Hollywood a Good Model…of Junior High

A pageant queen is asked a question. She gives her response and all hell breaks loose. Give me a break.

You know it’s a pretty simple concept to grasp. There are two sides to the issue of homosexual marriage. Some people think it’s a right dandy idea, others not so much. Both groups hold passionate views about the issue. When someone expresses those views openly, especially in the context of a beauty pageant (of all things!), keep the Junior High bickering down.

This is a serious issue that deserves serious, calculated, intelligent debate. The vitriol coming out of Hollywood over the last couple of days is past amateur. Only a postmodern culture like ours could advance an issue into policy through intimidation and name-calling. The screaming and “twittering” has reached a fever pitch over a young woman giving her opinion (of which she was asked). It is interesting that this young woman won a competition that qualified her for this event and was promoted by the very folks who are now distancing themselves from her. The Miss Califronia USA title is apparently also a platform that would limit the free speech of its spokesperson. Shanna Moekler, one of California’s state pageant directors twittered, “The MISS CALIFORNIA USA title is NOT supposed to be used to push your own agenda, that is NOT what pageants are about.” Notice the catch-22 here for Carrie Prejean. Win a pageant along with the opportunity to compete on a national level as well as be the face for a state organization. When you go to compete at the next level, you are asked a personal question and asked for your opinion. If you give that opinion you are suddenly using your platform to promote your own personal agenda. Wow. I guess everything needs to be fake in order for it to be a real pageant. When the real world creeps into some people’s lives, it is simply more than they can bear.

What would the fall-out be if Ms. Prejean had said, “I believe that anyone, regardless of gender, should be allowed to enter into the covenant of marriage. This includes homosexuals and anybody else that wants to get married.” Would that have been pushing an agenda? The answer is, “Probably not.” Why? Because the outcry would have been insignificant, and therefore the answer would have been deemed acceptable speech. Very postmodern of the Miss USA folks isn’t it? Right and wrong is simply tested by what you can get away with. Clearly, they aren’t letting Ms. Prejean get away with this one.

Look, I know I’m a Christian and a supporter of marriage as defined in the bible, but that’s not the point. Arguing a subject as difficult and nuanced as homosexual marriage requires a higher degree of maturity than was evidenced by Perez Hilton and others within Hollywood. All the name-calling and character assassination taking place reminds me of a Junior High playground and not the forum in which a concert of ideas are discussed and debated by thinking adults.

Oh, by the way, I originally was going to blog that I thought FOX News was making too much out of this. Glad I held my tongue for a whole day.