Via HuffPo:
Multiple reports say that the Lebanese government impounded shipments of "Born This Way," the already-platinum album due to its alleged insults to Christianity and its all around "bad taste."
The Lebanese government has made clear their distaste in Gaga, having already banned her single "Judas" from the airwaves. That song caused a brief ruckus in the United States, too, as conservative religious leaders, including those from the Catholic League, initially protested the song's lyrics and pending video.
"This is a stunt... Lady Gaga tries to continue to shock Catholics and Christians in general: she dresses as a nun... she swallows the rosary. She has now morphed into a caricature of herself," Catholic League President Bill Donohue said in a statement before the video came out.
He then sang a somewhat different tune, waving off the video as a mess and incoherent.
WTF? Justin Bieber would be understandable on grounds of a lack of fabulousness alone - but Gaga? Really?
The Los Angeles Times follows up:
Shaky Lebanon's 17 offically recognized religious groups include Muslims, Druze and various Christian denominations. They're all pretty thin-skinned when it comes to religious references -- and the law errs on the side of banning anything potentially inflammatory. Music that refers to religious figures or Israel is directly censored by the Lebanese General Security in a joint effort with the Ministry of Information.
Any decision to ban the album would be in accordance with Article 75 of the 1962 Lebanese Law for distribution of print media, which states that, “Distributors are prohibited from circulating media that diverges from public decency and morality, or is at odds with nationalistic or religious beliefs."
Dear people of Lebanon, this one's for you. Now go forth and sin.
9:58 AM PT: Of course, the Lebanese aren't the only wackos on this good earth. We have them here, too.