Ellen Page has been widely recognized as a great actress. Her performance in "Juno" was acclaimed by many and stands as an iconic film. Since she came out as gay, Page has been an outspoken advocate of LGBTQ rights.
Page's passion for the cause is admirable. However, she recently made headlines when calling out fellow actor Chris Pratt. Pratt was a guest on "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" and revealed he was on "day three of the Daniel Fast." The Daniel Fast comes from the Book of Daniel in the Bible. Pratt explained it was "twenty one days of prayer and fasting."
When Page heard of this, however, she saw it as an opportunity to call Pratt out. She retweeted an article covering his interview with the caption, "Oh. K. Um. But his church is infamously anti lgbtq so maybe address that too?"
Page further clarified her tweet, saying, "If you are a famous actor and you belong to an organization that hates a certain group of people, don't be surprised if someone simply wonders why it's not addressed. Being anti LGBTQ is wrong, there aren't two sides. The damage it causes it severe. Full stop. Sending love to all."
After being criticized for her position, she added, "Conversion therapy and anti lgbtq rhetoric is extremely damaging. Children kill themselves. People suffer."
In response to Page's criticism, Pratt defended the church in a statement posted on his Instagram.
"It has recently been suggested that I belong to a church which 'hates a certain group of people' and is 'infamously anti-LGBTQ.' Nothing could be further from the truth," he wrote. "I go to a church that opens their doors to absolutely everyone. Despite what the Bible says about divorce, my church community was there for me every stop of the way, never judging, just gracefully accompanying me on my walk. They helped me tremendously offering love and support. It is what I have seen them do for others on countless occasions regardless of sexual orientation, race or gender."
Pratt attends Hillsong Church, which is attended by celebrities like Kendall Jenner and Justin Bieber. The church believes homosexuality to be a sin. There was also a statement released in 2015. The statement claimed that, although everyone is "welcome," they "do not affirm a gay lifestyle and because of this [they] do not knowingly have actively gay people in positions of leadership"
While Hillsong's stance on homosexuality is wrong, I don't think Chris Pratt deserves to be called out. To my knowledge, Pratt has never said or done anything to hurt LGBTQ people. It sounds to me like the church barely mentions LGBTQ people or issues. If they did, I doubt very much that so many celebrities would attend. Hollywood is mostly liberal and progressive. It's not exactly a good look for someone like Kendall Jenner to be associated with such an organization.
We also need to be understanding of how the world works. There are so many issues that need to be dealt with. It is impossible for a person to prioritize every single one of them. It is inevitable that they will forget about some. For example, a person might donate to cancer research, but doesn't give money to starving children in Africa. Does that mean they don't care about the starving children? Of course not. It just simply didn't cross their mind. Not every issue can be everyone's issue.
My point is, Pratt is a heterosexual man. It is very possible that LGBTQ issues aren't at the forefront of his mind. He probably didn't think to inquire about his church's position on LGBTQ people. It doesn't mean he encourages conversion therapy or other damage religion inflicts on LGBTQ people. It just never came up. There's nothing wrong with that. It's only natural and it would be unrealistic for us to expect otherwise.
I also don't think Page's criticism of Pratt was the best way to approach this issue. She could have posted a lengthy blog post discussing the church without mentioning any of the celebrities who attend. She didn't even have to name the church, she could've just talked about religion in general. She could've named several churches, including Hillsong. I believe that would've been a more productive way to tackle this issue.
By calling out a fellow actor, the media spins the story as "Ellen Page vs. Chris Pratt," not "Ellen Page calls out homophobic church." The focus placed on the story is all wrong and sets an unhealthy example for activists going forward. People shouldn't be pointing fingers at others. The only time it's acceptable to call someone out is when they're doing something to harm the LGBTQ community.
The people we should be calling out are religious leaders and politicians, not celebrities. The urge to jump on the dogpile bandwagon is strong these days. In the end, it will help nobody and only damage the cause. We must prioritize and have a healthy worldview. We also need to treat others the way we want to be treated. It's not always easy, but it's the only way to go as far as I'm concerned.
