Heston's always been problemmatical for me, a man who's done good things for Blacks and other groups in trouble, who fought for Civil Rights, but whose understanding of some things only goes so far. Not easy to put him in that "evil white conservative" box I'd like to use for some. For example, read these excerpts from his 1999 speech at Harvard. When's the last time you've heard a white dude talk about "civil disobedience", though I know many of them have wrongly quoted Dr. King in order to justify their twisted views. Still, interesting speech. Heston cautions against political correctness (a term I never use due to its pejorative and biased connotation, and due to the fact that the issues it references are *important* to me). I deplore those who fight against the so-called "PC" crowd, but I find it interesting that his words are often the same ones I use against Bush and his ilk, that is, "...when told how to think or what to say or how to behave, we don't. We disobey..."
Read the whole speech at the below link. Maybe I'm wrong, but Heston strikes me as the kind of man who at least *thought* about his positions and does approach people with compassion and understanding, unlike Bush and Cheney. That we disagree wildly in many areas is okay as long as we can have a dialogue. Heston strikes me as the kind of man who'd at least talk to you, whether he budged an inch or not. And it's in the ability to have a true open dialogue that hope is to be found. I don't see that much nowadays... (I reversed the order of these two excerpts for effect):
http://mizai.tripod.com/
'Winning the Cultural War'--Charlton Heston's Speech to the Harvard Law School Forum February 16, 1999
..."'Don't shoot me.' If you talk about race, it does not make you a racist. If you see distinctions between the genders, it does not make you a sexist. If you think critically about a denomination, it does not make you anti-religion. If you accept but don't celebrate homosexuality, it does not make you a homophobe. Don't let America's universities continue to serve as incubators for this rampant epidemic of new McCarthyism...But what can you do? How can anyone prevail against such pervasive social subjugation? The answer's been here all along. I learned it 36 years ago, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., standing with Dr. Martin Luther King and two hundred thousand people. You simply ... disobey. Peaceably, yes. Respectfully, of course. Nonviolently, absolutely. But when told how to think or what to say or how to behave, we don't. We disobey social protocol that stifles and stigmatizes personal freedom. I learned the awesome power of disobedience from Dr. King ...who learned it from Gandhi, and Thoreau, and Jesus, and every other great man who led those in the right against those with the might."
Earlier, Heston said the following:
"....For example, I marched for civil rights with Dr.King in 1963 - long before Hollywood found it fashionable. But when I told an audience last year that white pride is just as valid as black pride or red pride or anyone else's pride, they called me a racist. I've worked with brilliantly talented homosexuals all my life. But when I told an audience that gay rights should extend no further than your rights or my rights, I was called a homophobe. I served in World War II against the Axis powers. But during a speech, when I drew an analogy between singling out innocent Jews and singling out innocent gun owners, I was called an anti-Semite. Everyone I know knows I would never raise a closed fist against my country. But when I asked an audience to oppose this cultural persecution, I was compared to Timothy McVeigh. "
-----Original Message-----
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Martin Pratt
Sent: Sunday, May 22, 2005 10:51
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Samuel L. Jackson's greatest deaths
I think he does. Remember when he became president of the NRA, and tossed out that immortal line about "prying his gun from his cold, dead fingers" or some such? That was the day I became anti-gun.
Keith Johnson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
that's the one. I used to think Heston had a Messiah complex
-----Original Message-----
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Martin Pratt
Sent: Sunday, May 15, 2005 11:06
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Samuel L. Jackson's greatest deaths
It was "El Cid".
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