue. Instead, they do Putin a genuine favor by acting like sluts and jackasses, insuring that the faithful would never want to associate themselves with "dissidents."

A *brilliant* move it is to give one's enemy the opportunity to play defender of the faith. Putin could not have asked for better helpers.

That people defend this behavior and even compare it to "classic" Russian dissidents like Solzhenitzen is galling.

[dirtboy]

That people defend this behavior and even compare it to "classic" Russian dissidents like Solzhenitzen is galling.

Somehow, I think Solzhenitzen would be much more sympathetic to what Pussy Riot did than to those who fail to stand up to Putin by going to church and not demanding their church be a house of worship instead of an organ of a fascist state.

[Buckhead]

If you’ve not done so already, I encourage you to actually read their statements to the court. They quote Dostoevsky, Solzhenitsin, Bukovsky and scripture, among others, and refer to the trials of Socrates and Brodsky. You may chose to reject their claim because they have a punk aesthetic that you do not find congenial, or because you are offended they sang a song not found in the Russian Orthodox hymnal, “Mother of God, Drive Putin Out,” but it is crystal clear that they explicitly place themselves in the Russian intellectual and Christian dissident traditions. To my eyes they have a fully articulated and indeed quite eloquent rationale for doing so.

[Cronos]

Instead, they do Putin a genuine favor by acting like sluts and jackasses, insuring that the faithful would never want to associate themselves with "dissidents." A *brilliant* move it is to give one's enemy the opportunity to play defender of the faith. Putin could not have asked for better helpers.

Exactly. Straightaway these "useful idiots" have pushed away people who were fence-sitters or just confused. it has already been wonderful for Putin to paint all opposition as PR-type.

The opposition like Kasparov should not be considered the same as PR, but PR's antics have besmirched them, pushing back the moral authority of the opposition.