Keira Knightly, Newt Gingrich, Open Marriages, and Atheism
by Don Lacey on Apr. 05, 2012, under Art & Culture, Atheism, Campaign 2012, Christian Self-Righteous Arrogance, Christianity, Critical Thinking, Ethics, Faith, Government, Logic, Reason, Religion, Sanity, Uncategorized
Keira Knightly (Tony Shek photo)
This article is from Jim Wilson:
But, this is not all going on in the same room… In this month’s issue of Interview Magazine (the Andy Warhol celebrity interview publication, known as The Crystal Ball Of Pop), Atheist actress Kiera Knightly, famous for her roles in Bend it like Beckham and as the lead female in the Pirates of the Caribbean films series, is interviewed by director, David Cronenberg, known for his pioneering work in the body horror or venereal horror genre. The full interview can be found here: http://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/kiera-knightley#page5
Toward the end of the interview, Knightly alludes to an upcoming film she is working on with Steve Carell titled Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, which will be available in June. Cronenberg responds with, “So you crammed in yet another movie–with another director.” Knightly explains that she is, in fact, cheating on directors in this way—left and right—by appearing in their films, but mentions that Cronenberg has cheated on her by working with other actresses, making theirs a bit of an admittedly open professional relationship.
At this point, Cronnenberg points out that the very Christian right-wing Republican Newt Gingrich approves of open relationships. Gingrich has been married three times, has a history of infidelity. His second wife in a recent interview has alleged he made his on-going affair with his current wife known to her and proposed an open marriage. Knightly says if you are a Republican you should not be shagging anything that moves. Then they acknowledge the hypocrisy of Gingrich’s affair, taking place while he was grilling Clinton for his sex scandal with Monica Lewinski. Cronenberg, who is also an Atheist, points out that as an outspoken Christian, Gingrich just needs to ask God for forgiveness and all will be right with him.
Knightly responds by saying: “If only I wasn’t an Atheist, I could get away with anything. You’d just ask for forgiveness and then you’d be forgiven. It sounds much better than having to live with guilt.” The two lament that as Atheists their chances of getting elected for office are quite slim.
It’s great to see a high profile figure come out as a non-believer and Kiera Knightly is one of the biggest actresses in Hollywood (she was, in fact, the second highest paid actress in Hollywood, having reportedly earned $32 million in 2007). It is not that I think people should emulate Kiera Knightly or other celebrities but many people view, atheists as dark, sinister, and anonymous. Having one more famous person (in this case, the person that plays Elizabeth in the hugely popular, Pirates of the Caribbean movies) to identify with atheism is a positive thing. As is the fact that this Atheist also has a reputation for doing socially beneficial things such as: fighting domestic violence, promoting human rights with Amnesty International, reading with the American Library Association, and supporting the Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Trust.
However, less famous people coming out as atheists may be more effective in destroying the anti-Atheist prejudice of their friends and family. It is easy to be prejudiced against Atheists if you have never met one, but more difficult when they are among the friends and relatives you know and admire.
There is nothing inherently wrong with open relationships or marriages. Personally, that is not the option for me, but people should make their own decisions on such matters and all parties involved should be treated honestly, ethically and fairly. I think it would be great, if people were allowed to marry whoever they want, and as many people as they want. Just be good to whoever you are with, and know the risks involved in what you do. If you cannot make a relationship work, with just one person, adding additional people will most likely not work either, and it will mean playing with even more people’s emotions.
Finally, there is no excuse for hypocrisy. If you are all about free-love, legalized pot, gambling, and prostitution, you shouldn’t be publically campaigning against these things on a traditionalist, family values, and Christian platform. We should demand more of our leaders and remember when these self-appointed, conservative, moral guardians are caught in sex scandals, often involving homosexuality, drugs, minors, or prostitutes. Remember what Gingrich, David Vitter, Ted Haggard, Jimmy Swaggart, Mark Foley and Larry Craig are famous for and act accordingly. It is likely that these people were just using the moral guardian rhetoric to manipulate concerned family values types for their own political gain. Or it might be possible that they are just strangely fixated on the sins they crusade against. Either way, they deserve to be called hypocrites.
