Tom Cruise, Charlton Heston and Denis Leary walk into a bar...

The duty of the creative artist is a topic of discussion I sometimes get dragged into, with mixed results.

I don't believe a creative artist or anyone with anything special to offer has any more responsibility to the world than someone with just a stout hard and a sturdy back. The fact that a poet, an artist, a musician, an actor, a playwrite, a doctor, an investment banker or a marksman might have a talent or skill above those of the average person just means they have more to offer, and will be criticized if they give nothing, give little or give everything, for that matter.

We, in the West, have come to flip our values to where, despite even the Biblical exhortations to not hide our candle under a basket, we attack individuals of accomplishment for using their perch as a platform for their sociological or political or religious views. This flies in the face of the notion of accomplishment being more than an ends unto itself and fulfills C.S. Lewis' rather brutal prediction in "The Screwtape Letters" that in a Democracy we eventually reach a point where anyone who works harder or achieves more is viewed with suspicion.

Yes, some people who make money or get famous do so via dubious means. A friend of mine the other day raised the question of whether Paris Hilton has made as much money in her life, through her TV show and advertisements and endorsements, as she has wasted of her and her famiy's money, getting famous for being the girl you would least like your daughter to grow up to be.

But many who "make it" do so through talent, hard work and diligence of purpose, and should be recognized for that and allowed to make a film about their religious views, or speak before the United Nations, or even run for political office if that is how they wish to apply their influence. Al Green is a minister. Ronald Reagan became President. Even Michael Skupin, the guy from Survivor who fell in the fire, ran for Congress.

I am not a member of the NRA, a Scientologist, or a Libertarian, but I do believe that under the Constitution that I have read and was taught about in public school, those people have a right to state, publicly, their beliefs. Yes, I'd rather people that I admire think in ways similar to me. I was distressed when Dennis Miller made his rightward political turn after 9/11, as I value him as a comedian and commentator on society. I think he's brighter and funnier (slightly) than Al Franken, who is still an extremely gifted contributor to the public discourse, and whose views I more closely agree with.

The truth is, everyone doesn't think the same way, see the same things, perceive the same root causes or predict the same results, otherwise...it would be a pretty damn dull world we live in.

Oh, the meaning behind the title of this post? Those three are amongst the most visible members of (in order of appearance) the Church of Scientology, The National Rifle Association and the Libertarians (according to websites I found identifying celebs who are with their groups or cause, if I am wrong, I apologize...). They are all three individuals who have, at some time or other, done work I admire (Heston is an iconic actor. Leary is a genius comic. Cruise used to sleep with Nicole Kidman. ::rimshot::). It does sound like the great opening for a joke...so here's hoping that they have a sense of humour about this and no chain-smoking, gun-toting New York firefighters will send their Thetans my way.

So what does this all mean for the so-called (but at least not self-annointed) Romantic Poet of the Internet? We shall see, my friends, we shall see.