Pop singer Madonna has never shied away from controversy, and her 2006 Confessions world tour continued that trend. As part of the show, the 48-year-old entertainer staged a mock-crucifixion—singing "Live to Tell" while wearing a crown of thorns and strapped to a mirrored cross.

Not surprisingly, many religious groups protested the routine as an offense to their faith. Madonna answered her critics through a statement released following the tour's final show in Japan.

"There seems to be many misinterpretations about my appearance on the cross, and I wanted to explain it myself once and for all. It is no different than a person wearing a cross or 'taking up the cross,' as it says in the Bible. My performance is neither anti-Christian, sacrilegious, or blasphemous. Rather, it is my plea to the audience to encourage mankind to help one another and to see the world as a unified whole."

She later added, "I believe in my heart that, if Jesus were alive today, he would be doing the same thing."