Elton Bitches About Religion
John Lennon imagined it, now Elton John has expressed his desire to fulfill the vision of a world without religion. Over the weekend, the bitch was back in his typical outspoken form, as he let the world know he's tired of all the gay bashing he sees from organized religion. In an interview published yesterday, talking about how he believes religion sparks hatred toward homosexuals, John opined:
"From my point of view, I would ban religion completely. Organized religion doesn't seem to work. It turns people into really hateful lemmings and it's not really compassionate."
That's a pretty sweeping statement from someone who probably doesn't like sweeping statements about his community. But, pop stars seeking attention don't normally pause for a logic check before popping off. If they did, they would be less controversial and, by extension, garner less attention; that's something most of them couldn't handle! There is often no better way to get attention than to make some controversial comments about religion. Sometimes it works for the artist, and sometimes against them.
Sinead O'Connor took on the Catholic Church and the Pope with a now infamous gesture on Saturday Night Live, where she ripped up the Pope's photo. For Sinead, the backlash was swift and harsh. Just two weeks later she was booed off the stage at a Bob Dylan tribute concert. On the other hand, Madonna's career is very much tied to her rebellion against her Catholic upbringing. If there were no organized religions, would anyone speak out about Her Madgesty putting herself up on a cross in a mock crucifixion? Probably not, and if no one is speaking out then there is no extra media coverage for Madonna. We all know Madonna loves her some media coverage!
When pop stars go around spouting off about religion -- like some do on politics -- it is typically more entertaining than actually shocking. It's been perceived as "hip" to rebel against religion, and that rebellion is something of a rock star tradition. It makes sense for many of these megalomaniacs not to worship anything -- as they are quite content worshiping themselves!