So Tom Hanks, creator of the polygamy inspired TV show Big Love, that he claims was not inspired by Mormons, calls members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints "un-American". In other words, Tom Hanks who makes fun of a Mormon practice abandoned over 100 years ago, now calls Mormons "un-American".
Specifically, Tom Hanks said:
"The truth is a lot of Mormons gave a lot of money to the church to make Prop-8 happen. There are a lot of people who feel that is un-American, and I am one of them."
Now the thing I find interesting, ignoring the fact that Tom Hanks fails to lump all those that supported Proposition 8 like Catholics, Evangelicals, Latinos, and African Americans, into his "un-American" label, is that Tom Hanks shows his bias and ignorance on the issue by saying, "Mormons gave a lot of money to the church".
Tom, I don't think Mormons and others gave money to the Mormon church to help pass this issue, didn't they donate their money as citizens of the United States to the political organization of their choice? It's a little crazy to suggest law abiding citizens are "un-American" for following the legal processes due them by the constitution.
Update: Tom Hanks hid behind his publicist who issued a statement on his behalf saying basically, "We use to be able to make fun of Mormons with impunity, but the timing was wrong on this biased statement. I will continue to use Big Love as my forum and I'll wait for another moment to spew my own discriminatory comments." OK, he really didn't say that, but you can read it between the lines. Look at what he said here.
2 comments:
Dear Fleeting Thoughts,
This is a very good post. You make many excellent points. Tolerance and goodwill should be extended to every person.
-Appreciable Goodfaithpoet
People say very strange things when their anger gets the best of them. Tom Hanks is not immune.
In a moment of honesty, I hope he apologizes for the inanities contained in his outburst.
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