"Nobody Expects the Russian Inquisition!"

Those of us who thought Madonna wasn't offending enough people with her name changes, red strings, cross-dangling, and promises of magical kabbalah fluid can now rest easy with Today's News in Madonna...as Moscow has declared a holy Inquisition against her.

Orthodox and patriotic forces are meeting at Pushkin Square in downtown Moscow in a demonstration against Madonna’s forthcoming Moscow show. Some 100 people holding banners and orthodox flags with large crucifixes placed in the center are participating in the meeting, Interfax reports.

“We declare a new Holy Inquisition that will fight against the sacrilege of crosses, icons, Russian Orthodox symbols, including during Madonna’s show. The singer is an advocate of Kabbalah,” chairman of the Union of Orthodox flag-bearers Leonid Simonovich-Nikshich said at the meeting.

Unclear from the quote whether they object to her sacrilegious use of religious iconography or to her advocacy of Kabbalah..

If you're Jewish (or a Monty Python or Mel Brooks fan), the word inquisition (as in Spanish) evokes historical memories of persecution, forced conversions, torture, expulsions and death. (And not a single puppy.)  One might wonder...how is this inquisition different from all other inquisitions? Luckily, the Russian news sources are helpful in clearing that up.

The main goal of the inquisition will be “to fight against slander, rather than to kill people,” he said.

Oh, so they're the "good kind of Inquisition." Phew. When Madonna takes your name, a girl's gotta be careful about inquisitions declared against her.

Comments

[VJ]

I was thinking about that myself and musing about the various Inquisitions, some of which lasted in one form or another in the West until the recent 1700's. I would say that the Russians were a bit light on the Inquisition. They had the Tzars and their bloody and infamous secret police & 'cossacks' which led to the Okhranka then to the Checka and on up. Pogroms of one sort or another certainly. But the Orthodox were a bit different as far as the Inquistion went. I'm not quite certain why either. But yeah, all that went though my mind when I heard it. Great PR machine that lass is. It never fails her. Cheers, 'VJ'