Poor Elton! Even as he somewhat gracefully ages and eases in a quasi las vegas crooner modee, his music is condemned by a rabid imam in Russia.
Elton John, who is openly gay, intends to speak in support of Russian gays during his upcoming tour of the country.
But if he thought he would arouse the anger of the leaders at the Kremlin he was wrong. Instead, the condemnation came from muslim imam Seidzhagfar Lutfullin, who sent his edict from the Volga city of Kazan.
His edict, which unlike a fatwa does not predicate a death sentence on the aging rocker, is a warning to all muslim faithful that if they attend any of the concerts they will, in fact, risk Muslim hell. He also likened the concerts to a 'temptation of the devil'.
The issue of course, is not the music, but the fact that Elton is gay. In fact, the Imam called the concerts and the people attending it a 'hotbed of sodomy'.
The cleric of course, is not new to these utterances. He is well known to speak out against anything even remotely modern or liberal.
Elton John however, is slated to run concerts in Moscow, and Kazan, in December. He said he was going specifically to offer support to the Russian gay community, in light of the recent spate of anti-gay measures and laws in that country. One has to wonder if the choice of Kazan came after the veiled threat from the intractable imam.
Another entity, the so called "Urals Parents' Committee" has also sent a letter to Putin warning him that Elton John was purposely coming to Russia to run afoul of the anti-gay laws, and to speak out against the new measures using his concerts as the stage to make these statement. The committee also asked that Putin to take the matter into his own hands, i.e., ban the rocker from performing at all.
Of course, all eyes will now be on Elton's concerts in December.
Source : France 24/ 10.3.13
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