Reaction of the society

Execute not pardon

Yury Pilipenko, Doctor of Law

Pussy Riot have deserved neither musical glory, nor jail time. That’s just the way it happened.

Matthew, 5, 44: “Bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you”.

The action performed by Pussy Riot, a feminist punk group, in the Temple of Christ the Savior and the criminal case initiated against the group participants provoked much discussion in the society and conflicting reaction by the believers. What’s the problem with Pussy Riot? Isn’t the true problem the state of religion, morality or justice in our society, in our country?

Feminists in the Temple

As it is known, five masked girls in bright clothes ran up the solea and ambon of the Temple of Christ the Savior (in an Orthodox Christian temple a solea is an elevation in front of the altar sector of the iconostasis, and an ambon is the sector of the solea in front of the Sanctuary Doors; only the clergy is allowed to access the solea, the parishioners are banned from it). No church service was in course at the Temple, and the girls turned on the sound amplifiers they had brought and did a performance, screaming, according to the media, “insults towards the clergy and the believers”. The employees of the private security agency, which services the Temple, interrupted the action by forcefully escorting them outside.

Afterwards it was made known that a feminist punk group Pussy Riot claimed responsibility for the incident by publishing a photo and video report on the Temple of Christ the Savior action. The group’s members, on their page in Twitter, proclaimed that their performance had been a “punk worship” called “Mother of God, exorcise Putin”.

On February 22, Dmitry Pakhomov, a pro-rector of the Orthodox Christian Missionary School under Apostle Thomas Temple in Moscow, addressed Yury Chaika, the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, requesting to conduct a prosecutor’s check of the fact of holding a “punk worship”. He assumed that “this blasphemous prank” could be classified, pursuant to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, as hooliganism committed by a group of persons for the motives of political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity or for the motives of hatred or enmity towards any social group.

On February 26, on the Sunday of Forgiveness (!!!), the media informed that the police, upon request on the Orthodox Christian activists and in connection with the incident, initiated a criminal case pursuant to part 2 of Article 213 of the CCRF “On hooliganism”, which sanctions a penalty of up to 7 years of imprisonment.

Maria Alekhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, detained as suspects on March 3, were committed. Both suspects, who have babies, on March 4 declared a hunger strike, protesting against the investigator’s actions.

Vladimir Legoyda, Chairman of the Synodal Information Section of the Moscow Patriarchate, disproved the opinion, that was forming in a part of the society, that “the girl hooligans were arrested upon the Church’s instructions”.

On March 12, they were charged with the crime under part 2 of Article 213 of the CCRF (hooliganism committed by a group of persons).

Reaction of the society

The initiated criminal case and the custodial placement of Alekhina and Tolokonnikova made a large part of the society indignant. Their views were expressed by Vladimir Lukin, the Ombudsman of the Russian Federation. He stressed that he was extremely surprised with the whole story of detention and custody of the “two pranksters”, who behaved obscenely in the Tempe of Christ the Savior. He said: “Of course, obscenity is obscenity, and nothing else. But a criminal case on this and custody for this are beyond reason”.

Pickets and actions of solidarity with Pussy Riot timed with the International Women’s Day were held in Moscow and abroad. But a worship for support of the group members placed in custody, marked for March 8, was not held. According to Nikolay Polozov, Advocate of Pussy Riot, the Temple of Christ the Savior was closed for technical reasons, provokers were present, a brawl occurred and three persons were detained.

Meanwhile, certain “practicing Christians” claimed for severe punishment of the feminists. Boris Yakemenko, leader of the Orthodox Christian wing of the “Nashi” movement, reminded that the Book of Leviticus commandment to stone blasphemers to death had never been revoked, and celibate priest Vitaly (Utkin) of Ivanovo diocese, wrote that blasphemers were to be burned under the laws of XVII century.

At the same time, a parishioner of the Temple of the Assumption in the Gazetny Lane Lida Moniava published in her LiveJournal an appeal to Patriarch Kirill to show Christian mercy to Pussy Riot members and to request the court to close the criminal case.

She stated in her appeal that criminal persecution and custody were even less acceptable than the girls’ behavior. “Cruel comments on the “punk worship” participants by the Orthodox Christian Church members”, who “rain hatred and rage on their heads” during the Great Fast were also called unacceptable. The Gospel says: “Bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you”. (Matthew, 5, 44).

Over three thousand people, Orthodox Christians and other believers among them, subscribed to this.

It looks understandable what were the causes of such merciful attitude of some believers towards the girls: mercy is doubtlessly the pivot of Christianity.

However, the severity of other believers towards the participants of the action is likely explained by the peculiarity of the Orthodox Christian belief, which has become evident lately, that Christ’s teachings are to be primarily accepted through suffering: “The Lord has suffered, and He ordered us to”, and by the inevitability of Divine punishment for the earthly sins: “It is Mine to avenge; I will repay”. Suffering is the earthly way of atonement, that is why Christian love and mercy towards the sinners are perceived by some as less important than the necessity to punish them. But to what extent is such asceticism authentic to the essence of Christianity?

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