Pussy Riot

On February 21, 2012, a Russian feminist punk band named Pussy Riot went to the altar of Moscow's main Christ the Saviour cathedral and performed their song "punk prayer".  Based on filming of their performance in this Orthodox Christian church, they produced this video:





Here is a translation of "punk prayer":

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Chorus)
St. Maria, Virgin, Drive away Putin
Drive away! Drive away Putin!
(end chorus)

Black robe, golden epaulettes
All parishioners are crawling and bowing
The ghost of freedom is in heaven
Gay pride sent to Siberia in chains

The head of the KGB is their chief saint
Leads protesters to prison under escort
In order not to offend the Holy
Women have to give birth and to love

Holy shit, shit, Lord's shit!
Holy shit, shit, Lord's shit!

(Chorus)
St. Maria, Virgin, become a feminist
Become a feminist, Become a feminist
(end chorus)

Church praises the rotten dictators
The cross-bearer procession of black limousines
In school you are going to meet with a teacher-preacher
Go to class - bring him money!

Patriarch Gundyaev believes in Putin
Bitch, you better believed in God
Belt of the Virgin is no substitute for mass-meetings
In protest of our Ever-Virgin Mary!

(Chorus)
St. Maria, Virgin, Drive away Putin
Drive away! Drive away Putin!
(end chorus)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pussy Riot was charged in Russian court with hooliganism.  Prosecutors asked for three-year prison sentences.  Orthodox priest Vsevolod Chaplin said "It was a sin against God and it is God that is judging it".  International reaction was swift and universally on the side of Pussy Riot calling the court a kangaroo court on a witch hunt and like the medieval inquisition.  International celebrities like Madonna rallied in support of Pussy Riot calling the case censorship and a violation of free speech.  A Russian deputy prime minister, Dmitry Rogozin, called Madonna a "Moralizing Slut".  Russian President Vladimir Putin weighed in taking a compromise stance of criticizing Pussy Riot but saying that they shouldn't be judged too strictly.

In my personal research on this case, I couldn't find a single web page condemning Pussy Riot.  Even the comments on an Orthodox Christian forum universally condemned the prosecution of Pussy Riot as being too harsh.

These are the facts of the case.  Now I will give my opinion.  I condemn Pussy Riot for their actions.  And I condemn Christians for failing to defend their religion.  If Pussy Riot had done this in a mosque or orthodox synagogue, they would likely have been beaten up right then and there.  This is an appropriate response.

Let us judge Pussy Riot's actions.  The argument for free speech is utter nonsense.  Pussy Riot is free to say whatever they want on their own property, but they do not have the right to break into someone else's property to give their speech.  My enemy is free to publicly condemn me from his home, but he has no right to break into my home and insult me to my face.

So what exactly is Pussy Riot's crime?  Trespassing is a minor part of it.  If they had just walked across the alter, that would have been trespassing in itself.  What about blasphemy?  Blasphemy is a sin, not a crime.  And simply insulting God in the privacy of one's own home is blasphemy, what Pussy Riot did was far worse.  What about hooliganism and vandalism?  This only describes destruction of property or general lawless behavior and doesn't begin to capture what Pussy Riot did.  Desecration?  If Pussy Riot had performed in the church when no one was present, this would have been desecration.  Performing while church members were present is far worse than just desecration.

Since we can't find a simple word to catalog the crime, let us try to describe the crime.  What they did was an extreme violation of the privacy of the church.  It violated the sanctity of the church.  Pussy Riot forced themselves on the church in a most profane manner.  This violation of the church was a foreign invasion designed to destroy the sacred space of the church.

There is a crime that very closely matches the description I just presented.  This crime is rape.  A man forcing himself on a woman is a violation of her privacy and her sanctity.  Pussy Riot forced themselves on the church in the same manner.  Pussy Riot is guilty of spiritual rape.  Pussy Riot should receive the same punishment that would be given for rape.

If a man sees his wife or daughter being raped, what is the appropriate response?  I say it is entirely appropriate to react with violence.  And if a man sees his church being raped, I say the same response is warranted.  It is man's responsibility to defend his family, his tribe, and his church, with violence if necessary.  What men refuse to defend will soon be destroyed.  If men refuse to defend their church, then their church will be conquered by another religion.  This is what has happened to most of Christianity which has been conquered by Modernism.  Pussy Riot launched a Modernist attack right at the heart of Orthodox Christianity and Orthodox Christians have generally failed to defend themselves.

What explains this failure of Orthodox Christians to defend their religion?  I believe the answer is that Orthodox Christians, like most Christians, have been corrupted by Modernism.  Their allegiance is divided between Christianity and Modernism, so they refuse to defend one against the other.  Modernists have no such issues, their allegiance to Modernism is pure.

Imagine that a group of Ku Klux Klan broke into a black gathering and began to spew racist hatred.  What would happen?  If they weren't beaten up right there, they would certainly be arrested and charged with hate crimes.  No one would rally to their defense.  No one would talk about free speech.  The point is that the issue isn't really abstract arguments.  These are just a cover.  What matters is which side of the culture war one is on.  Modernists defend Pussy Riot because Pussy Riot is on the Modernist side of the culture war.  Modernists would never defend the Ku Klux Klan, even if their actions are the same as Pussy Riot's, because the Ku Klux Klan isn't on the Modernist side of the culture war.  In the case of Pussy Riot, not only are they Modernists, but they attacked the Orthodox Church which is not yet completely conquered by Modernism.  So Pussy Riot is celebrated by Modernists for their bravery in the culture war, for their work to conquer one of the last holdouts in Christianity against Modernism.

In the Orthodox Church, priests dress distinctly and receive a distinct education which separates them from the mainstream.  And because of this, Orthodox priests generally have a stronger allegiance to Christianity than to Modernism.  This is why the Russian Orthodox Church was willing to bring the Pussy Riot case to trial.  But the Orthodox Christian laity has no distinctive dress and no distinct education.  They have nothing of significance to separate themselves from mainstream Modernist culture.  And so they are infected and corrupted by Modernism and are unwilling to take a stand to defend their church from Modernist attacks.

Orthodox Christianity is facing a choice.  Either they must take a clear stand against mainstream Modernist culture and draw their laity away from Modernism.  Or Orthodox Christianity will be forced to submit to Modernism, as the Catholic Church has done.  The Pussy Riot case is a battle in the culture war of Modernism versus Orthodox Christianity.  And the Modernists are winning this battle.