Punk band Pussy Riot performs during protest at the
Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, Feb. 21.
Pussy Riot Punks and the 'Innocence of Christians' (Komsomolskaya Pravda, Russia)
"We
finally have an answer to the question of what would have happened to the
feminist-punk band Pussy Riot if they had jerked
their legs around and screamed in a mosque. It was provided by the tens of
thousands of average Muslims who have destroyed U.S. embassies, instigated
anti-American rioting and even killed an American envoy."
Madonna on tour in Europe shows her colors, stamping the name of a band of young women named Pussy Riot who were so bold as to challenge Vladimir Putin.
Well, we finally have an answer to the question of what
would have happened to the feminist-punk band Pussy Riotif
they had jerked their legs around and screamed in a mosque. The answer
wasn’t provided by the politically-motivated and tolerant clutch of imams presented
by the liberal community as examples for the "obscurantist" Russian
Orthodox Church, but by the tens of thousands of average Muslims who have
destroyed U.S. Embassies, instigated anti-American rioting and even killed an
American envoy who had played a major role in freeing them from “tyranny.”
The official reason for the wave of protest in the Muslim
world is an amateur video production entitled The Innocence of Muslims, which uses an insulting tone to tell the
story of the Prophet Mohammad. (Incidentally, when I watched a clip of the film
on the Internet, I felt nothing but disgust, convinced that the film was made
by a former porn director). In both the case of Pussy Riot and this film, there is contempt for the feelings of
believers.
Posted
by Worldmeets.US
The unrest spread across the Muslim world (not just in the
Middle East, the Maghreb and Central Asia, but even in Australia and the E.U., and with the exception of Saudi Arabia and other
equally-odiously clerical regimes in the Persian Gulf, where total silence
prevails. And this is yet another reason to think about what is going on). The
people who suffer as a result not only have nothing to do with the making of this
provocative film, but may have not have even been aware of its existence.
Pussy
Riot members NadezhdaTolokonnikova,
Maria Alekhina
and YekaterinaSamutsevich
in a Moscow court cage in August.
It's as if in response to Pussy Riot's “punk mass,” a group of Russian Orthodox activists
attacked a local campaign office of the LGBT movement
in Ryazan or Khabarovsk. But this is not simply a matter of different reactions
by the followers of different faiths, but the reaction of the “global progressive
community.”
As you can imagine, I am talking about standing up, like Paul
McCartney, or 'backing" (as
is the case with Madonna), the protection of free expression. Or like the organized
and not-so-organized ranks of Russian and international rights activists, who
have raised their voices in defense of Pussy
Riot. But what about announcing to the Muslim world, “Hands off artists!
Temper your bigotry! Say no to repression!”? Where is the powerful voice of
liberal society?! It isn't there.
McCartney and Madonna, who are continuing their tours, are
silent, as are our petty rights activists. Could they perhaps be afraid? But
people are dying right now; unimplicated people, innocent
people.
Moreover, some petty defenders of rights and freedom have
already spoken out in condemnation of the film and its creators. People like
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton - who by the way has already privately discussed
the issue of our punk-hooligans with the foreign minister (it is said that
Sergei Lavrov was at first taken aback, not quite
understanding what Mrs. Clinton was suggesting to him). And the U.N. has
already formulated a statement that it “rejects the defamation of religion in
all its forms.”
Does that mean that whenever it affects you and begins to
burn, freedom of speech can be sacrificed? You, gentlemen [and ladies], should
make up your minds already. Because otherwise, it looks as if “human rights” need
to be protected from Russian authorities, but not from radical Islamists. Or
are you saving your voices for the day you will speak out against Russian
authorities in defense of creators of similar bullshit, only this time under
the title Innocence of Christians, as
then it will be they who face legal prosecution?
