Moscow Mayor Calls Gay Pride Parade "Satanic"

According to MOSNEWS.com, Moscow's mayor referred to gay pride parades as "satanic".

Given the previous post about the KGB's efforts to discredit the Holy See, this story shows an interesting shift in Russia.

Here's the story: Moscow Mayor Calls Gay Pride Parade Satanic

Here's a quote:

Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov said Monday he would never allow a gay parade to take place in Moscow despite pressure from the West, Russia’s RIA-Novosti news agency reports.

“Last year, Moscow came under unprecedented pressure to sanction the gay parade, which can be described in no other way than as Satanic,” Luzhkov said at the 15th Christmas educational readings in the Kremlin Palace.

“We did not let the parade take place then, and we are not going to allow it in the future,” said Luzhkov who has been in office since 1992.

The conservative 70-year-old mayor of the Russian capital also banned Portuguese bullfights in Moscow in 2001 for their violence and did not let the St. Petersburg-based rock group Leningrad perform in the city because of their explicit lyrics.

Luzhkov thanked the attending head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II, for his support at a time when, he said, the West is exerting considerable pressure on Moscow authorities and trying to promote gay relationships under the cover of creativity and freedom of expression.

“Religious thinkers throughout the world have said that the West has reached a crisis of faith. Some European nations bless single-sex marriages and introduce sexual guides in schools,” Luzhkov said. “Such things are a deadly moral poison for children.”

Any thoughts?

Comments

I'd have to say that if this is a sincere attempt to instil a sense of morality after a total vacuum of 80+ years under communism, then Moscow is definitely on the right track.

[JMC]

When the consecration of Russia is finally performed, that man will be at the forefront of the miraculous conversion.

[Joseph D'Hippolito]

I wonder if Luzhkov is acting out of genuine sympathy with Orthodox religious and moral views or if he's taking an anti-Western pose for domestic political purposes?

Given how Russia is cozying up to Iran, given how Russia feared the admittance of the Baltic States and some of its former Warsaw Pact allies into NATO and give the fact that Vladimir Putin suppresses dissent fiercely, my question isn't as irrelevant as you might think.

I would be far more interested in Luzhkov's views about Islam. That would answer a lot of questions in my mind.

[A Simple Sinner]

"I wonder if Luzhkov is acting out of genuine sympathy with Orthodox religious and moral views or if he's taking an anti-Western pose for domestic political purposes?"

I am inclined to believe just that. Is he moving in an effort to govern based on the precepts of Orthodox Christianity, or is it the case that it provides a nice backdrop for political scapegoating of a group that Orthodoxy HAPPENS to share his views on.

What do I mean by HAPPENS to share views on? Well frankly I suspect he could give a HANG about the Russian abortion situation.

HLI - Human Life International - has reported that the number of abortions to live births in Moscow is some of the highest in the world. Russian woman routinely have multiple abortions before births.

President Putin has stopped the direct election of governors in the Russian provinces (equivalent to US states) and began to appoint them himself.

If anyone thinks these old ("ex-"?)commies are taking some sort of stand in defense of Christian moral order, I have a cathedral in Red Square I would like to sell you.