Ellen vs. The One Million Moms

I know that this blog is mainly about Atheism vs. Christianity, but I want to take a detour for a moment to talk about something I've seen lately in the news. I'll occasionally do this every now and then when topics that interest me come up.

A California appeals court ruled that Proposition 8, the act that was set out to ban same-sex marriages, was unconstitutional. This, of course, has led to the legality of same-sex marriages in the state of California. Ellen DeGeneres, a very famous and openly gay comedian and talk show host, celebrated on her show recently that Prop 8 had been ruled unconstitutional and that she also has been chosen to be a spokeswoman for JCPenney stores. 

A conservative online activist group called the One Million Moms quickly went about opposing the decision made by JCPenney and Ellen spoke about this on her show recently. Check out the video below.

First of all, I want to say that as a Christian I have mixed feelings about this video. I'll start with the One Million Moms. I understand where they're coming from in the idea that they don't support the homosexual lifestyle and therefore aren't Ellen fans. However, my question is this: If this is really about Ellen being a spokeswoman for a big corporation like JCPenney, where were they when she was a model for Cover Girl (another big corporation)? Where were they when Ellen was a judge for a short time on American Idol? Where were they when Ellen decided and announced that she would have a talk-show at all where she would reach millions of people every week?

For these reasons, I am convinced that this One Million Moms group is really only out to get a message across and are using Ellen's recent partnership with JCPenney as a means of gaining attention for themselves. I'm fully convinced that this One Million Moms group isn't the slightest bit concerned over the well-being of a big corporate giant like JCPenney, nor do they really fell that customers are going to be any more reluctant to shop there now that Ellen is a spokesperson for the company. I find it very hard to believe that this group really believes that JCPenney's stores will suffer because one of the most beloved (if not THE most beloved) lesbians on the planet is a spokeswoman for their sores. I understand it if an activist group has a message they want to get out to the world, but I don't really think that it is fair to use Ellen's name as a springboard to do this. This only makes the Christian faith look bad and opportunistic. 

Now, onto Ellen herself. I want to start by saying that I think, while I can't say for certain because I don't know her personally, that Ellen is a generous and well-to-do person, regardless of whether or not you may agree with her homosexual lifestyle or not. Therefore, what I'm about to say has nothing at all to do with how I feel about the homosexual lifestyle or me being a Christian. 

I think that the manner in which Ellen went about criticizing the One Million Moms was, for the most part, careful and appropriate. I think also, however, that Ellen could have refrained from using language such as "haters" to identify those that criticized the idea of her being a spokeswoman for JCPenney. I don't think this One Million Moms group actually hates Ellen as a person nor do I believe they are a "hate group", so when Ellen uses language like this, she's almost making it sound as if anyone who disagrees with her is a "hater". 

Also, when Ellen started reading the posts on Facebook from her supporters, the crowd applauded loudly when the One Million Moms group were referred to as "bullies". I think that might be a little bit extreme. There are views that Ellen herself doesn't agree with, nor do most people in her audience agree to but I don't think it would be fair to call them bullies. Just because there may be views in which we do not agree, we shouldn't resort to extreme labeling of people and I saw some of that here.

I want to say that I don't agree with the One Million Moms group in the idea that JCPenney's sales are going to drop because of Ellen's presence with the company. Let's be honest, people that watch NASCAR are mostly people that hold conservative values, but many of the sponsors for NASCAR are beer companies and drivers tend to curse up a storm over the radio during the races. Not only do these people claim that NASCAR is "great American family tradition", this doesn't stop these people from grabbing a beer and tuning in every week to watch people wreck each other into the wall, do burnouts in victory lane and thanking God for getting paid millions of dollars from Budweiser or Miller Lite to do so. So I don't think Ellen being a spokeswoman for JCPenney is going to stop conservative moms from shopping there anytime soon. 

And btw, NASCAR is super cool so what I said wasn't a crack on NASCAR, haha. Jeff Gordon ROCKS!!

Anyway, I think that Ellen will make a great spokesperson for JCPenney because America loves her. She's charming, respectful and funny with a beautiful smile. She makes the gay community look good, unlike blowhards such as Perez Hilton who does just the opposite. She isn't hateful like he is, nor dogmatic like Dan Savage is. She's pleasant, opinionated and caring which is good to see.