埃尔顿 约翰:耶稣是个同性恋

British pop superstar Elton John stirred controversy in a magazine interview Friday when he claimed that Jesus Christ was "gay."

"I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems," John said in an interview posted on the website of US celebrity news magazine Parade.

"On the cross, he forgave the people who crucified him. Jesus wanted us to be loving and forgiving. I don't know what makes people so cruel. Try being a gay woman in the Middle East -- you're as good as dead," said John, who is gay.

The Catholic League, the largest US Catholic rights group, condemned the comments.

"Jesus was certainly compassionate, but to say he was 'super-intelligent' is to compare the son of God to a successful game-show contestant," league president Bill Donohue said in a statement.

"More seriously, to call Jesus a homosexual is to label him a sexual deviant. But what else would we expect from a man who previously said, 'From my point of view, I would ban religion completely'?"

英国流行乐坛天王埃尔顿．约翰本周五接受杂志采访时称，耶稣基督是位同性恋，这立即引发了争议。

约翰接受采访时说：“我觉得耶稣是一位非常具有同情心的，智慧超常的同性恋，他很能理解人类遇到的难题。”这次采访被上传到美国明星新闻杂志《旅行》的网站上。

身为同性恋的约翰说：“耶稣在十字架上受刑前，原谅了处死他的人。他想让我们具有爱心和宽恕精神。我不知道是什么让人们如此残忍。如果你想在中东尝试做一名女同性恋，那简直生不如死。”

美国最大的天主教权利组织天主教联盟驳斥了上述言论。

联盟主席比尔．多诺休在一份声明中说：“耶稣当然很具有同情心，但称他‘智慧超常’无异于将上帝之子比作一名成功的电视比赛选手。”

“更严重的是，说耶稣是同性恋就等于说他是个性变态。但约翰还曾说过‘依我看宗教应该完全被禁止’这样的话，我们还能指望他说出什么好话么？”

Vocabulary:

cross：a structure consisting essentially of an upright and a transverse piece, upon which persons were formerly put to death（十字架）

crucify: to put to death by nailing or binding the hands and feet to a cross（把某人在十字架上钉死）

as good as：equivalent to; in effect; practically（和……一样，实际上相当于）