As a Mormon following his faith, director of the L.A. Film Festival Richard Raddon donated $1,500 to support Proposition 8. Both the L.A. Film Festival and the Independent Spirit Awards are under the umbrella of Film Independent, a nonprofit arts organization with the explicit mission to promote diversity.
Last week, Raddon offered to resign as director when his donation to Yes on 8 came to light. But Film Independent’s board voted unanimously to keep him, according to the Los Angeles Times. Film Independent’s board includes many indie film supporters like Don Cheadle, Laura Bern, Forest Whitaker, Fox Searchlight President Peter Rice and Oscar-winning writer Bill Condon.
Dawn Hudson, executive director of Film Independent, said:
Are we happy with his donation? No. But he has a right to his religious and personal beliefs.
This raises questions: If his religious and personal beliefs, thus biased against another class of people, were revealed so visibly, would Raddon continue as director of the L.A. Film Festival? And is it okay for a person to have such views motivated by religion, but not-okay to hold bigoted views from any other perspective?
Director Gregg Araki, a leading figure in independent filmmaking commented to the LA Times:
I don’t think he should be forcibly removed. The bottom line is if he contributed money to a hateful campaign against black people, or against Jewish people, or any other minority group, there would be much less excusing of him. The terrible irony is that he runs a film festival that is intended to promote tolerance and equality.
Film Independent board member Bill Condon, the Oscar-winning writer-director of Dreamgirls responded:
If you’re asking, ‘Do we take discrimination against gays as seriously as bigotry against African Americans and Jews?’ . . . the answer is, ‘Of course we do.’ But we also believe that some people, including Rich, saw Prop. 8 not as a civil rights issue but a religious one. That is their right. And it is not, in and of itself, proof of bigotry.
WTF!? Two Film Independent board members say basically that as long as your desire to to remove civil rights from a group of people is based in your desire for salvation, that’s okay? So then it’s all kumbaya to be a member of Christian Identity, because they hold a religious perspective that supports extremist views? facepalm.jpg srsly
Maybe it’s time for those religious people who believe that a subset of humanity deserve less rights to explore how their faith allows them to get a paycheck from organizations which support those less deserving. And also to look at how it is okay to be in a religion where it’s fine to be nice to teh gays at work while profoundly believing they shouldn’t get the same rights as you or your kids. Is this a reasonable god–one who promotes profiteering from the sinners’ works and acting deceitfully?
Theology aside, overall Prop 8 donations feel like a betrayal–knowing that while films are being celebrated and shown, enchiladas and margaritas served, the people directly responsible for that are secretly loathing and voting against civil rights because their faith tells them to. That’s nasty.
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Well, I’m a Mormon in Southern California and I know Rich fairly well. I also know the pressure that was brought to bear on members like him by our church. I suspect in his case, as in the case of so many Mormons who donated, there was a fair amount of coercion.
Church leaders did not just ask members to contribute in a general way. They made it a formal calling, which to most Mormons is a very hard thing to refuse. There are all sorts of cultural and religious issues involved, and I don’t expect outsiders to know or care what they are, but I do. I care because I saw many Mormons who would not otherwise support something like Prop 8 feel coerced into it. I saw some refuse, a few quit, but most agree. Some because they believed in Prop 8, and a fair number who didn’t but who believe in the Church and so went along with it.
Is this an excuse? No. But by way of explanation, it does suggest the arm twisting that went on behind the scenes, orchestrated by the church leadership in Utah. Every week we were told to attend pro Prop 8 meetings held outside of the regular church schedule, but inside various church buildings. Most leaders (my bishop was one of the exceptions) talked about the need to support Prop 8. And everyone was told to get out and vote.
We weren’t told how to vote of course, but no Mormon was in doubt as to what the expectation was. On the one hand, we are told by church leaders that Prop 8 should be supported, and on the other that we should all vote our conscience. Doesn’t take a dog to hear that whistle — it was loud and clear. IMHO, the church went right up to the legal line and probably across it in some instances.
I also think it will be one of the most divisive things to happen inside the church for a generation. I know many members like myself are grappling with leaving, or staying to try and affect change from within.
Finally, back to Rich. I was honestly shocked to see his name on the donation list. It seems deeply out of character, because I’m pretty sure he has no problem with gay people whatsoever. But he did what he did. The only thing I can say is that, while I don’t agree with his actions, I know the circumstance under which he took them.
I think the first commenter made a beautiful point and one I was about to make. And that is, the secret loathing can go the other direction as well, ie secretly loathing what the church organization is asking their followers to do. There is not only lots of peer pressure, but lots of reprisals if one doesn’t go along with the program.
I truly believe the Prop 8 battle is an opportunity to illuminate a lesson about these dilemmas for people inside such an organization. It can be a wake up moment if handled well.
Think about it. One might start to question why there is such a campaign, why such energy is expended at such a cost when that energy could be going elsewhere. What is the true motive? Why do we give up rights to think about these issues independently? Didn’t God give me a brain? Didn’t God warn me against wolves in sheep’s clothing? (this applies to any flavor of religion, really).
Please be more even in the emotional outcries. I strongly sympathize with the No on 8 movement. I support it. But let’s try to reach the folks who are just now realizing the impact of their actions. I’m glad they are feeling some discomfort because it may lead them to question. This is a good outcome.
Wow, thank you so much for your perspective from inside LDS. I really appreciate your commenting here about that.
Thank you for your insightful comments. I know from friends of friends that the pressure inside LDS was extreme, and that is why I am calling on people of all faith to examine their direct personal relationship with God and personal relationships with gays, and how their bishops, priests and pastors fit into those.
the seven-plus million dollars spent to eliminate marriage rights in California could have sent a lot of Mormons out on missions, could have helped so many food banks here where there is such a need, helped HIV orphans and patients in Africa.
In these rough economic times, churches repeatedly demanded their parishioners give money to negatively affect a civil right–will those same parishioners be able to find money now for church outreach to help the poor and elderly, to build new churches, to further the care-based efforts of their faith? And will they want to?
It pains me to think that churches hold fear of disconnection, of ostracism, of eternal damnation over the heads of their parishioners and tell them to think a certain way, to deny their own experiences and possibly their own inner voice.
@dosido Yes I agree and pray: I truly believe the Prop 8 battle is an opportunity to illuminate a lesson about these dilemmas for people inside such an organization. It can be a wake up moment if handled well.