Brandon Flowers: Be Human, Speak Up
By LA Sidney
The Mormon Church wants to repel gay marriage in California. Flowers should condemn them
On November 4th, California will vote on Prop 8, which would ban marriage rights for gays. The Mormon church has been leading the anti-gay rights march in California, pouring millions into mailers, robo-calls and television and radio commercials to get Prop 8 passed.
Considering how upfront the Mormons have been about their homophobia, I want to hear how some of the more high profile Mormon’s feel about Prop 8.
When Mitt Romney was Governor of Massachusetts, gay marriage was legalized in his state and he did not object (although he said he personally disagreed with the decision, he said he would not go against the courts).
But what about music’s most famous Mormon? The Killers’ Brandon Flowers is arguably the most famous practicing Mormon in pop culture. He has never hid his religious beliefs and has stated on numerous occasions that he does not oppose gay rights, saying “I think everybody should have equal rights.”
Well Brandon, now is the time to stand up for what you believe. People need to hear from a Mormon that the campaign the Mormon Church is leading a disgusting campaign saying that public schools will be forced to teach gay marriage to children, that church’s that don’t allow gay marriage will lose their tax-exempt status, that gay marriage will ruin marriage and legitimize homosexuality. It’s not humane.
Brandon, I ask you: Are we human? Or are we denser?
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From an interview with Arjan Timmermans in 2005:
Source
It’s “dancer”.
If you’re gonna bash the guy, do it right.
Leila,
I believe “denser” was a deliberate play on words, a pun.
This is an interesting article, but I wouldn’t attribute B. Flower’s silence to anything sinister. I gather Prop 40 is generating a lot of Cali attention, but it has not made much national news–at least not in the mainstream.
A good point is raised; who else are high profile Mormons in pop culture?
It’s denser you idiot. And the tax exempt thing is ridiculous. We are standing up for what we believe in. Everyone is treating the Prop 8 vote as if Mormons were the only ones who got to vote yes or no. Everyone is the whole big fat state of California got to vote. Mormon’s make up a tiny percentage of Californians. Doesn’t that say something to you?
I don\’t normally leave comments! But what you said here makes one think! Would you mind if I placed a link back from my blog?
Brandon Flowers said he “takes a liberal stance on gays” and he elaborated by saying his position is similar to Donny Osmond. Donny Osmond has stated recently that he agrees with “liberal” Mormon Churchleaders who preach that people with homosexual tendencies should not be kicked out of the church “as long as they don’t act on them.”
Boycott the Killers’ new album.
We need to send a united clear message to anyone who will perpetuate the social stigma of homosexuality: that we will not fund your bigotry.
Brandon Flowers’ tithes his income to the Mormon Church like every other faithful Mormon.
How much of his money paid for the lying Yes on 8 Campaign??
and yes, “denser”
it makes a huge difference with the Mormons because it was the money that poured in from their cult followers that funded the lies in this campaign.
the voters were lied to.
after every newspaper debunked their lies about churches losing their tax-exempt status and that children would be bombarded with social agendas rather than academia, they continued to air the lying commercials because polls showed they were scaring the hell out of people.
I’m both pleased and saddened to read the comments on “The Killers’” Brandon Flowers view point. Pleased to read people speaking out about Prop. 8, but bummed not to read a clear opposition to 8 by Killer’s front man Flowers. Unfortunately, I’m forced to remove “The Killer’s” new album from my wish list, and may remove the current songs I have from the i-pod. I hope some of you will join me in a ban of this album, and the band until they get the point. It really sucks because I find them to be very talented, which is something that’s becoming a scarcity in music.
I recently learned a well known LA restaurant was also contributing money to the Yes on Prop. 8 campaign. That restaurant will no longer be patronized by me. Many years ago I learned Carl’s Jr. and Domino’s Pizza were at one time owned by pro-life extremists. Although they are now owned by someone else, I still get a sick feeling every time I think about visiting one. I suppose there are a lot of companies I still support who have skeletons in their closet, but for now these are on the short list. Let’s hope Brandon hears about this and makes a concrete statement, clearly opposing this proposition. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
In response to Stephen
“Brandon Flowers’ tithes his income to the Mormon Church like every other faithful Mormon.
How much of his money paid for the lying Yes on 8 Campaign??”
The answer which may suprise you is none. Not to say that Mormons did not contribute a ton of money but the tithes go to building and maintaining all of its structures around the world, missionary funding and other costs that come with keeping an organization of over 12 million throughout the world up and running.
He did however like the rest of the latter-day saint faith have the opportunity to respond to the request from his leaders to donate his time, efforts and money to the campaign. Most did but some did not. By revealing his choice to follow counsel he takes the risk of either getting boycotted by a lot of Mormons if he did not donate or if he did, getting boycotted by gay rights supporters.
In response to:
“Well Brandon, now is the time to stand up for what you believe. People need to hear from a Mormon that the campaign the Mormon Church is leading a disgusting campaign saying that public schools will be forced to teach gay marriage to children, that church’s that don’t allow gay marriage will lose their tax-exempt status, that gay marriage will ruin marriage and legitimize homosexuality. It’s not humane.”
Schools would not be forced to teach gay marriage to children but it would make its way into the curriculum because it would be a major turning point in the struggle for the rights for oppressed minority groups. This is a natural outcome of any major changes to laws or interpretations of laws in the US. Just look up the civil rights movement in school textbooks. What’s next will be a gay rights section.
Supporters of gay rights should not have a problem with this because it would socialize a new generation that geing gay is not evil.
Legalizing same sex marriage will also not ruin marriage but expand its definition to make it more inclusive. Churches also have to adhere to the laws of the land which would jeopordize the tax exempt status of churches unless they change their practices to be in accordance with the law.
Not scare tactics but real concerns that need to be addressed, and they can be, in the pursuits of expanding gay rights. This is why so many people have a problem with same sex marriage while at the same time they believe that people should be treated equally. This is why advocating a simple interpretation that marriage is the joining of two people that love each other won’t be enough alone to legalize ssm.
I have been looking forward to buying this album. It has been at the very top of my list. A HUGE fan……..and I am saddened, deeply saddened that I will not be able to due to his Mormon affiliation and the hateful tactics used by his funding the church.
Common Brandon, stand up for us and stand up against hate……. This has been very hurtful to our community and damn….I was so looking forward to this release.
I can’t believe I gotta delete the last album releases from my Itunes. Oh well….. G Howell
To those that would ‘not buy’ the killers new album or delete their songs from their fancy ipods, well you’re idiots…and just so you know Mr Flowers is one forth of The Killers and the other three are not mormons. Idiot people, idiot people and I’m RC by the way - wonder what their stance is?????
I’m glad someone is also on board with waiting to buy the new album. To the person who proclaimed us to be “idiot people,” the numerical spelling of 4th is fourth. Some of us “idiots” still appreciate spell check. I respect your opinion so please respect mine. My main reason for writing on this blog in the first place was to find a decent defense for Mr. Flowers. So far, I’m still waiting. Perhaps you could find one and send it along. Thanks,
brandon is toast
In defense to Brandon:
Why judge? Everyone in this country has the freedom of religion, and Brandon was raised a Mormon and has chosen to continue his belief in the “Mormon” Doctrine. This does not and should not take away from his being a very successful musician. Although he is very open to tell the media that he is a member of the Mormon church, he is definitely not using that as his means to influence people as a public figure. If that were so, he would probably be preaching Mormon Doctrine instead of writing and performing music. At the same time, his music does not have strong ties to anything Mormon. He may mention God or some kind of belief in heaven, praying, etc., but there is nothing that stands out as being a direct link to the Mormon church. I guess what I am trying to say is that Brandon has no need nor responsibility as a public icon, who happens to be a Mormon, to take a stance on an issue that may have something to do with the Mormon church. His responsibility as a public figure is to continue to write and perform his music. Therefore, we should judge him on his ability to do that, not in his religious standpoint. Whether or not you buy the new album is up to you personally, but as for me, I own it and love it. I am a huge fan of The Killers and Brandon Flowers regardless of their religious beliefs.
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