I should write something about Pussy Riot.
I visited the Cathedral of Christ the Savior this past weekend. It is huge, and entrance (like so many places in Moscow) required passage through a metal detector and bag-searching guards. For those not keen on memorizing names and details, the church I'm referring to is the one that Pussy Riot became well-known globally for protesting in. First, a short preamble to say that I have not researched this extensively, and just want to present some stuff as I have seen it (though my experience and reach is quite limited) here in Russia. Okay.
In Russia, this is overwhelmingly an issue of religious respect, not so much of freedom of speech. ALL of the Russians I have talked to about it think that the punishment for the crime was too harsh, but have negative feelings about the act and seem to believe that some sort of punishment was needed. My conversation teacher noted that Pussy Riot had performed numerous public protests previously, with relatively minor consequences then.
Basically, the whole thing is tied up in religion in a way I didn't realize before coming here. The place where the protest was held is considered a sacred area in the church, leading many to consider the trespass highly disrespectful to the Eastern Orthodox faith, and an interference with the religious rights of the practitioners there. Hence, "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" being the charge. One of the things that is difficult for me to comprehend here is just how wrapped up religion is with government. When trying to explain to someone that this thing is so odd for Americans because we have core values related to the separation of church and state, a Russian student said to me, "Russian government has always been tied up with religion. Always."* I am not sure if it's institutionally or culturally driven, but separation of church and state, de facto, does not seem to be taken too seriously. And it is hugely different being in this kind of culture.
*Note: I am not sure how this squares with the whole Socialist Thing. I seem to remember a partially-understood conversation or lecture in which a Russian said that in the USSR Communism was the peoples' religion, and after the fall of the USSR, the Orthodox Church moved in to fill the religious vaccuum left by Communism's collapse. But, again, an idea poorly remembered and maybe poorly understood initially.
I keep trying to imagine what a similar situation in the States would look like, but it's hard due to the many factors that are culturally unique to Russia. There is a strong respect and regard for one central, majority religion that is coupled with the kind of conservative culture that allows the existence of laws against 'hooliganism.' A lack of very strong participation in politics or social institutions means many are more likely to be offended by the religious disrespect than appreciative of the civic duty of drawing attention to the suspiciously buddy-buddy relationship between the Church and Russia's main political party. Wiki has a good section on the Russian public's opinion here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pussy_Riot#Public_opinion_in_Russia.
Something that came to mind while writing this was the sheer amount of attention from the West this incident has garnered. Why with the quickness to point to "the other guy" and his shitty policies? A quote:
"For the British and US governments to get on high horses about Russian sentencing is hypocrisy. America and Britain damned the 'disproportionate' Pussy Riot terms. In America's case this was from a nation that jails drug offenders for 20, 30 or 40 years, holds terrorism 'suspects' incommunicado indefinitely and imprisons for life even trivial 'three strikes' offenders. Last week alone a US military court declared that reporting the Guantánamo Bay trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed would be censored. Any mention of his torture in prison was banned as 'reasonably expected to damage national security'. This has no apparent connection to proportionate punishment or freedom of speech." [Simon Jenkins, "The west's hypocrisy over Pussy Riot is breathtaking"]
In the same year as new policies limiting certain freedoms in the States I do raise my eyebrows a bit at the amount of media attention directed externally. Perhaps it's my particular interests, news sources, exposure, etc., but it seems like every turn in the Pussy Riot case makes headlines, while I only briefly heard about the law limiting protesting in the U.S. ('Anti-Occupy' law). And though it was in the news more, indefinite detention (provision of National Defense Authorization Act) still saw less screen time than Pussy Riot. Don't get me wrong, Russia has a lot of problems. But so does the U.S. And really, I'm disappointed that Russia's political issues seem to get so much more attention when I think it would be more beneficial for Americans to be more informed about what's going on in their own country.
I visited the Cathedral of Christ the Savior this past weekend. It is huge, and entrance (like so many places in Moscow) required passage through a metal detector and bag-searching guards. For those not keen on memorizing names and details, the church I'm referring to is the one that Pussy Riot became well-known globally for protesting in. First, a short preamble to say that I have not researched this extensively, and just want to present some stuff as I have seen it (though my experience and reach is quite limited) here in Russia. Okay.
In Russia, this is overwhelmingly an issue of religious respect, not so much of freedom of speech. ALL of the Russians I have talked to about it think that the punishment for the crime was too harsh, but have negative feelings about the act and seem to believe that some sort of punishment was needed. My conversation teacher noted that Pussy Riot had performed numerous public protests previously, with relatively minor consequences then.
Basically, the whole thing is tied up in religion in a way I didn't realize before coming here. The place where the protest was held is considered a sacred area in the church, leading many to consider the trespass highly disrespectful to the Eastern Orthodox faith, and an interference with the religious rights of the practitioners there. Hence, "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" being the charge. One of the things that is difficult for me to comprehend here is just how wrapped up religion is with government. When trying to explain to someone that this thing is so odd for Americans because we have core values related to the separation of church and state, a Russian student said to me, "Russian government has always been tied up with religion. Always."* I am not sure if it's institutionally or culturally driven, but separation of church and state, de facto, does not seem to be taken too seriously. And it is hugely different being in this kind of culture.
*Note: I am not sure how this squares with the whole Socialist Thing. I seem to remember a partially-understood conversation or lecture in which a Russian said that in the USSR Communism was the peoples' religion, and after the fall of the USSR, the Orthodox Church moved in to fill the religious vaccuum left by Communism's collapse. But, again, an idea poorly remembered and maybe poorly understood initially.
I keep trying to imagine what a similar situation in the States would look like, but it's hard due to the many factors that are culturally unique to Russia. There is a strong respect and regard for one central, majority religion that is coupled with the kind of conservative culture that allows the existence of laws against 'hooliganism.' A lack of very strong participation in politics or social institutions means many are more likely to be offended by the religious disrespect than appreciative of the civic duty of drawing attention to the suspiciously buddy-buddy relationship between the Church and Russia's main political party. Wiki has a good section on the Russian public's opinion here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pussy_Riot#Public_opinion_in_Russia.
Something that came to mind while writing this was the sheer amount of attention from the West this incident has garnered. Why with the quickness to point to "the other guy" and his shitty policies? A quote:
"For the British and US governments to get on high horses about Russian sentencing is hypocrisy. America and Britain damned the 'disproportionate' Pussy Riot terms. In America's case this was from a nation that jails drug offenders for 20, 30 or 40 years, holds terrorism 'suspects' incommunicado indefinitely and imprisons for life even trivial 'three strikes' offenders. Last week alone a US military court declared that reporting the Guantánamo Bay trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed would be censored. Any mention of his torture in prison was banned as 'reasonably expected to damage national security'. This has no apparent connection to proportionate punishment or freedom of speech." [Simon Jenkins, "The west's hypocrisy over Pussy Riot is breathtaking"]
In the same year as new policies limiting certain freedoms in the States I do raise my eyebrows a bit at the amount of media attention directed externally. Perhaps it's my particular interests, news sources, exposure, etc., but it seems like every turn in the Pussy Riot case makes headlines, while I only briefly heard about the law limiting protesting in the U.S. ('Anti-Occupy' law). And though it was in the news more, indefinite detention (provision of National Defense Authorization Act) still saw less screen time than Pussy Riot. Don't get me wrong, Russia has a lot of problems. But so does the U.S. And really, I'm disappointed that Russia's political issues seem to get so much more attention when I think it would be more beneficial for Americans to be more informed about what's going on in their own country.
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