Mocking The Mockery

*** UPDATE ***

NBC caved.

(from the AP)

Backing away from a confrontation with religious groups, N-B-C says it has decided not to show pictures of Madonna mounting a Crucifix when it airs her concert special next month.

During her song "Live to Tell," Madonna sings from a mirrored cross wearing a crown of thorns.

Some religious leaders called that a blasphemous publicity stunt. Several religious groups told N-B-C they would organize a boycott of one of the concert's commercial sponsors if the cross scene appeared, and were meeting next week to decide which company to target.

A network official says it will use different shots that don't show Madonna during the song.

wusses.

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For those people who think religious fanatics only exist in foreign countries, let me tell you they are alive and active in the United States.

How did they get here? They were born here.

I'm not talking about the groups that we all fear will infiltrate our borders and blow up our way of life. I'm talking about the people who are afraid of Madonna's crucifixion scene during her concerts.

I haven't seen what she's doing. Frankly, that isn't my cup of tea... or Mountain Dew.

But NBC is planning to air one of her concert performances in November. And the e-mails have started.

In August, Madonna used a cross and performed a mock crucifixion during one of her songs. If you want to see what it looks like, click here.

I'm not saying what she's doing is or is not correct. She has the right to perform as she wants and people have the right to go or not go.

NBC, in that same vein, can show or not show what she's doing. They run the risk of people watching or not watching.

And the viewing public, as we roll along, can also complain, watch, enjoy, whatever.

But what really gets me is some of the e-mails we are starting to receive now -- more than a month before the concert.

Most of them are polite, requesting that we do not show the concert if it contains the crucifixion scene. I'm always amused by people who protest because something MIGHT happen, but that's just me.

However, some of these e-mails are scary. Writers are condemning anyone who works at the station to Hell, saying that children will mimic Madonna and use real nails, and "blood is on my hands."

Wow. Someone needs an Oreo and a glass of milk.

I'm all about freedom of speech. I believe healthy discussion is always good and people should have the right to express their opinions.

But I do have a problem with those people who will use dire predictions, threats, and outright lies to further their own cause. All you are doing is diluting your message and making a mockery out of what is likely a legitimate argument.

Making a mockery out of a mocking. How is that for irony?

"I got terminal uniqueness/I'm an egocentric man/I get caught up in my freakness" -- Aerosmith