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30
May 2006
Madonna
Defends Mock
Crucifixion
Madonna
has defended a
controversial mock
crucifixion in her stage
show, saying it is part
of an appeal to the
audience to donate to
Aids
charities.
"I
don't think Jesus would
be mad at me and the
message I'm trying to
send," she
said.
UK
and US church groups
condemned the stunt
after the singer began a
51-date world tour in
Los Angeles.
A
Church of England
statement asked why
Madonna felt "the need
to promote herself by
offending so many
people".
Madonna
performed the ballad
Live To Tell while
suspended from a giant
mirrored cross on
Sunday's opening
night.
Images
of poverty in the
developing world were
shown on video screens,
while numbers ticked
away to represent the 12
million African children
orphaned by
Aids.
"Jesus
taught that we should
love thy neighbour,"
Madonna told the
newspaper.
David
Muir of the Evangelical
Alliance accused the
singer of "blatant
insensitivity".
"Madonna's
use of Christian imagery
is an abuse and it is
dangerous," he said.
"She should drop it from
the tour and people need
to find their own means
of expressing their
disapproval."
This
is not the first time
the pop star's concerts
have upset the
Church.
In
1990, the Pope called
for a boycott of the
Blond Ambition tour, in
which Madonna simulated
masturbation during Like
A Virgin.
The
video for Like A Prayer
also brought
condemnation from groups
claiming it was
blasphemous.
The
Confessions world tour
will reach Britain in
July 2006.
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