Elton’s Tobago visit opposed
Posted: 22 Mar 2007 @ 00:00
Still standing: Sir Elton John performs at a concert in Switzerland, last year
Still standing: Sir Elton John performs at a concert in Switzerland, last year
THE ARCHDEACON of Tobago, the Ven. Philip Isaac, has opposed the appearance of Sir Elton John at the island’s Plymouth Jazz Festival next month, warning that he could tempt people to become homosexual.
The Archdeacon is quoted in several newspapers in Trinidad and Tobago as saying, “The artiste is one of God’s children, and while his lifestyle is questionable he needs to be ministered unto. His visit to the island can open the country to be tempted towards pursuing his lifestyle.”
The Archdeacon was out of the country this week, and the Bishop of Tobago, the Rt Revd Calvin Bess, did not respond to a request for clarification on whether Mr Isaac was expressing a personal view. The organiser of the festival, Anthony Maharaj, told the Trinidad Express: “This country should be honoured to have Sir Elton John perform in Tobago.
“This is a man who was knighted by the Queen. A man who was highly complimented by Desmond Tutu. . . His band has performed in every country around the world. In Christian countries like Rome there has never been an objection. He is not coming here to preach about what lifestyle people should have.”
The Trinidad Express described “various sections of Tobago’s Christian community” as calling for the banning of Sir Elton, whom the paper describes as an “unrepentant” homosexual. It quotes the country’s Tourism Secretary, Neil Wilson, as saying, “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone,” and the pastor of the People’s Pentecostal Church, Glenroy Frank, as urging Sir Elton to “accept Jesus Christ into his life and change his ways”.
Of those expressing disapproval in the letter columns of the local papers, many were more concerned that Sir Elton was headlining a jazz festival when he was not strictly a jazz musician.
He is scheduled to appear at the Plymouth Festival on 29 April.