Priests from the Russian Orthodox Church are being ridiculed for opposing Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst. Russian blogger Rustem Adagamov tweeted a picture of the priests in flowing robes with the message: ‘The ROC categorically opposes bearded men in dresses!’
Retweeted hundreds of times, the comment was sparked by the Church’s opposition against the Austrian singer. Vladimir Legoyda, the chairman of the ROC, described Wurst’s win as a ‘sign of the world’s moral decline’ and ‘part of the aggressive assertion of Western cultural norms’. He told Russian news agency Interfax: ‘The process of the legalisation of that to which the Bible refers to as nothing less than an abomination is already long not news in the contemporary world. Unfortunately, the legal and cultural spheres are moving in a parallel direction, to which the results of this competition bear witness.’
It comes as Russian lawmakers have called for the country to pull out of Eurovision to create their own version where ‘gay culture’ would be banned. ‘The results of the latest Eurovision were the last straw,’ Valerii Rishkin, a Community Party MP said. ‘We must leave this contest immediately, it is high time that we stop tolerating this madness.’
But while politicians may want to start their own version of the song contest, it has not stopped the Russian people from loving Wurst. Her winning track, Rise Like A Phoenix, hit the top of the iTunes chart in Russia earlier in the week.
(via GSN)
