Kama Sutra Carnival Theme Upsets Churchmen
 

(submitted by gekkogecko)
Oddly Enough - Reuters to My Yahoo!
By Andrei Khalip

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - The prospect of
condoms and Kama Sutra poses in a parade in Rio de
Janeiro's famed Carnival has riled the Roman Catholic
hierarchy in the Brazilian (news - web sites) city.

The Academicos do Grande Rio samba school has chosen
the theme "Let's Put On a Condom, My Love" for the
procession that will march in the extravaganza at the
Sambadrome, center of the Bacchanalian four-day party
to take place next month.

The floats will feature giant figures and live couples
representing Adam and Eve locked in amorous poses from
the ancient Indian sex guide.

Although hordes of practically naked beauties
wriggling their hips to samba beats abound in
Carnival, Grande Rio is apparently going too far in
the eyes of Cardinal Eusebio Scheid, the archbishop of
Rio.

An archdiocese spokesman said on Wednesday the
archdiocese was considering asking officials to bring
indecency charges against the samba school.

Carnival could be "discredited in front of the world
with unacceptable scenes ... indecent images that ruin
the party and disturb the peace," the spokesman quoted
the archbishop as saying.

Brazil is the world's biggest Roman Catholic country
and the Vatican (news - web sites) strictly opposes
the use of contraceptives.

Grande Rio's Carnival song will promote condom use.
The lyrics urge: "Fulfill your desires, kiss me on the
mouth, make my dreams real ... but if you want to see
me and have me, we must protect ourselves from evil."

Grande Rio's artistic director, Joaosinho Trinta, 70,
well known as a provocative and controversial Carnival
figure, said the samba school would go ahead with its
plans.

"We won't change a thing, we are taking a very strong
stance, because the church's attitude is very
hypocritical, medieval and very wrong ... the theme
boosts the campaign for safe sex that prevents that
terrible epidemic AIDS (news - web sites)," he said.

"As for Kama Sutra, we want to show that ancient
Indian scholars studied sex not as pornography but as
science ... that the book was a breakthrough in
Oriental knowledge," he added.

Trinta has already dueled with the church. In 1989,
the archdiocese banned the use of Christ's image in a
parade describing poverty in Rio. Trinta wrapped
Christ's statue in black plastic and took the
open-armed figure to the Sambadrome, where it won a
standing ovation.

In the past, samba schools have often made last-minute
changes to risqu Carnival displays so as to not upset
the church.