Why Lady Gaga outraged Indonesia, and what the US should learn
June 01, 2012
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Authorities in Indonesia have cancelled a concert by Lady Gaga. Western journalists have generally interpreted the move as another example of Islamic repression. Matthew Cullinan Hoffman, writing for Catholic World Report, offers a quite different perspective.
Lady Gaga’s performances are offensive, Hoffman argues, not only because of their crude sexual content but also because they are deliberately insulting to religious faith. The outrage that she provoked in Indonesia was not confined to Islamic militants. The episode should be recognized as a warning of a trend developing in many countries: “a growing indignation at what is perceived as an American cultural imperialism that treats the moral values of other countries with contempt.”
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Posted by: -
Jun. 03, 2012 12:01 PM ET USA
Well said! Thank you!
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Posted by: ColmCille -
Jun. 01, 2012 11:16 PM ET USA
It also treats the moral values of a good proportion of Americans with contempt; values. Americans, and Westerners in general, have traditional moral values too, though they are gradually being eroded away. Once upon a time civility, good manners and a general sense of what is tasteful tended to balance the right to free speech. People understood that just because they had a Constitutional right to say something didn't mean they should say it. No more.
