A priest from Russia’s Old Believers religion has explained to us non-believers that men should grow a beard to “protect themselves from homosexuality.”
Tragically for this priest, homosexuality is not a disease, is not contagious and can’t be contracted by those with beards or without.
How embarrassing!
Metropolitan Kornily, Primate of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church (RPSC), was the priest who made these remarks to The Moscow Times who comically failed to correct him.
Hugh Jackman, with a beard.
“God set down certain rules. It is written that God created everyone with a beard. One should not oppose its creator,” Kornily told Russia’s National News Service, in Russian obviously.
He added “it’s a monstrous thing to see men’s clothing and hairstyles changing,” and that removing hair was “departure from the sacred and holy.”
He continued to lament that the beard had “completely disappeared from the Catholic West,” and he blamed increased instances of homosexuality being discovered in Russia on this information.
Interesting.
Although homosexuality was decriminalised in Russia in 1993, the country doesn’t have a great track record for supporting gay rights. Homosexuality is generally disapproved of and not tolerated in society and religion.
Sadly for Kornily, little does he realise the beard is alive and well in hipster meccas around the world!
