May 23, 2014
Drag Retribution :: Religious Officials Blame Devastating Floods on Concihita Wurst
Jason St. Amand READ TIME: 2 MIN.
High-ranking officials from the Serbian Orthodox Church are blaming the devastating floods that leveled towns and cities in southeast Europe earlier this month were caused by the wrath of God, who was ticked off that gender-bending drag queen Concihita Wurst won "Eurovision 2014," the British newspaper the Independent reports.
Patriarch Irinej of the Serbian Orthodox Church say God sent the floods, which killed at least 50 people, as a "divine punishment for their [the LGBT community'] vices, reports say.
"God is thus washing Serbia of its sins," he allegedly added.
Littoral Head Amfilohije of Montenegro allegedly said the floods were "not a coincidence but a warning." He added that the natural disaster was a sign that people must reject the "Jesus-like-figure," though it was unclear if he was referring to Wurst.
"God sent the rains as a reminder that people should not join the wild side," he allegedly added.
The religious officials aren't the only ones coming down on Wurst's epic win. A member of the Russian Orthodox Church suggested the singer is an "abomination" and said that her win is "one more step in the rejection of the Christian identity of European culture."
Wurst, who hails from Austria, was getting heat before she even won the singing competition as more than 15,000 conservatives in Russia singed a petition urging the state broadcaster to nix "Eurovision" from its TV programming. They said that "European liberals" were subjecting children to a "hotbed of sodomy," the Independent reports.
Though Wurst has been hit hard with criticism, it seems to have not faze her. She recently hinted this week on the "Graham Norton Show" that she may be hosting the popular singing program next year.
The 2014 Southeast Europe floods centered in Serbia and Bosnia from May 14 through 16. According to officials, at least 50 people died, but the floods affected more than 1.6 million people. The floods caused over 2,000 landslides across the Balkans hitting hard in a number of towns and cities.
