Elton John: "I Would Ban Religion Completely"

To the left is a picture of Elton John with his "husband" David Furnish. According to the Drudge Report, "Sir Elton John wants religion banned completely – because he believes it promotes hatred of gays." Here's the story: Elton John: "I Would Ban Religion Completely"

Quote:

In a candid interview for a dedicated Gay issue of Observer Music Monthly Magazine he shared his views on topics as varied as being a pop icon to Tony Blair's stance on the war in Iraq.

He said there was a lack of religious leadership, particularly in world politics, and complained that people do not take to the streets to protest any more.

Sir Elton said: "I think religion has always tried to turn hatred towards gay people. Religion promotes the hatred and spite against gays. But there are so many people I know who are gay and love their religion. From my point of view I would ban religion completely. Organised religion doesn't seem to work. It turns people into really hateful lemmings and it's not really compassionate."

He added: "The world is near escalating to World War Three and where are the leaders of each religion? Why aren't they having a conclave? Why aren't they coming together? I said this after 9/11 and people thought I was nuts. Instead of more violence why isn't there a meeting of religious leaders?"

"It's like the peace movement in the Sixties. Musicians got through to people by getting out there and doing peace concerts but we don't seem to do them any more."

"If John Lennon were alive today he'd be leading it with a vengeance," he said.

Sir Elton said people were too busy blogging on the internet to go out onto the streets to stand up for what they believed in. "They seem to do their protesting online and that's not good enough. You have to get out there and be seen to be vocal, and you've got to do it time and time again. There was a big march in London when Britain decided to join the war against Iraq and Tony Blair is on the record as saying 'the people who march today will have blood on their hands'. That's returned to bite him on the ass," he said.

Sir Elton compared his place in British culture with that of the Queen Mother's. He said: "People come to me and I'm a bit like the Queen Mother. I never get those problems. I don't know what it is with me, people treat me very reverently. Referring to his "wedding" to long-term partner David Furnish, he said: "It was the same when Dave and I had our civil union - I was expecting the odd flour bomb and there wasn't. "Dave and I as a couple seem to be the acceptable face of gayness, and that's great."

He pledged to continue to campaign for gay rights saying: "I'm going to fight for them whether I do it silently behind the scenes or so vocally that I get locked up. "I can't just sit back; it's not in my nature any more. I'm nearly 60-years-old after all. I can't sit back and blindly ignore it and I won't."

When people tell you that homosexuals are harmless and we should just leave them alone, remember that many homosexuals want to see religion wiped off the face of the earth, and secular progressives in Western culture are helping them in that endeavor.

When people tell you that homosexuals are marginalized, look at who is marching with them: When Nancy Met Harry

Any thoughts?

Comments

[A Simple Sinner]

I think this is another classic example of why the microphone should be turned OFF after a celbrity is done singing. Sure they have freedom of speech - but on average they seem to be too wealthy to buy any common sense. Or perhaps sir elton's wig is just a tad too tight.

I supposed it never occured to him that millions of people alive to day are here because they had prolife ancestors, or ancestors who may have been nursed back to healthy in Catholic hospitals, by nursing sisters or been educated in Catholic schools as preparation for becoming doctors....

Of course Madonna rather likes to pinpoint blame on the Catholic Church for discrimination against Gays... never mind that if everyone followed Catholic Church teaching today, there would be no AIDS crisis tomorrow.

[Zach Foreman]

Using similar logic, I would ban homosexuality because it promotes hatred against religion (as exemplified by Elton John's statement).

And who thinks that a complete ban on religion would not lead to violent resistance against whatever powers attempted to suppress it?

[Philip]

Ban religion? How wonderfully droll. Sir Elton must have all the Lords bent over laughing at that one. It's an idea that was blown out years ago.

[TM Lutas]

I wonder if Sir Elton even bothered to look up and see whether interfaith summits on terrorism are going on? 15 seconds of google work yielded the obvious fact that the world's religions do talk to each other and that they have been jointly condemning terrorism as well.

The man *knows* certain things that turn out to just not be so and it only takes a few minutes to penetrate the lies. Thank God for Google making it easier to fact check such nonsense.

[ratpack]

Members of my Roman Catholic family must be trying to confuse me. Regarding homosexuality, they say the Church's position is "hate the sin, love the sinner."
I always had a hard time with this.
I equate this to walking up to a person of Jewish persuasion and saying "hate the Holocaust, love Hitler." Imagine their confusion. Same here. I think the Church's position, and what they're teaching their parishioners about how to treat and view homosexuality is should be put into context.

Hate the Holocaust, love Hitler.

That's what I'm hearing from the Church.

[A Simple Sinner]

Than you are hearing right.

Hate Hitler's evil.
Hate Hitler's hate.
Hate Hitler's murderous ways.
Hate Hitler's war against non-Aryans (like me).
Hate Hitler's hatred of the Church & Christianity. (Anti-semetic does NOT = Christian)

But hate Hitler? As disgusting and disjointing as it is, if God created ANYONE, we can't hate that person.

You heard right. We must love and respect everyone no matter how far they fall from grace. Of course loving and respecting them as a child of God does not mean rolling over for their lies and deciet. Let a child do that to you and that is NO love at all.

Let's turn this around a minute and focus on what the Church DOES teach about sexuality - it is there to co-operate in the creation of souls that are made to know God, serve God and love God in this world and be happy with Him for all eternity in the next. In this sense the Church is blind to the difference between Hugh Hefner and his 25 girlfriends and Elton and his "husband" - neither situation exemplifies a co-operative union with the Creator to create life.

[Kevin in Dallas]

Why anyone would listen to Elton John in order to make decisions about their soul is beyond me. I remember shortly after Elvis Presley's death, Elton John, in an interview, said that Presley should have retired long before and that he, Elton John, would not be performing when he was an old man. It is time for Elton John to retire.

[Philip]

Ratpack:

It is Jesus who taught us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. From that we draw the principle to love the sinner and hate the sin. How is telling Christians to practice this the same as telling Jews to imitate and follow the teachings of Jesus?

[TM Lutas]

ratpack - The greatest victory is to turn the Enemy's most brutal soldiers into our own allies. Love Hitler? If only it had worked, how many lives would have been saved. In the cases where it has worked, how much carnage has already been averted?

[James]

Genius in art so often corresponds to utter stupidity in common sense; I guess Sir Elton John is just another example of this. Ah, Sir Elton, who lacks compassion? Religious people, huh. Who created and runs hospitals, sanitoriums, and universities? The Red Cross, Salvation Army, and Save the Children...who? Yeah, those atheists are world leaders in compassion!! Unless what you mean is that moral confusion and perplexity that leads to the inability to condemn anything, believe anything, or have any standards. Your world, Sir Elton, leads to utter chaos and murder. Those compassionate atheist communists...now they had it right, huh Elton? Stick to what you know; how about keeping your pontifications to cartoon characters and Rocket Men.

[Peter]

The man's perversion has rotten his thinking capacity.

[Peter]

The man's perversion has rotten his thinking capacity.

[Jeffy]

Is that all Mr. Elton could come up with? Banning Religion!
Laugh out loud ppl, this man has lost it. c'mon...Elton. Did you think about what will happen to the gays who maintain religion? And did you know, it’s IMPOSSIBLE to wipe out religion. But I guess he has never read Bible/Quran/Torah because it is people like Elton who try to become Gods and end up going to Hell.

There are countless events where man has tried banning/destroying religion (by becoming Gods themselves) and failed miserably. Once you decide to go against the laws of nature (like men &men), you become spiritually blinded and you are almost like a dead person (spiritual dead) which means even though when other people are trying to help you, you wouldn’t believe them but instead will think of it as a threat/counter-argument.

I guess my mom was right… ‘Gayism’ turns you into mindless jerks. Elton, the Queen is an example.

[MominCT]

Elton: Square pegs weren't meant to fit in round holes! God wins, because he designed us. The Satan has a way of blinding us from the truth.

[Thaddeus]

I hate to bring myself to the level of the majority of the Religious mob by 'imposing' my thoughts on readers here, but the issues addressed here by sir Elton, are indeed a pressing matter in the greater scheme of humanity.
Morality should be the foundation of Human existance. Not Religion. Religion is the mose base and brutal form of mind control. It is evil and as more people realise this it will become oboslete. The irony in organised, God-worshipping religion makes me sick.
You preach about God and Damn 'the Devil', and yet everything religion stands for stems back to corruption and violence. This seems somewhat relative to the way this, 'Satan' character works.

[because]

Light overcomes darkness, love overcomes hate.

[Constantine]

"The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." 2 Corinthians 4:4

"Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe." 1 Corinthians 1:20-21

[kristen Denner]

Then why is Elton John getting his baby christened?