4 ms·

Nothing? As far as I can tell they went into a church, a public church (though maybe under false pretenses) and performed while being filmed, against the wishe

by ianb 14y ago

Nothing? As far as I can tell they went into a church, a public church (though maybe under false pretenses) and performed while being filmed, against the wishes of the people there, and I'm guessing were asked to leave and did not do so. You could come up with crimes in the U.S. for what they did, but convictions wouldn't happen, and anything more than minor legal harassment is unlikely. And if some zealous prosecutor did put forth some effort the defense could and would be robust, and it would take a long time, and it would be very questionable what the outcome would be, with a wide variety of available defenses. The people who end up in jail over stuff that seems minor usually put forward a terrible defense. People do stuff like this all the time in the U.S. – this is performance art, and no more intrusive or offensive than typical performance art, and those people don't go to jail. And Alabama churches aren't some otherworldly place.

mladenkovacevic 14y ago
You and I may understand it as performance art but next time you're feeling particularly creative, gather a few of your artsy chums, go into a Manhattan synagogue, put on Balaklavas over your faces and start to scream out profanities against Israel and capitalism. Then proceed to enjoy the hilarity as NYPD hauls you away and FBI puts you on a no-fly list. With both Moscow's and New York's experience with large-scale terrorist attacks I'm not surprised by how jumpy their citizens might be.
1gor 14y ago
There is quite a difference between the US and EU countries with regards to hate speech laws. A guy in the UK was arrested and given (suspended) jail sentence, a fine and 100 hours of unpaid public labour for leading anti-religious cartoons in an airport prayer room. All because a chaplain felt offended by his cartoons... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_speech_laws_in_the_United_Kingdom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_speech_laws_in_the_United_... This is actually quite funny: the people behind Pussy Riot campaign now have to explain to Western liberal public why Russian hate speech laws are bad, but European laws that forbid insulting Muslims and homosexuals are good. Because if Pussy Riot sang their anti-Putin song not in the cathedral, but, say, in the street, they won't get get the press.

by ianb 14y ago

mladenkovacevic 14y ago

You and I may understand it as performance art but next time you're feeling particularly creative, gather a few of your artsy chums, go into a Manhattan synagogue, put on Balaklavas over your faces and start to scream out profanities against Israel and capitalism. Then proceed to enjoy the hilarity as NYPD hauls you away and FBI puts you on a no-fly list. With both Moscow's and New York's experience with large-scale terrorist attacks I'm not surprised by how jumpy their citizens might be.

1gor 14y ago

There is quite a difference between the US and EU countries with regards to hate speech laws. A guy in the UK was arrested and given (suspended) jail sentence, a fine and 100 hours of unpaid public labour for leading anti-religious cartoons in an airport prayer room. All because a chaplain felt offended by his cartoons... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_speech_laws_in_the_United_Kingdom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_speech_laws_in_the_United_... This is actually quite funny: the people behind Pussy Riot campaign now have to explain to Western liberal public why Russian hate speech laws are bad, but European laws that forbid insulting Muslims and homosexuals are good. Because if Pussy Riot sang their anti-Putin song not in the cathedral, but, say, in the street, they won't get get the press.