NBC to Air Madonna Crucifixion?

Madonna, It's Not Your Cross to Bear

Not surprisingly, pop singer Madonna generated a storm of controversy during her latest concert tour, dubbed the “Confessions” tour, after her latest album release – Confession on a Dance Floor. The tour opened last May at the Los Angeles Forum and the controversy began the next day, eventually following the tour across North America, to Europe and now back to NBC television.

At the center of the controversy—a mock crucifixion. As Madonna sings the song, “Live to Tell” she is suspended from a large mirrored cross, complete with a crown of thorns, as images of the impoverished flash on giant video screens. The imagery is unquestionably interpreted as being Jesus. In fact, Rolling Stone magazine’s review of the opening proclaims in the headline: “In her first trek in two years, material girl plays Jesus, pole dancer, jockey and dominatrix.”¹

Obviously, the Rolling Stone reviewer, and most of those who had paid upwards of $350 for a ticket to attend the concert, did not take offense at her actions. However, religious groups immediately began to object. ABC News reported that, “Less than 12 hours after Madonna crucified herself on a mirrored cross, the Catholic league expressed its discontent with the concert stunt.”² Its president, Bill Donahue, had particularly strong words for Madonna, stating: “I guess you really can’t teach an old pop star new tricks...Poor Madonna keeps trying to shock. But all she succeeds in doing is coming across as a boring bigot.”³

David Muir of the Evangelical Alliance said it was, “blatant insensitivity” and that [her] “use of Christian imagery is an abuse and it is dangerous.”⁴ By the time Madonna, who practices Kabbalah (a form of Jewish mysticism) but was raised Roman Catholic, brought the concert to Rome in early August, the criticism had grown to the point that Roman Catholics, Jews, and Muslims in the city were united in their condemnation of the show. Catholic priests were saying it “comes close to blasphemy.”⁵ The head of Italy’s Muslim league added, “I think her idea is in the worst taste and she had better go home.”⁶ The vice president of the Roman Jewish Community also commented stating that, “she should have pulled the routine considering where she was performing.”⁷ Despite the religious protestations over 70,000 fans still attended the concert in Rome.

In Germany, “a spokesman for prosecutors in Duesseldorf said the authorities would be watching her concert…to see if legal action is warranted [and while] the crucifixion scene could be construed as insulting religious beliefs...it might also be permitted under laws protecting artistic freedom.”⁸

As the concert moved to Amsterdam, Dutch opponents were similarly informed by Justice Minister Piet Donner stating, “It is understandable that Christians feel offended by the crucifixion act that Madonna performs”, adding, “…hurt feelings [do not] mean the act could be classified [legally] as blasphemy.”⁹

Though the tour is now finished, NBC still must deal with the controversy as the television network is scheduled to broadcast a video of the tour in November. Brent Bozell, president of the Parents Television Council has called for NBC to cut the controversial crucifixion scene from the television broadcast. In a letter to NBC Bozell stated, “NBC is sending a mixed message to Christians across the nation by planning to show an offensive Madonna concert in its entirety while requiring biblical messages to be edited out of the popular VeggieTales children’s show” (NBC now airs VeggieTales as part of its Saturday morning lineup).¹⁰

Mark Early, president of Prison Fellowship, also noted this contradiction writing: “NBC ordered the producers of VeggieTales to edit out all biblical references. After all, they might offend people! Is this the same network that tells parents that if they are offended by prime-time sex and profanity to just turn the channel or use a V-Chip? Is this the same network that will allow Madonna to sing a song from her tour—the one she performs while suspended from a crucifix? Evidently, blasphemy and four-letter words are fine, but any positive mention of God is so offensive it has to be censored.”¹¹

Despite the controversy, or perhaps because of it, NBC seems committed to being noncommittal on whether or not they will air the controversial crucifixion scene. As late as September 19 Reuters News was reporting, “executives at NBC, owned by the General Electric Co., will wait for makers of her concert special to submit the production for review before deciding whether to allow the mock crucifixion to air. ‘We're awaiting the delivery of it, and once we've seen it in its entirety, we'll make a decision,’ [confirmed] an NBC spokeswoman.”¹²

During the tour, Madonna consistently responded through her spokespersons that the mock crucifixion is being done in the name of charity and that she does not think Jesus would be mad about what she is doing. As the tour recently concluded in Japan, she issued a statement with the following explanation:

“[There seems to be many misrepresentations about my appearance on the cross and]_{Original Citation} I wanted to explain it myself once and for all. It is no different than a person wearing a cross or ‘taking up the cross’ as it says in the Bible. My performance is neither anti-Christian, sacrilegious or blasphemous. Rather, it is my plea to the audience to encourage mankind to help one another and to see the world as a unified whole."¹³

Madonna’s insertion of the crucifixion imagery into her show is not the first instance of the cross being ridiculed, taken lightly, or its meaning being altered; neither will it be the last. In fact, it is not unusual to hear someone refer to being crucified to indicate they are in trouble or being unfairly persecuted. This is illustrated in the popular culture in John Lennon’s use of it in the refrain of “The Ballad of John and Yoko”:

“Christ you know it ain't easy,
You know how hard it can be.
The way things are going
They're going to crucify me.”¹⁴

In the song, Lennon equates the general displeasure and character attacks being heaped upon him for his marriage to Yoko Ono (and subsequent blame for the break-up of the Beatles), as akin to his being unjustly persecuted—an innocent man being “crucified”.

A more recent reference, and one with a more overt, direct connection to Jesus’ crucifixion, was rapper Kanye West’s appearance on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine wearing a crown of thorns with the caption, “The Passion of Kanye West”.¹⁵

Those who make such portrayals tend to dismiss them as simply being an expression of artistic freedom and, as such, they and their supporters maintain it should not be taken as, nor is it intended as, an insult to Christians. As with Madonna, some even claim it is supportive of, compatible with, or not unlike the message and/or acts of Jesus and would have his approval.

As this controversy plays out, Christians should be mindful that it is not only in the pop culture where we find the message of the cross so blatantly diminished. Everyday organized religions also downplay, deny, or challenge what happened on the cross.

For example, Mormons claim Jesus shed his blood and made atonement in the Garden of Gethsemane, rather than on the cross. A Church publication states:

“In Gethsemane Christ sweat great drops of blood from every pore when he conditionally took upon himself the sins of the world, and then the shedding of his blood was completed upon the cross.”¹⁶

According to this, the atonement was already accomplished, the cross merely brought about his death; thus, the cross becomes meaningless in the redemption story. Since the crucifixion has no real significance, Mormons do not have any depictions of it on Church property. Their buildings are generally topped with a spire and their most sacred buildings, the Temples, have a golden angel—Moroni—atop them.

While the Jehovah’s Witnesses do not deny that Jesus, whom they believe was Michael the Archangel, was crucified, they teach it was on a stake or a pole rather than a cross. As such, they too remove any depiction of the cross from their properties and publications, except to deride it as being inaccurate and idolatrous. As one of their articles states:

“The veneration of the cross is not Christian. It does not show love for God or Christ but mocks what they stand for. It violates God’s commandments against idolatry. It reveres a pagan symbol masquerading as Christian.”¹⁷

Another example is the Unification Church of Sun Myung Moon who, while not denying the crucifixion, maintains it was a meaningless and useless death that prevented Jesus from fulfilling his true mission – to save others through taking a bride and becoming the “True Parents” (they believe Moon is now fulfilling this mission). As Moon wrote:

“Jesus was denied the opportunity to take a bride in the position of restored Eve, and to establish the first God-centered heavenly family. Instead he was nailed to the cross. Thus, the mission of Jesus Christ was left incomplete on earth”.¹⁸

Those who would say that Jesus left his mission unfinished have overlooked his own proclamation from the cross when he declared: “It is finished!”¹⁹

Those who say we should have no regard for the cross have missed the words of Paul who said: “...may it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”²⁰

Those who would say that the atonement occurred other than on the cross would do well to consider the words of Peter: “and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.”²¹

And for those who take lightly the seriousness of the cross, thinking they can project themselves upon it as if accomplishing something of the magnitude and nobility as that of Christ, they would do well to hear Paul’s warning: “For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.²²

What happened on the cross was indeed an extremely serious matter. There the blood of the Savior was shed that man might be reconciled to God. The world does not need Madonna to hang on a mock cross in hope that we might, “see the world as a unified whole”. No, what we need, including Madonna, is to see the “old, rugged cross” and to embrace the One who gave his life on it.

“For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fulness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him…”²³

“For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”²⁴

After this article was published, NBC decided to cut the crucifixion scenes from the Madonna special it will air on November 22, 2006. To read the full story click here.

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End Notes

1. rollingstone.com/news/story/10365404/madonna_launches_tour_with_disco_crucifixion
2. http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=1992538
3. Ibid
4. http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/entertainment/5013812.stm
5. http://au.news.yahoo.com//060803/11/100lp.html
6. Ibid
7. Ibid
8. www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2006/08/15/madonna-germany.html
9. www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2006/09/03/madonna-crucifixion-netherlands.html
10. www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=24015
11. www.breakpoint.org/listingarticle.asp?ID=5602
12. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060920/tv_nm/leisure_madonna_dc
13. http://people.aol.com/people/article/0,26334,1537963,00.html [Original Citation: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=66508]
14. The Ballad of John and Yoko, Imagine: John Lennon, 1988
15. Rolling Stone, February 9, 2006 edition
16. What the Mormons Think of Christ, p 20
17. Watchtower, May 1, 1989 p 26
18. God’s Warning to the World p. 41
19. John 19:30, New American Standard Bible (NAS)
20. Galatians 6:14, NAS
21. 1 Peter 2:24, NAS
22. Philippians 3:18-19, NAS
23. Colossians 1:19-20, NAS
24. 1 Corinthians 1:18, NAS