The Kony-ification of Pussy Riot

Pussy Riot have been found guilty of "religious hatred" for their February 21 protest at the Christ the Savior Cathedral. You can watch the offending 55 seconds that got them into so much trouble here. The case itself is troubling for many reasons. For one, Pussy Riot are clearly not expressing hatred of Orthodox Christianity, but they are protesting the Church's close relationship to Vladimir Putin and his regime. Hating Putin is not hating religion, unless Putin is now religion in Russia. The world wants to help, and that's great. but that effort may actually misunderstand both Russia and its challenges in ways that are not always constructive. Pussy Riot have been turned into a cause célèbre by Western pop culture mavens. Madonna, Paul McCartney, Bjork, even Sting -- who apparently learned his lessons after screwing up in Kazakhstan, where he once sold his services to a dictator -- have publicly issued statements supporting the fem-punkers.