I refer to the front page headline ("Scots join global protest at Pussy Riot jail terms", The Herald, August 18) and to Ian Bell's perceptive analysis of the same day on the relationship between the Russian government and the country's Orthodox church ("Pussy Riot played into the hands of a ruthless president").
There is no doubt that some, including the Russian president, found the punk prayer performed in the Christ the Saviour cathedral in Moscow politically offensive. It is also the case that many considered it sacrilegious to perform in such a way in what the religious, associated with the Christian faith, revere as a House of God. There are others who looked upon the proceedings inside the church as essentially immature. The performance has certainly had an impact, perhaps away beyond what the perpetrators originally envisaged.
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