Spain: Bomb threats and funding cuts follow theatre show

New York-born Bassi describes his show “The Revelation,” which has toured successfully elsewhere in Europe, as a “tribute to secular values” and a “defence of atheism.” He notes the contradiction of a society where technological development sits alongside the proliferation of fundamental religious sects.

The intention of his show, Bassi told El Pais, was to explain as an atheist his opposition to monotheistic thinking. In the two-hour satirical monologue, he plays a televangelist, a fundamentalist and the Pope (handing out condoms). At the end of the show, he directs people to a form on his web site where they can renounce their faith. He describes this as “reverse evangelism.”

He was driven to create the show because of the rising influence of religion in politics internationally. In the El Pais interview, he described the Evangelical church as “the biggest political force” in the United States. His previous work has also attacked other conservative elements of Spanish life. His ongoing “Bassi Bus” tours of “the worst of Madrid” sometimes take in the Valle de los Caidos, where General Franco’s remains are interred.

The show pays tribute to the Enlightenment and its philosophers, particularly Voltaire, and argues for the separation of church and state. Bassi explained to El Pais, “The reality of a democratic society based on the separation between state and religion is losing ground, and things are going backwards.... The only way to live is to separate what belongs to God and what belongs to Caesar.” He described the intrusion of religion into politics as “very, very, very dangerous to society.”

In defending Leo Bassi’s show, the implications of the attacks on it need to be fully understood.

This obvious and immediate attack on artistic freedom expresses the degree to which the Catholic Church, as the ideological vehicle for the extreme right, is taking an ever more active role in Spanish politics.

When the show opened at Madrid’s alternative Teatro Alfil, it met with demonstrations by conservative groups against what they described as an attack on Christian values. The lead was taken by the religious group Alternativa Española, which organised demonstrations denouncing the show’s lack of respect for religious beliefs.

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http://wsws.org/articles/2006/mar2006/spai-m28.shtml