The Intolerance of Elton John

Elton John - I Love his music. At least I used to, anyway. Check out this beauty of an interview:

Elton John Interview

Let me disseminate this for you, in case the stupidity of these statements has left a dark haze over your eyes. If you are a secularist, feel free to stand up and applaud Mr. John's statements. Ok, sit down, now.

"I think religion has always tried to turn hatred toward gay people," ....."Religion promotes the hatred and spite against gays."

What do you consider a religion, Elton? Narcissism definitely counts as one. Celebrities have this notion that since they have the power of popularity, they can use media outlets to promote whatever kind of viewpoints they hold and then not expect a retort from anybody, and ESPECIALLY not a negative retort. You are not God, Elton, at least not to anyone but yourself. You have not set the standard for right and wrong. That was taken care of on the top of a mountain over 4,000 years ago (another post subject to come). I doubt that if directed to, Mr. John could point out a single verse in the Bible (assuming he refers to Christianity in this diatribe against religion) which would illuminate his beliefs above.

See, tolerance is a two-way street. Someone could easily point me out as a homophobe (I'm not, and don't even attempt to accuse me of that!) because of my belief that homosexuality is wrong on all counts. However, I would come back at that same person and accuse them of being "intolerant" of my set of standards. Believing that a person can do anything they want and not be deserving of judgement from another or the consequence of that person's actions is not tolerance, its ignorance. Ignorance of right and wrong, ignorance of God, and certainly ignorance of the truth. Yes, there is a truth for everything, truth is not a creation of Western religion and it does not vary for every person. Judgement is shown to the person who walks into a job interview with an application that states a past criminal record and to the person who decides to wear a brown belt with black shoes (both are a big no-no). Judgement is given to the parent who can't calm their screaming 2-year old in the aisle of a Target store and to the person who talks on a cell phone in a crowded elevator. What do you do with that judgement though? Do you ignore it when convenient, or do you search for the reasons as to why it was handed down upon you? Or do you accuse an entire set of ideals and way of life for billions of people on this planet of promoting the hatred of gay people? Not once did Elton John say that religious dissent was aimed toward the sexual ACTS of homosexuality. No, to him religion directs hatred to gay PEOPLE? Give me a break!

"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."

Organized religion (excluding narcissism) is a saving grace for billions. Secularism is a risk, spreading to all within earshot of a radio, newspaper, television or the internet. Those who participate successfully in organized religion do their best to avoid the quick-spreading plague of secularism, and that infuriates liberals. They don't understand a Christian's reasoning and as long as they proudly hold the label, 'liberal', never will. And they will never cease until the mantra of "I'm Ok if you're OK" is ground into, replayed, and spit out of everyone's Central Nervous System grammaphone. A lemming doesn't jump off a cliff because it's brain, suddenly warped by it's Christian lifestyle, told it to. Organized religion was created from the inspiration of the compassion and peace that God Himself gracefully handed down upon us, JUDGEMENT FREE!

John also criticized religious leaders for failing to do anything about conflicts around the world.

"Why aren't they having a conclave? Why aren't they coming together?"

So Mr. John wants the religious leaders of the world, people who lead a religion(s) he thinks should be banned because of it's ineptitude and lack of response to crisis to have a conclave and come together to help save the world? Does anyone else see the hypocrisy in this statement? That would be comparable to me saying, "Well, I sure do hate the KKK and believe it should be banned completely, but they should really commune together and do something about this whole racism thing.".

"It's like the peace movement in the '60s. Musicians got through to people by getting out there and doing peace concerts, but we don't seem to do them any more," he said. "If John Lennon were alive today, he'd be leading it with a vengeance."

I don't believe for a second that those peace concerts did much of anything for the attendants but give them a large open, grassy space to smoke weed in mass. (In mass? That kinda sounds like a church!) Everything is relevant to someone high on weed!

"Did you see that cat cross the street?"
"Yeah, I did. It was HILARIOUS!"
"Did you hear about the civilian deaths in Iraq today?"
"Uh-huh. We have to create a movement, let's go to Iraq and get every solider out of there! Man, I need another toke."

The peace movement of the 60's didn't do much. Vietnam, Korea, the Gulf War, and Desert Storm all still occured, no matter how many hundreds of "peace concerts" were performed in the grassy fields in Northern California. Stupid people still shoved daisies into National Guard's rifles to "make a point". Apparently, someone on weed will believe that a single daisy will prevent a rifle from rocketing a steel bullet propelled by gunpowder out the end of it's barrel.
If Mr. Lennon were alive today, I would dare Elton John to ask him where Lennon's notion of "peace" came from. And if he asked enough questions, the creation of peace would undboutedly point to God. A God who set the standard for all humans, the same humans who fail miserably at every attempt to reach these standards. It doesn't mean we have to stop trying. And we certainly don't have the right to blame organized religion for standards we refuse to acknowledge.

We all have choices in life. For me, my current choice was made from that of a consumer's standpoint. I will no longer buy Elton John albums, and the ones I currently own will be shoved in a box labeled "garage sale".

Or would that choice just reflect my intolerance?