LOS ANGELES (ABP) — Despite being raised Catholic, pop recording artist Madonna has managed once again to offend some Catholic groups by staging a “crucifixion” on a 20-foot, “disco-fied” cross.
In the May 21 opening show of her “Confessions” tour in Los Angeles, the 47-year-old singer sang a song while wearing a crown of thorns and hanging, suspended, from a mirror-covered cross. Officials estimated that more than 16,000 people — from baby boomers and housewives to drag queens and teens — attended the concert.
Just hours after the display, a conservative group that often denounces incidents of what its leader perceives as anti-Catholic bigotry, released a statement condemning it. Bill Donohue, president of the New York-based Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, told the star to “knock off the Christ-bashing…. It's just pathetic.”
“I guess you really can't teach an old pop star new tricks,” he said in the statement. “Poor Madonna keeps trying to shock. But all she succeeds in doing is coming across as a boring bigot.”
In England, an evangelical Protestant leader also condemned the display. David Muir, public policy director for the Evangelical Alliance, said Madonna's use of Christian imagery “is an abuse and it is dangerous,” according to the Times of London. “She should drop it from the tour, and people need to find their own means of expressing their disapproval.”
Madonna, often called “the queen of pop,” has not addressed the criticism.
Although Madonna has developed a reputation for “spicing up her act with misappropriated Christian imagery,” Donohue said he thought her relatively newfound faith in Kabbalah might help her better understand and respect religion.
Kabbalah is an ancient mystical outgrowth of Judiasm claiming insight to divine nature — especially in understanding the Torah, creation and the existence of the universe. Other stars, including Britney Spears and Demi Moore, have professed belief in Kabbalah.
Apparently Madonna's mystical conversion didn't stifle her knack for creating controversy. Her tour's debut also featured the star performing a “pole dance” reminiscent of those found in strip clubs, yelling an obscenity at an image of President Bush, and showing video footage that compared British Prime Minister Tony Blair to Adolf Hitler.
The self-styled “Material Girl” is not the first performer to emulate crucifixion. In 1996, Michael Jackson performed at the Brit Awards posing as a Christ-like figure being crucified.
Madonna's tour will travel across North America and to Europe and Japan. Tickets cost up to $380 and tour profits are estimated at more than $200 million.
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