Actor Tom Hanks went after The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for their support of California's Proposition 8 while talking to Fox News. Today, the Church responded.
Hanks played a gay attorney who was fired from his job in the movie "Philadelphia," and he paid special tribute to a couple of gay teachers in his Oscar acceptance speech. Now, he is slamming people who voted for an anti-gay marriage proposition in California.
The executive producer of HBO's "Big Love" told Fox News at the show's premier party Wednesday that a lot of Mormons gave money to make Prop. 8 happen and he felt it was un-American.
Hanks is hoping this will shed light on who is responsible and that America and California can move forward instead of backward.
Church spokesman Scott Trotter issued a one-sentence statement today in response to Hanks' comments. It reads: "Expressing an opinion in a free and democratic society is as American as it gets."
Believe it or not I don't tell people how they should live their lives. I will give my opinion, if asked. For the most part I keep my opinions to myself (trust me I do). My mother who is reading this is laughing. However, when I heard what Tom Hanks said about me (because I took his statement personally) I became angry. I am so tired of people trying to make "normal" things that are contrary to God's commandments. My mom often will talk about the abnormal sociology class that she took in college (many years ago). She is astounded that things that were once considered abnormal in society are now acceptable. Honestly I do not care about someone's sexual preference, I don't care what they do in the privacy of their own homes, and I don't care who they chose to spend their life with. I DO care when they start redefining marriage. However, why am I un-American? Because I do not want to change the definition of marriage. I do not want anyone discriminated against, and that includes me. As a society we are entering murky waters and we need to take a stand. I love the way that the LDS church responded to Mr. Hanks "Expressing an opinion in a free and democratic society is as American as it gets." So Mr. Hanks, I am American even though I don't agree with you. The fact that we disagree does not make me a bad person, or you a bad person. It makes us Americans. Americans who have the right to express their opinions. Slandering people, bullying people and nasty comments are not really way to win friends and influence people for good.
Mr. Hanks you and I are parting ways. I have had the upmost respect for you as an actor until now. It is not because you were against Prop 8, but because of your comment that I am un-American. As an American I will no longer support any of your projects. You have now been added to the list of celebrities that I have little respect for and refuse to watch their films Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt (cheating on a spouse), and Tom Cruise (unrealistic expectations).
Those of us who supported Prop 8 are not un-American. We simply excerised the rights the our fore-fathers gave us. I will not apologize for my convictions or beliefs, and I expect the same from you.
Years ago I heard Glenn Beck discuss how tired he is of celebrities trying to tell people how to think about social issues. I agree. We are intelligent beings. Present us with the facts and we can draw our own conclusions. Please do not resort to name calling, it is ineffective.
Regarding the issue of equal rights for gay and lesbian couples I am not sure what the solution is, but I am sure that God defined marriage between a man and a woman to procreate. Maybe there should be civil unions? What is your opinion? I have not formulated my opinion, yet.
6 comments:
Good grief! I hadn't heard about that yet. How is it unAmerican to promote a cause that you believe in? Money was donated on both sides, was it not? Votes were cast for both sides of the issue, right? Welcome to a democracy. I don't know a perfect solution either, but redefining marriage isn't it. Thanks for talking about it, Laurie!
My father-in-law mentioned this last night, and although I didn't read the article (and can't bring myself to do it even now), I was up in the middle of the night seething about it. I don't have a solution, but I hate being constantly labeled as the "bad guy" in all of this. It was really heated following the election in our house, since Josh has some family members who have chosen a gay lifestyle. Josh found this great article which explains our views and reasons quite well. Worth a read, and perhaps a forward to Mr. Hanks. http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/the-divine-institution-of-marriage
Sorry, me again! I just went searching for this blog that I read a while ago about movie starts that are completely out of touch. It's a funny read:
http://tinyurl.com/69we8z
Amen, Laurie, amen. Marriage shouldn't be redefined. Civil something would be acceptable in my eyes, if only so people could stop sniping about this and that, about not receiving their significant others insurance benefits or whatnot. Really though, the fact that people (actors and such, mostly) cannot accept that the public voted and chose, are more out-of-touch with reality than I formerly thought. What a bunch of wussies!
When I tried to read this, it was all in wingdings or something. It was very bizarre.
Agreed. So grateful for wise leaders who know what to say. I would have added "So suck on that!" It maight not have the same effect as the simple statement. THe other thing I have noticed on several Mormon blogs too is the amount of people praising the Mormons who went against the general grain of the Church and did not support Prop 8. Times and Seasons was one such website with comments praising those LDS who went against it.
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