Bruce! Don't bring me down. Bruce!

Gentle readers,

So I was reading People magazine the other day. It's not mine. I only read it for the pictures. Stop judging me!!! Anywhooo, I came across an article featuring support for Tom Cruise and his recent YouTube broadcasted rant on Scientology. The gist was that we all ought to stop ganging up on poor Tom.

Among those who had a comment quoted was Bruce Willis. Now, don't get me wrong, I like Bruce Willis as an actor. I've watched all his stuff...he was cool as Addison in Moonlighting, he yippee-kai-yay mudder f&*kered's his way through the Die Hard series, and seems like he's not a bad guy. I don't agree with his politics, but it's a free country. He gets to date hot chicks half his age and I don't, maybe I'm just jealous. But I digress.

Now, I know that People isn't always accurate in their quotes, but the quote creditted to Mr. Willis that made the little hairs on the back of my neck stand up was the following: "There is no excuse for the ridicule that is being shown to Tom Cruise in the media because of his faith. Mr. Cruise deserves and is entitled to the same religious tolerance that is afforded every other religion on earth."

Now, at first blush, that seems very articulate. Good use of big words. Might through a few folks off the scent. Guess what? You can still make yourself seem ignorant while using flowery language. After reading it, I reread it. Then I cringed. Then I laughed. Then I said outloud, "What the hell republican paradise are living in where every religion is afforded tolerance?" More oppression, more war, more death has been caused on earth by religious intolerance than any other reason. How can you even make a sentence like that and say it outloud in front of other people??? You mean the same religious tolerance that's afforded Muslims? Barack Obama isn't a Muslim, but the mere hint that he might be sent a ripple through the world. It's now front and center on his webpage that he's NOT a Muslim...never has been. Jehovah's Witnesses are NEVER ridiculed, right? Hah! In this country, pretty much, unless you're Catholic, Protestant or Jewish...your religion is viewed with an upraised eyebrow.

How about Wiccan's? It's true, you don't usually see celebrity witches preaching their flavor of Paganism on YouTube, but what if suddenly Scarlett Johannsen did. (disclaimer: I have no idea what religion Ms. Johannsen is, this is for the sake of example only) We'd all find it odd. Some would be louder than others about it. Some would be cruel. Some wouldn't care. Some would be glad to have such a hottie amongst their ranks and singing the praises of their religion.

Yes, Bruce, Tom Cruise was afforded the same treatment others would get and have gotten when preaching their religion agressively . The same treatment afforded other non-mainstream religions. Is it right? Nope, but unfortunately for now, it's the world we live in. Although I'd like to live on the earth Bruce described. Sounds nice there.

Random Musing Item: How can the phrase "wind up" mean totally opposite things depending on context. When you wind up a watch or a clock or a person you're starting them...revving them up. When you "wind up" a blog post or "wind up" some place unexpected, it refers to an ending. Weird.