We've all laughed at the ridiculous National Organization of Marriage ads, but despite the laughable ads, the group remains a strong force in the anti-gay rights movement. NOM board member and famous writer Orson Scott Card's radical views on criminalization of homosexuality have come to light recently:
"Laws against homosexual behavior should remain on the books…to be used when necessary to send a clear message that those who flagrantly violate society's regulation of sexual behavior cannot be permitted to remain as acceptable, equal citizens."
People for the American Way has called for NOM to repudiate his comments. Card also vows to "act to destroy that government [which recognizes same-sex marriage] and bring it down, so it can be replaced
with a government that will respect and support marriage, and help me
raise my children in a society where they will expect to marry in their
turn."
Wow, let's ship this guy to Iraq, I bet he'd love the way they treat their gays there. I may not be following Dewitte's advice, but what an idiot!
– Andy
lol milk.
Recently? I dunno about the gay community, but I am pretty sure that Card’s views have been well known in the sci-fi community for a while. He is a devout Mormon, after all. Fortunately, just like the racist and anti-gay sentiments of many talented writers, it does not seem to have soured too much of his work. It’s all pretty shameful, but, there you go.
Actually, maybe we should consider this poor man a friend of the gay community. He is so out there that most rational people (even a lot of conservatives) would find him a laughable ghost of the past. He is nothing more then a pathetic clown. How much do you wanna bet that he has had sex with or sexual dreams about men?
E-man, I agree with you 95% (his politics got a little front-and-center in the later Ender’s Shadow books), but it should be noted that Card is an outspoken anti-racist who self-identified as a Democrat for a long time because of what he felt to be the racist politics of the GOP (still does self-identify as such, I believe, despite supporting McCain in the last election).
That being said, as a big fan of his writing, this makes me sad.
Just a point of clarification: I wasn’t calling Card a racist, just noting it as a roughly equivalent example in terms of what makes an author a good or bad writer vs. a good or bad person.
I am a total Card fan as far as his writings go. Thankfully he leaves most of this hogwash out of his books. I’ll just continue to ignore his beliefs and focus on his works.
meanwhile J… by supporting his works and ignoring his beliefs, you are continuing, like many, to pour money into the hands of those who are trying to make sure we are never viewed as “acceptable, equal citizens”
What the hell do you expect from a Mormon? Acceptance? And you know when someone is that vociferous, there’s something there!
So are we supposed to ignore brilliant works of art just because the artists are not good people? I understand your frustration trix, but what would you recommend? A boycott does disservice to the work. Library-only, perhaps?
I never spent a penny on his books, and now I never will. As E-man suggested, he’s one of my library-only authors (well, I might go a step further and torrent his stuff for free, if I can stand to deal with a pdf file at that moment).