On The 10th Anniversary We Need The Punk Band Pussy Riot More Than Ever

 This year is the 10th anniversary not of Pussy Riot but of their most famous performance art venture: their 2012 performance at Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior. That Cathedral seems to be the headquarters for the Russian Orthodox Church and is where the Patriarch Kirill resides.

Their performance art event there was a protest against a few things such as patriarchy, the ever growing ties between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian government, and the authoritarianism exercised by the government. Their performance was interrupted and they were escorted out of the cathedral. Later on, 3 members of  Pussy Riot were arrested, charged with, convicted of, and were sentenced to prison for hooliganism and religious hatred. Two of those members, Maria Alyokhina (Masha for short) and Nadya Tolokonnikova served a 21 month prison sentence at a penal colony while a third member, Yekaterina Samutsevich, who received the same sentence had her charges reduced and after some time in prison and received a suspended sentence. 

Now obviously as an American Christian Fundamentalist, I have some disagreements with Pussy Riot. For one thing, I not could be in a band with that name. Also, the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in me says that I can support a female preacher. I can't support the legalization of elective abortions. And I couldn't participate in one of Pussy Riot's earliest performance art ventures of having sex in public. For one thing, I would be afraid of the laughter. In addition, I couldn't support replacing a patriarchy with a matriarchy. We all need to share power. To refuse to do so will, along with refusing to share wealth, will be our undoing as a species.

But I admire the courage, strength, and insights that members of Pussy Riot have displayed since their beginning almost 11 years ago. After having served prison sentences, Masha and Nadya are willing to risk prison again to battle injustices and authoritarianism. The members mentioned above are stronger and more courageous than I am. I don't know if I could risk going to prison again after having served a prison sentence. In addition, they know more about democracy than any religiously conservative Christian leader with whom I am familiar with.

The two YouTube videos below showing interviews with Masha and Nadya and they let us see their insights into people and democracy. They both see similarities between Trump and Putin as people. As Masha states, Putin is a product of a very authoritarian regime. Both see Putin and Trump as being authoritarian and narcissistic. Both said that Putin prefers people who don't have beliefs, such as in democracy and rights,  and morals.

                                                                Interview with Masha

Both Masha and Nadya see both leaders as threats to democracy. For example, Masha believed that a year after the 2016 election, people would not have the right to protest in public. What Masha didn't realize is that the Courts, especially the Supreme Court, were not dominated by conservatives like they are now. Many of Trump's executive orders were blocked by the courts because of the Constitutionality of his orders.

                                                                     Interview with Nadya

They both see similarities between how both Trump and Putin have treated the press only Putin treated the press that way back in the beginning of his reign and now there is only government controlled press in Russia. Now Trump talks about the press like Putin did.

Both see the need for people to be involved to preserve democracy.  Nadya stated that we must not only receive from the government, we must give back to the government to support its institutions like democracy. Masha too believes that people must get involved to preserve democracy because democracy carries with it no guarantees.  

Pussy Riot opposes authoritarianism and stands for rights and democracy. It promotes full equality for the LGBT community, which is something that religiously conservative Christians can do here without compromising in following biblical sexual morals.

The above is a glimpse of the political side of Pussy Riot. They are, after all, performance artists. The video below was released by Nadya before the 2016 election in anticipation of a Trump victory.

                                                                    A MAGA Video

While the branding, even the fake ones in the above video, of a person is tough to watch, it does capture some of the real effects of the shaming that Trump practiced on different groups. That shaming gives license for some to attack members of those groups and I believe that the hate crime statistics will support that claim.

The video below can also be tough to watch, but such is the nature of performance art. The video below is in response to the police killing of Eric Garner.

                                                      Video for Eric Garner: I Can't Breathe

Why do we need Pussy Riot now more than ever. It is because of the workings of the 2nd pandemic: Authoritarianism. We are seeing a growing authoritarianism throughout the world. And we definitely see the same growing authoritarianism in Russia and the US. And while  Russia has lost any semblance of Glasnost and the democracy that it once had, the US hasn't. But our democracy, besides under constant attack by corporations that seek to buy our elected officials, one of our two major political parties is interested in taking over and ruling our nation. For as long as Trump has a significant influence on the Republican Party, that Party will. be working for an eventual fascist take over. Trump's language and attacks on the media, his lack of self-restraint, his authoritarian nature and vindictiveness, his executive orders that were blocked by the courts, and his participation in the attempt to overthrow a fair election. In fact, Trump stated during both campaigns prior to the 2016 and 2020 elections that the only way he could lose would be if the election was corrupt. 

But now, the courts are more favorable to Trump. The leaked Supreme Court decision on the Mississippi abortion law shows a severe attack on the right of privacy. But not only that, state legislators from several states have passed election laws that make it easier for those legislators to control the next Presidential election.  And finally if we add to that the grumbling and discontent that naturally occurs from the high inflation we are experiencing today, which moves us to seek for overly simplistic causes and solutions, we find that we are not that far from electing leaders who favor a fascist takeover of the nation. We could easily lose whatever democracy we have left during the next 2 elections.

We need to speak out and be involved. But we have major obstacles ahead. The first obstacle is the counterpart of the Republican Party. The Democratic Party is often paid off by wealth-interests almost as much as the Republican Party is. And sometimes the difference between the two parties revolve around public civility.

If a Trump dominated Republican Party regains control of at least one of the two houses of Congress along with the White House,  then the person who showed no restraint in promoting the January 6th insurrection will have much more power and our democratic republic will have been lost. That is why we need groups like Pussy Riot now more than ever. We need them to enlighten us and spur us on to act in ways that defend and protect democracy than destroy democracy.