Sunday, March 08, 2009

March 4, 1966 - More Popular Than Jesus

On this date, The London Evening Standard published an interview with John Lennon by his friend Maureen Cleave. John was quoted as saying: "Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that. I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now. I don't know which will go first - rock'n'roll or Christianity. Jesus was alright but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me." His words attracted little attention in Great Britain but when they were reprinted in the US in Datebook, southern Christian fundamentalists reacted with hate and outrage.

The videos below document the response to John's remarks, including the Beatles press conference in Chicago on August 11, 1966, Brian Epstein's press conference for the U.S. media, and the reaction in Birmingham, Alabama:



2 comments:

nokia said...

It seems Lennon thought it ridiculous.
http://www.rrauction.com/John_Lennon.cfm?

Bla said...

People are so damn stupid.