The Russian punk band Pussy Riot was sentenced to a term of two years being convicted of hooliganism for their profane musical performance contra Russian President Vladmir Putin from the capitol city of Moscow's main cathedral. The Russian President may have been unhappy with the egregious violation of the separation of church and state or secularism with the ladies' music lyrics. Probably he will have their sentence commuted to public service washing the feet of the poor in some distant oblast.
It is difficult to imagine the late British Punk Band The Sex Pistols being allowed to sing their hit song 'Anarchy' from Canterbury or Westminster cathedral. One wonders what the Metropolitan had in mind if the prelates gave permission for the performance of Pussy Riot in church?
Evidently the song lasted for just 40 seconds. There are several musicians and celebrities that have expressed support for Pussy Riot's right to perform secular 'prayers' in churches. One hopes that celebrities would tend to have respect for the sacredness of the church environment as well as the right of musical will-to-political-power.
It is possible that the Pussy Riot Band made a sincere expression unto God I suppose. Certainly one doesn't want much editing of prayer by secular authorities, or any at all actually.
The time span of a song isn't really the best way to judge how bad a song is. There are some songs that I switch off on hearing instantly. The hegemony of musicians via radio to take political power and exploit the masses for profit is more notable these days internationally. Mostly musicians don't sing songs that contribute to a good economy or environment that make it to mass broadcast airplay.
With the changes in Russia after the end of the cold war the restoration of nation's churches to an openly religious status has had some limits with the sects permitted to open a church being restricted. It seems probably that with the transition of youth from a godless atheist state intolerant of criticism of their mobster commie leadership (only joking) to a nihilist punk ethos without experience of churches as sacred instead of profane places they naturally wandered in to the wrong place to launch their political diatribe. The Russian President could help with that too.
Like the Londoner's' tradition of speaking from a soapbox in Hyde Park their raving attacks on Prime Minister Cameron and additional suspect politicians Moscow should develop a platform in Red Square for occasion evening musical performances and in the other corner a preferred speakers soapbox. It could be the start of a new tradition for a more egalitarian democracy-for even in the U.S. Congress today their is little enough legislating that isn't of a bi-polar two party nature of illogical extremes. The Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. is on leave for bi-polar disorder and the rest of the congress is on vacation with something like the same roughly, approximately, more or less.
The strength of a democracy actually is in free speech and political pluralism-the trend today through networking is in the opposite direction-toward consolidation of power and wealth. President Putin could make another contribution toward the of defense and development of democracy with a few adroit moves.
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