ORTHODOX ACTIVISTS SMASH SCULPTURES IN EXHIBIT IN MOSCOW CENTER
Interfax-Religiia, 14 August 2015
Orthodox activists led by Dmitry Tsorionov staged an action of protest and smashed several sculptures in an exhibit in the Manezh that, in their opinion, hurt believers' feelings.
An Interfax correspondent reported that Friday evening several persons broke into an exhibit in the Manezh, "Sculptures that we do not see," and declared that the exhibits hurt believers' feelings, after which they destroyed several works of art.
"This is a blasphemous exhibit: for example, Jesus Christ is portrayed in an indecent way. We want for this exhibit to be closed and that the law on protection of believers' feelings be really observed and that in the chief exhibition center of the country there not be such grimy and brutal mockery of Jesus Christ and the saints," D. Tsorionov declared to Interfax.
At the present moment the exhibit is closed to visitors and police are surveying the scene of the action, and all participants in the conflict have proceeded to the police department in order to compose statements and submit testimonies.
In March 2013, members of the movement God's Will, which is headed by D. Tsorionov, called the attention of news media to that fact that according to information of the press service of the Yabloka party, "an Orthodox inquisition against the party" is being conducted. Its office in Moscow was burglarized, all literature published by the party that was freely accessible was taken, and it was burned in the lobby of the Novokuznetskaia subway station.
In addition, members of God's Will organized a protest in the State Darwin Museum in Moscow. They chanted lines from the Bible, "In the beginning God created heaven and earth," and they showered visitors, many of whom were children, with colorful pamphlets, and unfurled banners in one of the halls. The contents of the leaflets and banners coincided with the thought that the theory of evolution is pseudoscientific. One of the members crawled onto the roof of the building with a white flag on which "7522" was inscribed, and he began swinging it. Then he secured a banner there with the inscription: "God created the world."
In late October 2013 activists of God's Will tries to interrupt the show "Ideal Husband" on the stage of the Moscow Art Theatre, which the Russian church considered blasphemous. (tr. by PDS, posted 16 August 2015)
Editorial disclaimer: RRN does
not intend to certify the accuracy of information
presented in articles. RRN simply intends to certify the
accuracy of the English translation of the contents of the
articles as they appeared in news media of countries of
the former USSR.
If material is quoted, please give credit to the
publication from which it came. It is not necessary to credit
this Web page. If material is transmitted electronically, please
include reference to the URL,
http://www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/.