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Russian Orthodox protesters drive stake through Madonna photo

Around 100 Russian Orthodox believers protested in Moscow against a concert to be given by the US singer Madonna, symbolically driving a stake through a picture of the superstar.
Speaking to protesters, the head of a radical Orthodox group, Leonid Simonovich-Nikshich, declared that Madonna was "under the influence of the devil".

"We are proclaiming a new holy inquisition against those who struggle against God," said Simonovich-Nikshich, who heads the Union of Orthodox Gonfaloniers, a name that alludes to Medieval Italian republics.

Organisers earlier changed the date and location of Madonna's first Russian concert, part of her "Confessions" tour, citing security concerns.

The Moscow concert will now take place on September 12 at the Luzhniki Olympic complex.

The tour, which features a mock crucifixion scene, has also drawn protests elsewhere, including from the archbishop of Prague.

At the latest in what has been a series of protests in Moscow protesters symbolically drove a stake through a photograph of the singer and attempted to set light to it before police intervened.

Carrying effigies of Jesus and of Orthodox saints they prayed and chanted "Anathema on the organisers of abominations".

"We will do everything possible to prevent this concert going ahead," said Simonovich-Nikshich.

The Orthodox Church has urged Russians to boycott the concert, accusing Madonna of "exploiting Christian symbols", but all tickets were sold almost immediately after coming on sale.

The best response to a heretic is a sword through the belly.

Originally posted by ebed melech:
Come on, Brian. Everybody needs a little triumphalism in their life! There is, after all, so much at stake! :p

Gordo

Originally posted by Lawrence:
Sounds like a bunch of short sighted, narrow minded, intolerant religious bigots. Just the kind of people I wish there were more of in this world.

Originally posted by Slavipodvizhnik:
Ah yes, the stake. There is more to this story than meets the eye. To those familiar with Slavic folklore, there is much going on here. They are treating her as a "vukodlak", an "Upir Lichyj" one possesed by demons whose function is to lead good Christians into perdition. Very old Pan Slavic folklore from where vampire and werewolf legends originate. The stakes must be made from the willow from which the Palm Sunday willows are taken, and must be blessed by the priest. The evil one, contrary to popular belief, is not killed with the stake. The Upir is normally beheaded with the scythe used to harvest the grain for the Prosphora. The stakes were used later, when the remains were buried, placed through the body in the shape of the Cross, and going deeply into the earth, to ensure that the body is not used again by th eevil one. It was not uncommon for the body to be reinterred every few years so that fresh stakes could be placed as the old ones rotted.
Their actions , according to tradition, were not taken lightly. The guilty one must be confirmed by the priest to have no "humaness" left, and totally given over to the evil one, otherwise an exorcism would take place. I'd like to know who these protestors are. I am surprised to see such outside of the Carpathian Mountains or the Northern Taiga.

Alexandr