There are few people who can provoke as wide a swath of the ideological spectrum as Sir Elton John.
And while he’s received his fair share of flack from the gay community (one Queerty commenter dubbed him the “gay Uncle Tom“), you’ve got to love his take on Jesus and organized religion.
Most recently, Elton had this to say about how Jesus would have dealt with gay marriage:
“If Jesus Christ was alive today, I cannot see him, as the Christian person that he was, and the great person that he was, saying this could not happen… he was all about love and compassion and forgiveness and trying to bring people together and that is what the church should be about.”
Even if you don’t agree, it’s a great idea to toss into the public sphere.
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Plus the reaction it’s received from one religious charity, Christian Concern, says more about the religious institution than Elton ever could:
“The reality is that Jesus is alive… and when he was asked questions, he went out of his way to underline that marriage is between a man and a woman, as God had intended.
The reason that he did that, as the most compassionate person who’s ever walked on earth was not to oppress but because he recognised that that pattern of marriage between a man and a woman and the natural family is the means of human flourishing.”
And this was hardly the most controversial thing Ms. John has ever said about religion.
There’s that time he let Parade Magazine in on his true take on Jesus:
“I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems. On the cross, he forgave the people who crucified him. Jesus wanted us to be loving and forgiving. I don’t know what makes people so cruel. Try being a gay woman in the Middle East — you’re as good as dead.”
Stephen Green from Christian Voice called Elton’s comment “a desperate cry for attention.”
That could be, but we still love whenever religious institutions have to clamor to defend themselves against compassionate blasphemy.
You know, like when he told Jake Shears that:
“organised religious bodies don’t seem to work” and that he would “ban religion completely” if he had the power, and “Religion has always tried to turn hatred towards gay people. It turns people into hateful lemmings and it is not really compassionate.”
Or his no-nonsense stance in 2012 about gay marriage:
“I know a lot of people, and perhaps especially religious people, will say that David and I should count ourselves lucky for living in a country that allows civil partnerships, and call it quits there…Well, I don’t accept this…Wouldn’t it be a huge source of national pride if we led, rather than just followed, the currents of history, and became one of the first countries in the world to say being married isn’t about whether you’re straight or gay, but about whether you’re human?”
Love him or hate him, it’s hard to argue with that.
h/t: Pink News
Cam
Elton Said….. ““I know a lot of people, and perhaps especially religious people, will say that David and I should count ourselves lucky for living in a country that allows civil partnerships, and call it quits there…Well, I don’t accept this”
_____________________
He accepted it just fine until Ukraine wouldn’t let him adopt a child because a Civil Marriage wasn’t the same in their eyes. Before it PERSONALLY effected him he called gays in the U.S. all sorts of names for fighting for marriage.
Mezaien
Queerty, you stupid ass! you meant to say Christianity, not just “Religion” AND Christianity with Islam, is a cult.
Ben Dover
Jesus condemned divorce. This insane teaching of his caused tremendous misery all through the Christian world, right up until very recent times when people finally wised up and realized that forbidding divorce is not only totally impractical, but inhumane and hateful.
I don’t know where well-meaning people like Elton get this idea that Jesus was all about “love and compassion and forgiveness” and all that shit. On occasion at least, Jesus could be quite a hateful vicious whackjob.
Billy Budd
Religion is totally superfluous and unnecessary. It is evil.
dazzer
@Cam: To be fair to him, Cam, when he spoke about Civil Partnerships, he was talking about Civil Partnerships in the UK, which were virtually identical to marriage. A lot of Americans thought he was talking about those pale imitations that existed in various US states.
He clarified that later.
Also, the Ukrainian refusal to let him and David Furnish to adopt was based on his age and not his marital status.
I do agree with the underlying basis of your analysis that Auntie Elton says some stupid things, but one of the things I like about him is that if someone explains a situation to him, he is capable of changing his mind. He’s not dogmatic.
Also, his heart is in the right place. He’s raised millions and given millions of his own money to various charities and, apart from the Elton John Foundation, he keeps very quiet about the rest of his charitable work (much like George Michael who was outed – against his wishes – as the largest individual contributor to charities in the UK a couple of years ago).
Cam
@dazzer:
“”But the country’s Family, Youth and Sports Minister Yuriy Pavlenko told the Associated Press that adoptive parents must be married and Ukraine does not recognize homosexual unions as marriage.
John and Furnish, his longtime partner, tied the knot in 2005 in one of the first legalized civil unions in the United Kingdom.””
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/sep/14/official-no-ukrainian-adoption-elton-john/
And as for what Elton John said about Marriage not that long ago….
““I don’t want to be married,” he told USA TODAY’s Donna Freydkin at a New York fundraiser last night. “I’m very happy with a civil partnership. If gay people want to get married, or get together, they should have a civil partnership,” said John. “The word marriage, I think, puts a lot of people off. You get the same equal rights that we do when we have a civil partnership. Heterosexual people get married. We can have civil partnerships.”””
http://www.celebitchy.com/21719/elton_john_is_against_gay_marriage_says_civil_unions_are_for_same_sex_couples/
Until not having a full “Marriage” became inconvenient for him, THEN suddenly he changed his tune.
ingyaom
Jesus was Christian? News to me.
Desert Boy
Miss John must be thinking about religion and Jesus because of her advanced age.
Cobalt Blue
Who is (s)he to teach others about behavior? ” Milady ” is a Dame with a past… I remember when milady was married with a woman and was caught in a boat in Austrália packed with men – Yes, the ‘wife’ stayed in England and Dame Elton John went sailing… – and all the world was like: Yes,ha-ha, all these handsome men with ‘ milady ‘…and the use of drugs, and a certain pic that appeared on the web showing ‘ milady ‘ been prepared by a nurse to receive an ENEMA! Now we have this venerable old dame talking about religion and ( after two pregnancies…)raising her kids without care about the thoughts and feelings of these two children that weren’t asked if they would like to have two f@gg*ts as parents. WHO IS (S)HE TO TALK ABOUT BEHAVIOR AND RELIGION?
Impossible Boy
@ingyaom: Heh, and to me too.
EGO
Me-oh-my! Religion is not only the cause of wars in countries, but on the Internet! When all of us learn to think for ourselves and realize it is only ourselves that we know, we will push aside all of the speculations that have been repeated for centuries. Love, not hate, will win out and people will have equal rights all over the world. Only the block headed, thick, buttheads will not change and we have to make sure none of them get control of anything.
john.k
For a long time I was content with civil partnership. My attitude was “what’s in a name …”. But as time has passed I have come round to the view that civil marriage is necessary for us gays to have true equality. So like me Elton changed his mind!