{"id":374,"date":"2012-08-20T18:38:00","date_gmt":"2012-08-20T18:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2012\/08\/russia-does-not-heart-pussy-rioters-or-gays.html"},"modified":"2012-08-20T18:38:00","modified_gmt":"2012-08-20T18:38:00","slug":"russia-does-not-heart-pussy-rioters-or-gays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2012\/08\/russia-does-not-heart-pussy-rioters-or-gays.html","title":{"rendered":"Russia Does Not Heart Pussy Rioters Or Gays"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Russians seem to love authoritarianism.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s the czarist, Communist or modern variety.<\/p>\n

The latest flavor is different only in degrees.\u00a0 Czar Vladimir, like his spiritual predecessors, has embraced God, specifically the Russian Orthodox Church, as a convenient enforcer.\u00a0 Protest band Pussy Riot learned this the hard way.\u00a0 From Masha Lipman at The New Yorker<\/a>:<\/p>\n

In her tedious three-hour reading of the sentence, Judge Marina Syrova repeated the same absurd phrasings that were heard from the prosecution during the hearings. The Pussy Riot women, who are all between twenty-two and thirty, were convicted for violating \u201cconceivable and inconceivable rules\u201d; for \u201cemphatically vulgar\u201d and \u201cdeliberately provocative\u201d gesturing; for \u201ccrossing themselves in a parodied way;\u201d for their clothing, \u201cinappropriate in a church\u201d; and for other acts that \u201coffended the feelings of religious believers.\u201d The thirty or forty seconds they performed in an almost empty church were characterized as a premeditated act of criminal hooliganism, a grave violation of public order.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Russians\u2019 treatment of LGBT citizens is just as bad.\u00a0 The news about Pussy Riot overshadowed this tidbit<\/a>:<\/p>\n

A city court in Moscow Friday upheld a decision to ban LGBT pride parades for the next 100 years. The decision affirms a Moscow municipal government ruling banning public gatherings that could be classified as gay pride marches from March 2012 until May 2112.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

At her recent St. Petersburg concert, Madonna, who was outspoken in her defense of Pussy Riot, defied another new law<\/a> banning gay political action.\u00a0 Now she\u2019s being sued.\u00a0 I was never a huge fan of her music, but I\u2019m a big fan of her.<\/p>\n

As a child of the Cold War I was raised on the evils of the Soviet Union.\u00a0 I celebrated with the rest of the world when the USSR came tumbling down.\u00a0 And I suppose that things are somewhat better for many Russians now.<\/p>\n

Just don\u2019t tell that to the LGBT community or the members of Pussy Riot.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Russians seem to love authoritarianism.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s the czarist, Communist or modern variety. The latest flavor is different only in degrees.\u00a0 Czar Vladimir, like his spiritual predecessors, has embraced God, specifically the Russian Orthodox Church, as a convenient enforcer.\u00a0 Protest band Pussy Riot learned this the hard way.\u00a0 From Masha Lipman at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[10,16],"class_list":["post-374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogentries","tag-church-and-state","tag-homophobia"],"yoast_head":"\nRussia Does Not Heart Pussy Rioters Or Gays<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Russians seem to love authoritarianism.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s the czarist, Communist or modern variety. 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