So says pop star Elton John in an interview of The Observer's Music Monthly Magazine.
"Organized religion doesn't seem to work. It turns people into really hateful lemmings and it's not really compassionate. 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?" he said.
"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 anymore.
"If John Lennon were alive today, he'd be leading it with a vengeance."
Yeah, organized religion has never condemned war or lead peace movements. I mean, the Pope is always lobbying for more war, right? Oh, wait. That's not true.
Well, maybe the Catholic Church has taken an anti-war stance, but not other Christian sects, right? I mean, there haven't been any protests by Christian groups against war anywhere. Oh, wait. That's not true either.
And we all know that religion turns people into really hateful lemmings, like those hateful Christians during the Civil Rights Movement lead by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Now, there was some hate!
Or all those religious organizations like the Red Cross, and the Salvation Army who go out around the world just spewing hate and not helping anyone. Oh, wait. You guessed it. That's not true either!
And if you want to see hateful lemmings in action, look no further than gay Christian organizations. They must be really hateful!
Of course, the above was written tongue-in-cheek. Elton John has a point about most religions rejecting homosexuality, both in a modern day and a historical context. But by no means does this mean that Jews and Christians are "hateful lemmings" where homosexuality and war (his examples) are concerned. In fact, there are many organizations that are going to great lengths to reach out to gay people. For every Fred Phelps there are dozens of gay Christian ministers.
As for his "religion loves war" angle, since World War II, most mainline Protestant churches, as well as the Catholic church and many Jewish organizations have condemned war in virtually any context. In short, maybe Elton John needs to stick to making music and leave the political philosophizing to others (that's a nice way of saying shut up and sing).
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