Pussy Riot, Letter from the Figures of Culture

WHAT HAVE THE "PEOPLE OF CULTURE" SIGNED?

So, there was one more significant event in our "cultural" life. More than a hundred "cultural" and peri-cultural figures signed a letter with the wish to release the "stray sheep" from the group with the vile title "Pussy Riot" from the torture chambers, where they do not belong at all, because, according to their (leaders) opinion, they did not commit anything criminal, But simply "sang and prayed" in the place designated for this, that is, in the temple. In the course goes everything - and "mercy to the fallen", and appeals for pity for "poor girls", who also have children suffering from the lack of mothers.

The composition of these figures is curious. Loud names of truly talented or simply scandalous creators are typed from the strength of a half or two dozen, the rest proudly refer to themselves as directors, singers, actors, musicians and others, for whom culture is no more than a term with vague outlines, but how do you want to express yourself And stand next to a loud surname, maybe it will be of some use, but what's the matter is not important.

The main postulate of the letter is this:

"The girls did not kill anyone, did not rob, did not commit violence, did not destroy or kidnap someone else's property. Russia is a secular state, and no anticlerical actions, if they fall under the articles of the Criminal Code, can not be the cause of criminal prosecution. "

But here you are mistaken, gentlemen. The violence was, and it may not necessarily be physical. Violence over spirituality is much more abominable, and they desecrated the Temple. Just do not juggle and do casuistry. Do not put an equal sign between the Orthodox Church and Patriarch Kirill, between the Orthodox Church and the ministers of this church. The Orthodox Church is the system of moral and spiritual values of the Russian people that has developed over the centuries, whether you like it or not. And do not spit on it and trample, or put vile experiments to test for tolerance. The Orthodox Church is very tolerant, not an example to others, but not unlimited. Your reference to the Criminal Code is cynicism. No one, not even the latest monster, will come to mind to dance or fuck on the grave of ancestors. Is it hindered by some point of the Criminal Code, or is it one of the immutable moral standards on which society (still holding) is held together? Do you want to bring in the Criminal Code to be a "reason for criminal prosecution"? But the fact that the Russian judicial system was in a difficult situation is really so. Only not in the sense that their punishment "compromises the Russian judicial system and undermines the credibility of the institutions of power in general," as Andrei Konchalovsky famously put it, but that this system was not ready to react adequately to a cleverly planned and prepared provocation involving Poor girls as pawns. And, thought out on many moves forward. So the analogy with the chess game, and a win-win situation, suggests itself. Judge for yourself.

Option 1. The authorities did not react and put everything on the brake, because there is no suitable article in the Criminal Code? Excellent, then you can continue to shit (why - this is a separate conversation). And there is already an excuse - they did not react earlier, then you can.

Option 2. Authorities reacted harshly. Better. Now you can safely raise the howl to the whole of Europe - ah, ah, the arbitrary rule of the authorities! Oh, oh - "poor girls" in the dungeons! And now these scoundrels are prisoners of conscience and unhappy victims of Russian lawlessness. The next step is to connect the "dark figures of culture and art", let the waves diverge among the masses: if they signed, then ... What's the next step? Indignant crowds storm the courthouse? Well, and so on ... And, all the long-established techniques are used. A little bit - a reprisal for political reasons, a victim of arbitrariness, and run to complain about your favorite West, anywhere - the OSCE. PACE, Amnesty International, again the Strasbourg court is available, well, for a complete set of only the Hague Tribunal is not enough. Apparently, they missed.

Again, the system of public reaction familiar to the Soviet times: "We, workers of the factory such and such ...", "we, the workers of the fields of the collective farm ..." We, cultural and art workers ... ". The main thing is that the pile was bigger, it looks more solid. What is important - there is, for whom to hide and ask specifically not with anyone, with a heap what the demand. But how interesting it would be to know where the legs grow from. After all, someone personally thought and wrote this appeal, or is it the fruit of collective creativity? Someone first suggested signing this? But we hardly know the name of the author or inspirer of this whole action, most likely, he and the signatories do not. But there is a group of one and a half hundred "figures" who expect to put pressure on the court, and which for some reason did not act as a friendly team with a condemnation of what happened in the Temple. Why? In their opinion, nothing special happened. But now you need to protect.

Very much and sincerely respected by me, Oleg Basilashvili appeals to Pushkin, although he does not even know exactly how many girls danced in the church. Actually, five, only two of them have disappeared somewhere. Maybe he did not see the movie unfortunate? It is likely, as it is likely, that he would have risen from the bench if he knew that Alibasov, Vasya Oblomov with Roma Zver and Left Bi-2 for the company would sit proudly next to him. For Ulitskaya, they are simply victims of ignorance and lawlessness. With lawlessness it is clear, this is ours. And whose ignorance is it? They, or ours too? Mr. Arbatov - a man of love, "himself comes from bohemia", considers the performance in the church an ordinary performance and "knows perfectly well what the girls moved". Maybe he knows, and who moved them? For Viktyuk, everything is extremely simple - the situation itself worries him least (an interesting approach is to spit on the trick in the church, spit on the feelings of believers, spit on everything), but you do not need to plant "poor girls", they "just sang songs". But that's not all in our cultural life. According to Mansky, the incident is generally controversial, because "this type of action has long been a classic public art." What kind of shares? Desecration of the temple? Mockery of faith? Do not tell me, Mr. Mansky, in which country is it a classic and where is it encouraged? "What is now being done with Pussy Riot is inexplicable and irrational, it's absurd, it does not fit into any logic, it's impossible to understand," he exclaims. And what they did is rational? This is not absurd and fits into your logic? Can you understand this? What culture or art do you belong to? But that's not all. Cyril Serebrennikov, in all seriousness, tries to convince himself that the true reason for the appearance in the church of these "poor girls" was to voice at the top of his voice "the distrust of a part of society to the leadership of the ROC, the fusion of power and the church, the hypocrisy of power and the church, Which the government encourages in every way ... This was their mission - and as modern artists and jesters, and as citizens and patriots. " No more, no less. Sorry, but after these passages about health it's somehow inconvenient to ask. And since you are ready to pay for the continuation and are sure that "they will continue to work as artists," there is an excellent option to realize your intentions. Wait for them to be released (or, if you are in a hurry, pick up another similar group), and take them along with Mr. Mansky on tour - first let them dance with the chorus "Down with the Pope" in the church somewhere in Europe, Say, to the Wailing Wall. Here you can just dance in the fresh air, even without a chorus. If it goes well, not far from Mecca. There you will find just a deafening success, even without dancing. Upon returning home to Russia (if you really consider Russia your home, where you can not shit), you will fully appreciate the kindness and patience of Russian Orthodoxy. And stop poking at Patriarch Kirill and his watch. In the end, he represents the entire ROC. Just like the Pope - the Catholic Church. You will not argue that the Pope goes with a staff and in rags among his flock, and that on his hand he watches a Chinese production for a couple of dollars.

And the last. Gentlemen are "figures of culture and art." Before you sign anything, decide for yourself personally, that for you Russia is a house in which you can not shun, no matter how imperfect it may be, or a dirty pub where everything is possible. That for you the people of Russia are people with their cares, problems, joy, grief, and who needs your art (only genuine, sincere), or cattle, to which you can feed any rubbish created by you, and who else will pay for it. What and whose spiritual and moral values do you profess, what for you is the Orthodox faith (if you in general have any relation to it) without any attributes that you may not like, but simply - Vera. This is part of your spirituality, or someone else's garbage, which you can spit. Decide, it depends on your reputation, respect for you, attitude to people, to whose opinion you can listen. Otherwise, do not blame me, the people can curse you and reject you. Infinite to endure and wipe it will not.

Approximately such a conversation offered to hold Oleg Basilashvili with those girls. But there it would be completely useless. And with you?