Madonna defends mock crucifixion
The BBC reports:
Madonna has defended a controversial mock crucifixion in her stage show, saying it is part of an appeal to the audience to donate to Aids charities."I don't think Jesus would be mad at me and the message I'm trying to send," she told the New York Daily News.
The question isn't so much whether or not Jesus would be mad. I think the question is whether or not he's be pleased. Let's face facts: Madonna has built her career mixing pop songs with visual imagery which has promoted sexuality at odds with Chrsitian values. She has posed naked for photographs throughout her career, and many of these pictures have glorified deviant sexual acts. She has a large homosexual following and, although she is not homosexual, she has frequently identified herself with homosexuals and homosexuality. She has, form the beginning of her career, mixed religious imagery with blasphemy [her Like A Prayer video, her movie Truth or Dare (which depicted her Blonde Ambition Tour) and even her recent album "American Life" where she has sung "there is no resurrection"]. Madonna is an apostate Catholic who has serious issues with the Catholic Church and Christianity in general. She has been quoted as saying the following:
"Crucifixes are sexy because there is a naked man on them."
"Nuns are sexy."
She has also suggested that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were sexually intimate (and this was in the early 1990's, long before "The Da Vinci Code").
Madonna has attempted to portray herself as having become softer and more spiritual, and I have heard many Catholics talk about this with hope that she is experiencing a conversion.
Hopefully, Madonna will come back home to the Faith she has abandoned and openly mocked. However, she will need to publicly retract much of her career and admit that her actions were blasphemous and that many of her works (like her "Sex" book, which she reportedly quietly regrets) which led countless souls into sin and darkness.
Once she has done such things, and renounced her denial of the Divinity of Christ and His Resurrection, I will be more inclined to listen to her speculations about what Jesus would think of her behavior.
I think religion is the cause for all the hate in the world. It has caused the most bloodiest wars in the world and is happening again right now. Religion should be something within yourself, not trying to grow to be the dominant world power.
Posted by: goldn | Friday, October 20, 2006 at 11:00 AM
let's just let GOD decide who is going to Heaven and who is going to hell... sound good? After all, he IS what this is all about.
what amuses me about Catholicism, is that they take the bible SO literal, and yet the parts they SHOULD be taking literal (love your neighbor, do not judge, &c.) are the parts they choose to overlook.
oddd. [=
Posted by: Ayyeee | Friday, October 20, 2006 at 11:01 AM
actually catholics dont take the bible literally ayyeee. those are protestants. catholics have the catechism which is ALMOST as hate filled as most of the bible.
christians conveniently forget jesus's true message all of the time.
Posted by: katie | Friday, October 20, 2006 at 11:06 AM
I used to be a Catholic, I grew up one. I got out of the church because I was sick of the judgments, the hypocrisy, the very un-Christ-like behavior I’ve seen. Jesus was a man who hung out with all sorts of people, lawyers, tax collectors, prostitutes, and probably even those who were gay. He made no judgments.
I’m no longer a Catholic (or Christian, for that matter) – I simply could not take the closed-mindedness of the church, the pedophilia (a friend of mine was molested), the Vatican’s demand that priests be celibate, the exclusion of women from the priesthood, the homophobia, the narrow view on birth control…
Don’t say Madonna has no right to make a statement – she too was Catholic for several decades but, like me, decided that path was not a positive one to take. Additionally, you have not SEEN the crucifixion scene so again, do not judge! You don’t even have all the evidence before you. My friends who HAVE seen it say it’s a powerful, wonderful message misunderstood and prejudged by much of the world.
Posted by: Lisa | Friday, October 20, 2006 at 11:21 AM
It's very clear from this blog that not a lot of you have even seen the controversial number. She didn't do this as a "sexy" number or in a disrespectful way, the message of the images and the song "Live to tell" that she performed during this number were specifically to draw attention to the state of poverty in the world, there was absolutely nothing mocking about her performance and it made for a very touching and memorable number on the tour, if anything it came out as a reminder of the message Jesus preached.
Posted by: M | Friday, October 20, 2006 at 11:25 AM
Lisa you couldn't have said it better! I too am a recovering Catholic and am so sick of their non-Christian approach to so many things. WWJD??!! Apparently not everything that the Catholics preach and practice. I've decided I no longer need a "middle man" to practice my beliefs - I refuse to check my brain at the door. Their schools are closing, parishes are struggling, fewer people (ha, MEN) wanting to become priests - it's a church in turmoil even as they continue to bury their head in the sand. How dare they continue to pass judgement.... Madonna's actions could never rival those of their own attempts at cover-up in order to save face and dollars at the expense of innocent children. Those still practicing Catholicism are in DENIAL!!!
Posted by: Uggh! | Friday, October 20, 2006 at 12:44 PM
I actualy cannot stand Madonna..
But she is like many others blinded by the world.. I just hope she gets right before her time..
Dennis
Posted by: Dennis | Friday, October 20, 2006 at 02:35 PM
Helo all. I'm actually Greek Orthodox, but I'm as insulted at Madonna's method of shock entertainment as you are. I've read her statements defending the show's inclusion of a mock crucifixion, and I'm not swayed by her PR spin.
If she were true to her word about freedom of speach, a mock burning of Mohammed or Buddha would probably get her more approval as an artist.
It's just popupular right now to hate Christians. It's sad but true.
Stay strong everyone. God is with us all.
Posted by: zenmasterfoo | Friday, October 20, 2006 at 04:49 PM
How many IP addresses are associated with the prior string of rants?
Dubliner redux?
Posted by: A Simple Sinner | Friday, October 20, 2006 at 05:37 PM
you do not know anythign about what this part of her show was about, so shut up.
I need to know how, 2000 years later, a WORK OF FICTION like the bible is still regarded as untouchable by a group of freaks like you all.
dont any of you have any desire to form your own opinions about the world, science and spirituality? why are you all followers of what your parents believed? and their parents?
extreme christians are EXTREMELY dangerous to the world, and you all stand for everything that is NOT what the US was created upon. No better than radical muslims. and thats the truth.
spend your lives prepping for redemption, yet you've missed living.
Posted by: fallen christian and proud | Saturday, October 21, 2006 at 02:39 AM
You all make me laugh.
Posted by: Laughing | Saturday, October 21, 2006 at 10:27 AM
It seems Madonna has a real obsession with all things Catholic. Problem is she is very confused and has no idea what being Catholic is all about. The things that could help her, like the sacraments, are foreign to her,so she blunders along grabbing at what she thinks it is about. Sadly,she is very misguided, and like most fallen away members she does a lot of harm.
Posted by: PDS | Saturday, October 21, 2006 at 12:12 PM
"dont any of you have any desire to form your own opinions about the world, science and spirituality? why are you all followers of what your parents believed? and their parents?"
There are some pretty bold assuptions involved in this comment. You assume that everyone on this blog or any Catholic for that matter has not investigated their faith or tested it against other ways of living/thinking.
Personally, as a person born into a family where religion was of little consequence, I had to do a lot of searching before arriving at the door of the Holy Catholic Church. I simply could not find a group or religion that expressed the truths of the world and the real life of Jesus more beautifully. Logic must be given credit as well.
I've lived the "liberated" life. Sure, its fun at first. But eventually all the sin, which I couldn't recognize at the time, weighs you down. As a Catholic, I am more free than I have ever been.
Posted by: Kris | Saturday, October 21, 2006 at 02:11 PM
"...so shut up. I need to know how, 2000 years later, a WORK OF FICTION like the bible is still regarded as untouchable by a group of freaks like you all."
awww, don't you just feel the love? and he forgot to mention how judgemental we Catholics are! oops!
Posted by: lar | Sunday, October 29, 2006 at 03:07 PM
madonna!!! are you christiany,jesus is holy,so can't cruel, because he is our God
Posted by: ema | Saturday, November 11, 2006 at 02:55 AM
It is so beautiful that we live in America. We have our freedom of speech. :)*
She has done nothing wrong. She is simply exercising her right to speak. Her American Human Right as stated by our Constitution of the United States of America... It is not for you to pass judgment on someone. There are much worse things going on in this world for you to be so worried about. You are so worried about one woman expressing herself rather then the horrors of this world. For Example Murder, Rape, Terrorists, Drug Abuse, Physical Abuse, and So So much more!!!!!!!….. Come on people! GET OVER IT….
Posted by: Brandy Ramos | Saturday, January 27, 2007 at 07:23 AM
Must this topic randomly come up every time someone who is a slavish apolologist for the Material Girl appears?
Alright, we orhodox Catholics get it, she is your saint, she can do no wrong, and when she offends people it is OUR problem....
Whatever.
Brandy et all, take a course in rhetoric.
Posted by: A Simple Sinner | Saturday, January 27, 2007 at 10:08 AM
I am a gay Catholic, whether anyone likes that or not. The main thing to remember while you are clenching up so tight that your heads are about to pop off is that Jesus Christ loves everyone and I KNOW that the Bible has been re-written, as we ALL know, to suit the current mood of the re-writers and their enviroment. Jesus said not to judge, yet most folks on here are judging homosexuality severely. You don't know that homosexuality is genetic? Oh, I'm certain that you still believe that Satan is in control of my 'sinful ways' Well, if that is the case, realize that Satan is in control of your judgemental ways as well. Good luck with all of your hatred and may God bless you.
Posted by: Nation | Thursday, May 01, 2008 at 08:55 PM