Eurovision and Hallelujah

As if things weren't already turning bad for the Eurovision Song Contest - I reported previously that Poland, Portugal, Greece and Cyprus are either not participating or at least have threatened not to, and more recently Turkey, Slovakia and Bosnia Herzegovina have announced their withdrawal - but now comes the ghastly news that a bloody Salvation Army band is poised to represent Switzerland at next year's Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden.

Read the BBC article

I hate the Sally Army. I know they run homeless shelters and all that, but I also know they do it with a blanket in one hand and a Bible in the other. They oppose booze and pubs, yet are always rattling their tins in them at this time of year. I particularly hate their brass-band "Hallelujah-chorus" busking. Thankfully they don't have bells like they do in other countries, otherwise I would be tempted to shove it where the sun don't shine.

Most of all, however - and this is where I do hope the Eurovision organisers step in and block them from entering - I despise their abject homophobia. They are the self-styled "God's Army", and to them all buggers are sinners, to be blamed, not pitied.

From the The Rational Wiki

The Salvation Army officially maintains that homosexuality is a "sin" and that gay people should be celibate and has refused charity money or assistance to gays. George W. Bush exempted the organization from anti-discrimination laws despite federal funding. They also threatened to move out of New York City after a city ordinance ruled that all organizations receiving funding from the city would be required to pay benefits to the spouses of gay employees. A state court ruled that Mayor Michael Bloomberg did not have to enforce the ordinance. As a result, a number of LGBT activist groups have boycotted the Salvation Army.

In 2012, an Australian Salvation Army official called for all LGBT to be "put to death", during an interview discussing the Army's manual Salvation Story: Salvationist Handbook of Doctrine. A number of Australian celebrities and groups have called for a boycott of the Salvation Army.

According to the report, they may yet not succeed in entering. Political songs are forbidden and it is thought the Salvation Army's Christian affiliation may fall foul of the Eurovision rules.

Good.

ILGA article on the Sally Army

The Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Malmö, Sweden, on 18th May 2013.