Thursday, May 31, 2012

Lady Gaga vs. Religion in Asia

My blog is on a roll in terms of covering things I never thought I’d discuss on a political blog about current events and books. Last week, I actually talked about discussed bananas in the context of a territorial dispute between China and The Philippines. Today, I get to discuss Lady Gaga and the recent difficulties that she’s had throughout various parts of Southeast Asia.  
Lady Gaga is an envelope pusher. This has earned her a legion of fans and millions in album sales. It has also made her the object of attack from a Conservative Christian group in the Philippines and a conservative Islamic group in Indonesia.
 Turning first to Philippines, protest organizers are threatening legal action under the countries penal codes pertaining to offending race or religion. In the conservative Roman Catholic country, this pertains to performance of her song “Judas.” Apparently, one could face between six months and six years in jail, though CSM reports no one has been convicted recently.
 In Indonesia, she has earned the ire of Front Pembela Islam (Islam Defenders Front), a group seeking to pursue a chauvinistic approach to Islam in Indonesia. The group threatened to send a mob to meet her at the airport and break up the event if she made it there. Jakarta police officials cancelled her June 3rd show, citing security concerns. Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Backchannels/2012/0517/The-sacred-and-the-profane-Indonesian-churches-and-Lady-Gaga

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