mediawatchwatch.org.uk

Madonna’s “Confessions” tour has predictably run into more trouble. It happens with such regularity that it is barely worth reporting, but in this case the protest group has a funny name and its leaders sport amusing hats and beards, so here you go.

Leonid Simanovich-Nikshich, leader of a group calling itself the Union of Orthodox Banner Bearers, is demanding that the show be banned:

We will never allow her to desecrate our greatest icons. We demand to drive Madonna out of Russian territory.

Let’s wait and see, shall we?

At the rally in Moscow, attended by around 100 supporters, Simanovich-Nikshich and a couple of henchmen speared a poster of Madonna with a wooden pike, ripped it up, tossed the pieces on the ground and stamped on them.

Sorry, we don’t have it on video.

Stephen “Dog Shit” Green, national director of Christian Voice, was arrested this weekend at the Cardiff Mardi Gras.

His was charged with using “threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress thereby, contrary to section 5(1) and (6) of the Public Order Act 1986”. What he actually did was hand out around 1,000 anti-gay leaflets (PDF download).

Green is predictably delighted:

I thank God for the honour of being locked up for sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. […]

Speaking about righteousness, morality, sin, repentance and the forgiveness sinners can find in the cross of Jesus Christ may well offend the fragile sensibilities of homosexuals, but should the police have a partisan unit whose job is to round up Christian dissidents, treat them like thought criminals and trample on freedom of speech?

While it is quite amusing to see hypocrisy exposed in such a manner (this self-styled champion of free speech tried to get a musical show shut down because it offended him, wanted to sue the BBC for “blasphemy”, and reacted with glee when the Gay Police Association were investigated for an alleged “faith crime” after they suggested that religion was sometimes a contributing factor to violence against homosexuals), isn’t it about time people stopped trying to prosecute each other for “faith” or “hate” crimes when no actual crime has been committed?

Freedom of speech not only means the right to say things others don’t want to hear, but also involves hearing things you don’t like the sound of. If Stephen Green is prosecuted for his silly leaflets, or the GPA gets done for its bloody Bible ad, it will be a sorry day for freedom of expression in this country.

UPDATE: (6 Sept) Green has denied the charges and was remanded on unconditional bail until Sept 28

Just when you thought John Beyer of Mediawatch-UK couldn’t possibly say anything sillier, a lazy hack from The Daily Mirror coaxes from him a quote of even more breathtaking stupidity.

Commenting on the upcoming Channel 4 production, Death of a President, which features a dramatised assassination of George W Bush, the Sage of Ashford declares:

There’s a lot of feeling against President Bush and this may well put ideas into people’s heads.

Because nobody would have thought of doing such a thing otherwise, obviously.

If something happens as a consequence of this film, then blood is on their hands.

You know, he might be right. A late night drama documentary on More4 could just be the provocation that finally does for the most widely-hated US president in history.