Character Defined.

I meant to do this post a few days ago, and just got busy, so I have run out of steam just a little bit. But I watched the Today show this past Tuesday, and Matt Laur was interviewing Miss California USA (Hereafter known as Miss C., since I don't remember her name) about her controversial answer to Perez Hilton's question about her thoughts on gay marriage. She stated that, in her family, she was raised with the belief that marriage is between a man and a woman, and, basically, that is what she still believes. Well, she got First Runner-Up in the Miss USA pageant, and many people, including Perez Hilton and Donald Trump, speculated that the answer she gave cost her the crown. That very well may be true, we will never know for sure.

I did not see the actual pageant, just the interview two days later. First, Matt Laur interviewed Hilton by Skipe in LA and got his thoughts. He said Miss C. gave the completely wrong answer and made people feel unwelcome at the pageant, and she shouldn't have brought her politics and religion onto the stage. He said a lot of other things as well.

To him I say: YOU are the one who brought YOUR politics into the pageant by asking the question in the first place! You would have loved her and said she did the right thing if she had answered the way YOU wanted her to. She didn't bring her religion into the discussion. Nothing was said about church, God, or Christ in any way. Miss C. only stated what she believed, which she has a right to, and should not be persecuted and slandered for it. (He was shown on his video blog calling her a "dumb *&^$#." Really mature. Awesome.)

To Miss C. I say: GOOD FOR YOU! You stood your ground even when asked if you would answer differently given a second chance. You showed me there is still integrity and character in the world. I do not live in California anymore, but you made me proud of how the location of my childhood represented.

To all of you I say: To me, this is not necessarily about gay marriage, and whether I agree with Miss C.'s opinion on gay marriage. ( I do agree, but that is beside the point for the purpose of this post). It is all about someone taking a stand, in the national spotlight, for what they believe, knowing it would not be a popular one. She stated that as soon as she said her answer, she knew she would not win. Yet she did not back down. She didn't even stay neutral in order to increase her chances of winning by giving what would have been a popular answer, and what Hilton was obviously looking for. She was clear in her beliefs, not derogatory in any way toward homosexuals, she just stated her opinion about it and was done. After working so hard to get as far as she did, that would have been a very hard thing to do, and I can't even imagine that kind of pressure.

In hearing the comments from both Hilton and other judges about "staying neutral if you want to win" and other such things, I thought about how we are a generation, and raising a generation, of people who are not encouraged to stand up for their beliefs. It is really sad how we are encouraged and counseled to seem lukewarm and nuetral on issues so that no one is "offended," and we can gain an advantage by saying what people want to hear. So there doesn't really seem to be any accountability. Guess what. There are ways to disagree with others with respect for their different beliefs. Not everyone has to be unified in everything, we just need to respect our differences, and not judge. Unfortunately, Perez Hilton never got that memo.

I admire Miss C.'s courage, and I hope to have a fraction of that courage if/when I am ever put to the test like that.

Not that I have plans to enter the pageant circuit. You all would love that, wouldn't you? I can see you laughing.

But I think you all know what I mean.