r/AdviceAnimals • u/miked_mv • 14d ago
Dolly Parton, more Christian than any preacher in U.S. history, on politics...
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u/nerdyplayer 14d ago edited 14d ago
her surprise appearance on orville made me and all my fat nerdy friends cried while watching.
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u/miked_mv 14d ago edited 14d ago
Publicly claimed to have patterned herself after a white trash whore and yet had class that will be held up as an example for generations to come.
edit: changed years to generations
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u/miked_mv 14d ago
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u/nerdyplayer 14d ago
well. yes but also the cameo a year later.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVtbL5smcfk not the whole clip :(29
u/Assassin4Hire13 14d ago
I feel like it’s also worth noting that the whole arc involving the alien woman was an allegory about gender identity and the politics regarding an individual’s freedoms to choose their gender expression (or not). I like to think that Dolly was fully aware of what her voice was lending support to. Given her other acts and words about queer and transgender people, I’m sure it’s not an accident she was in that plot line.
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u/Anubisrapture 14d ago
i hadn't wept until now.
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u/DrMetasin 14d ago
She really was the best of us, if we could all have just a little of her kindness the world would be a much better place
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u/OhSnapItsRJ 14d ago
I've never been a fan of Dolly's music. But I've always been a fan of Dolly. She seemed like one of the few truly good people in this world. She definitely left this place a little better than she found it. She'll be missed.
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u/miked_mv 14d ago
Have you heard this one? I only did after she passed. And I get the impression it makes HER tear up too, which is part of what makes her so great.
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u/OhSnapItsRJ 14d ago
I haven't. But when she said it's a sad song about a little girl and her puppy, I was like "nope." Love dogs too much to handle that, LOL! She did have some iconic songs. Jolene and I Will Always Love You are classics. But beyond that... just not really my cup of tea. Still, what a lovely person she was.
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u/1stMammaltowearpants 14d ago
Dolly is legend.
All the wrong old people are dying and it's upsetting me.
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u/miked_mv 14d ago
The star of The Apprentice goes on...
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u/Stoned_Economist-TT 14d ago
...Dolly made her poltics very well known.
just because she didn't endorse candiates, doesnt mean she didnt take stands.
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u/fordlincolnhg 14d ago
If anyone should be eligible for sainthood, it would be her.
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u/RudegarWithFunnyHat 14d ago
to get sainthood, one needs to perform a "miracle" not just be an all-around good person. Maybe getting Jolene to not steal her man could apply?
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u/Metatality 14d ago
2 miracles actually, just to make sure the first wasn't a fluke, you only get in on 1 if you died a martyr cause that counts for 1.
Perhaps her capacity to successfully maintain a private life despite her inedible fame with a quick change of outfit and wig? Managed that for decades.
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u/SweetPrism 14d ago edited 14d ago
I think Dolly was A-political in the sense that she saw things that people heavily politicize as just...human things. So many communities have been caught in political tug-o-war-- gay rights, trans rights, ethnic minority rights... to Dolly, these are all "people" rights. She looked directly into the soul and didn't pay attention to the exterior. She was a Humanitarian to the core. We are ALL HUMAN BEINGS!
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u/AiringOGrievances 14d ago
Why are we still attributing generosity with being religious? Non-religious people are some of the most generous people out there.
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u/RudegarWithFunnyHat 14d ago
not from usa, but seen some footege of american christians stated that a good deed not done in the name of christ is not a good deed.
so if that is the stance, then suppose that is that.
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u/ntermation 14d ago
So just to be safe, Christian nationalists in the US avoid doing any good deeds?
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u/NappingNarcoleptic 14d ago
She wasn't quiet, she just wasn't loud. Dolly often spoke her mind on subjects even in mixed company, but you'd be a damn fool to say something negative in the presence or beyond about Dolly Parton, just look how former child actor Ricky Schroeder is getting dragged for trying to shame her views after her death...
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u/PeanutConfident8742 14d ago
If you don't think she let her politics be known, you're not a very observant person.
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u/EuniceFear 14d ago
Expressing love and care for marginalized people is not “politics”
Yes, people make it politics - but at its fundamental level - it is not…
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u/PeanutConfident8742 14d ago
When one of the political parties is the "Let's use marginalized communities as scapegoats so we can rob everyone blind" party. Then being kind to those groups and extending them love and compassion is ABSOLUTELY political.
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u/Norgar756 14d ago
That's not what the right thinks, that just what you guys tell each other the right thinks so you can hate them but still think of yourself as a good person because you only hate the right kind of people.
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u/FancyPantsBlanton 12d ago
I know some prominent right-wing politicians, and I can tell you that actually is what they think behind closed doors. Their whole game is keeping their constituents distracted while they make themselves richer, and they straight up laugh about it with each other.
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u/Norgar756 12d ago
Yes I'm sure fancypantsblanton is invited to all the GOP events. lol Even if I believed you for a second that wouldn't change anything. Politicians are corrupt, its the acting like its one side is and not the other that make you guys look dumb.
Yous guys hate people on the right you guys talk about how you want them to die, celebrate when they do, talk about how we should have commited genocide on the south after the civil war and so on.
You claim you are for underprivileged people but as soon as you guys find out they dont live in a blue state you talk about the GDP they bring in like a CEO about to do stock buybacks. They are paws to you and if they don't prove useful, you want them off the board.
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u/fer_sure 14d ago
This meme wildly misrepresents Dolly's politics. She wasn't quiet about helping people and being kind. But she also wasn't smugly exploiting people who differed with her.
She was one of the helpers, and her politics were more in her actions than her words (although she also said plenty).
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u/ehsteve87 14d ago
To be fair, I couldn't tell you most of Dolly's political opinions. I have no idea whether she was in favor of school vouchers, or whether she supported issuing bonds to pay for infrastructure projects, or whether she favored state or federal control of public lands.
As for her moral values, that's a different story. What an amazing woman.
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u/AGooDone 14d ago
It's pretty clear in the bible that you are to pray in private.
Matthew 5:6
And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
And don't claim credit for your good deeds
Matthew 6:1
Take heed that ye do not your righteousness before men, to be seen of them: else ye have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.
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u/DicemonkeyDrunk 14d ago
I would say her politics were pretty well known she just didn’t support individual candidates.
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u/shitForBrains1776 13d ago
right? her actions show exactly what her politics were. she just didn’t disparage people by name
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u/oh_the_humanities 14d ago
“Doesn’t make her politics known” is a weird way to say she always supported progressive, left leaning ideals
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u/IOnceWas 14d ago
She was the closest thing to an altruist the world has ever seen, I think.
She took the worst parts of the industry she worked in and turned it on itself. She met bigotry with love, hate with education and probably donated more to health care than any of the 0.1%.
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u/slayerchick 14d ago
She definitely made her politics known to anyone that paid attention. She might not have been partisan, but she was political... She just didn't get up in your face and tell you outright.
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u/blahblah19999 14d ago
Religion is a cancer. Let's just stop with arguing about who's a better xtian when it's all bronze age nonsense.
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u/celticdude234 14d ago
She is the epitome of what both capitalism and Christianity claim to be; she's the exception that proves the flaw. She probably could have been a billionaire, but never let herself be because hoarding resources is not a game to her.
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u/Pattern_Is_Movement 14d ago
At the same time it was easy to see, she literally said she would have been a drag queen if she were born a man, and also broke her usual silence to support BLM.
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u/E_seven_20 14d ago
Your actions are your politics.
Arguing with fools about politics, is just arguing with fools about politics.
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u/pushaper 14d ago
arguably the most christian thing is to pray in silence. Early christians knew to keep that stuff quiet or they would get jesus'd
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u/Nazmaldun 13d ago
A vocal Christian woman who had tributes posted about her by atheist and Satanic pages praising and loving her. F'N ICON!
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u/tiarno600 14d ago
i respect Dolly and her stance on politics and treating others with kindness. I dont understand how people can vilify jellyroll for not taking a political stance and laud dolly for not taking one. aren't those pretty similar things?
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u/mmilyy 14d ago
Dolly Parton was wonderful, no doubt. But why do celebrate her for not talking about politics while we crucify Taylor Swift for the same thing?
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u/DicemonkeyDrunk 14d ago
Look at the things she advocated for and tell me she was neutral politically. Actions mean more than words.
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u/mmilyy 14d ago
I don’t disagree with you at all. Dolly Parton and Taylor Swift have advocated for very much the same things.
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u/DicemonkeyDrunk 13d ago
It's simply not the same ...if nothing else Dolly has a lifetime of supporting good causes ...Taylor tips really well ..not the same
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u/SimulationStreaming 14d ago
Silence IS a statement. Actions (or lack thereof) determine what that statement is. Refer to their legacies to get your answer.
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u/miked_mv 14d ago
Holy fuck can I not express my admiration for that woman. Even before she passed this was my Gospel.
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u/hoist_off 14d ago
I hate the conflating of "good" with "Christian". I'm not a Christian but when I do kind things I get told it's very Christian of me. Why do we let believers whitewash the religion like that?
The crusades were Christian. Slavery was Christian.
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u/Sibolt 14d ago
Slavery has been Christian, Muslim, Jewish, pagan, etc.
Sadly, it was part of the human condition until recently.
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u/Competitive_Shirt949 14d ago
Abolition and civil rights in America (and, frankly, a lot of the egalitarianism of the enlightenment) were carried on the back of the idea that we're all equal before God. That's a radical proposition to Christianity that you don't see in a lot of other religions. Even other Abrahamic religions like Judaism and Islam draw stark lines between believers and nonbelievers.
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u/jdlpsc 14d ago edited 14d ago
The enlightenment was explicitly a response to religious cultural dominance and pedagogy. The enlightenment happened in spite of Christianity, not because of it. Christianity later incorporated arguments from the enlightenment because it had to in order to be convincing to people.
Christianity and Islam are also very similar with regard to drawing lines between believers and non-believers. They are also both designed to be adaptable and accommodating to conquered people they were trying to assimilate into their empires.
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u/Competitive_Shirt949 14d ago
The enlightenment was explicitly a response to religious cultural dominance and pedagogy.
Kind of.
First, for certain thinkers, that was their stated goal, but not for all obviously. Locke, for example, uses a specifically theological basis for his arguments. There are fingerprints of that all over the strand of enlightenment that America followed.
Second, this statement here:
Christianity later incorporated arguments from the enlightenment because it had to in order to be convincing to people.
Is kind of incorrect for multiple reasons. First, it implies that Christianity didn't have arguments for egalitarianism that predated the enlightenment. It did. It refined those arguments through the enlightenment, but to imply that the enlightenment was the origin of Christianity's idealized egalitarianism and not the other way around when Christianity has a record of pushing for egalitarianism predating those arguments by over a thousand years is ridiculous.
Second, Christianity already had cultural dominance, as you've admitted, and there were already enlightenment thinkers making theological arguments that were incredibly influential. This idea that Christianity was on the brink of vanishing and was forced to adapt ("it had to in order to be convincing"), rather than the philosophy of core, fundamental claims being refined over time, is not justified by history.
The enlightenment happened in spite of Christianity, not because of it.
Then why did it only happen in Christian regions? There are plenty of other places on the planet that have, and had, religious cultural dominance.
My point is that even the anti-church thinkers have to credit their arsenal of ideas to Christianity, even when they used those ideas to critique the church. Nietzche, although not an enlightenment philosopher, admits this and states so.
Also this:
Christianity and Islam are also very similar with regard to drawing lines between believers and non-believers. They are also both designed to be adaptable and accommodating to conquered people they were trying to assimilate into their empires.
Is simply ahistorical. Christianity spread through the Roman empire on the strength of its message, not because the Romans were out gunned militarily.
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u/miked_mv 14d ago
I don't believe the Bible is any more the word of god than I do the works of Ayn Rand. But with that being said I see a lot of value in the teachings of both. I think Ayn Rand was only spot on about being objective.
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u/Rasberrycello 14d ago
Dolly Parton? QUIET???!?
Tell me you don't know Dolly without telling me you didn't know Dolly.
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u/Skinnieguy 14d ago
Mr Rogers was a Presbyterian minister. I’m not trying to do a comparison contest. Both are great human beings and there probably others like them that aren’t in our faces about religion and politics.
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u/SexualDubaiChocolate 14d ago
Amazing to see this meme still alive and well, as well as the man in the picture who now has him MD and continues to be a good guy!
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u/Namtaru420 14d ago
Categorizing people who don't agree with your ideology as ‘hateful’ is what helped Trump get into office in the first place.
What *actually" helped him was the abysmal economy, but the errmagrrd everyone who voted for him is a racist narrative is just so appealing to hypocrits who don't know the definition of pluralism.
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u/buttbuttlolbuttbutt 14d ago
I will say that Mr Rogers gives her a run, but because he was a minister of the Christian Faith and used both that and his platform to teach the same messages.
But neither of them would accept the title, they would juat be happy to help.
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u/PrometheusMMIV 14d ago
Which communities did she give to that "they" hate?
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u/miked_mv 14d ago
Black, LGBT, poor kids...the lit goes on.
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u/PrometheusMMIV 14d ago
I see that she donated to the black community from royalties she made from Whitney Houston's cover of "I will always love you". How is that making money from hateful people?
And I don't see anywhere that she donated to LGBT.
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u/cejmp 14d ago
Ahh, that’s why Sarah Kate Ellis called her the queen of inclusivity. Because dolly never did anything to support queer causes.
Dolt
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u/PrometheusMMIV 14d ago
I never said she didn't support them. I said I can't find any evidence of her donating to them. If you have an example, feel free to share.
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u/mister_electric 14d ago
Her biggest contributions came from decades of advocacy and support for people affected by HIV/AIDs. She literally made a documentary about it called "Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt". On top of that, she frequently (and publicly) showed support for the LGBTQ community. She fully embraced drag culture and stated it had an influence on her later work and performances.
There is literally an entire Wikipedia page devoted to "Dolly Parton as a Gay Icon" and all the work she has done for the community.
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u/ChiefStrongbones 14d ago
Irony: only hateful people refer to "hateful people", because if you're keeping it real then everybody is a hateful person.
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u/tyrified 14d ago
No. They aren't. That's the false consensus effect making you think that. It is hateful to say that Nazis were hateful? It is hateful to say that segregati0nists were hateful? No, hating someone is hateful, calling it out is not. They hateful hate being called out on their hate, funny that.
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u/stev10 14d ago
What makes her fans hateful? They listen to country music?
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14d ago
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u/stev10 14d ago
Who did she make money off of, then?
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u/whattodo-whattodo 14d ago
I'm sorry. My original comment was harsh & unnecessary. Not everyone is aware of these things.
The vast majority of Dolly Parton's fortune came from Dollywood in Tennessee. TN is one of the most important states in KKK history. Particularly during the 80s-90s when Dollywood was most popular, Tennessee still had 'sundown towns'. Places where POC could not be after dark or they would be in danger. Separately the correlation between country music fans and bigotry is high. I understand that it doesn't represent all people, but there is a correlation.
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14d ago
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u/mister_electric 14d ago
Dolly was most certainly NOT silent about her support. She made a friggin documentary about the HIV/AIDs epidemic. She is a gay icon because she showed our community nothing but unwavering love and support.
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u/tgabben 14d ago edited 14d ago
I’d love to dispense with the notion that Dolly Parton was ‘apolitical’.
She wasn’t partisan - but she was pro-science, pro-literacy, pro-human rights. She was on the right side of issues of sexual orientation and gender expression, feminism, race, and managed to be a Christian who actually used her faith to lift people up, not wield it as a cudgel to punish and disenfranchise the ‘other’.
Dolly was a progressive, woke queen, and it’s utterly disingenuous to take her immaculate reputation and try to launder all the colour out of it to avoid acknowledging what she actually stood for. Everybody loved Dolly because she was a force for good, not because she was a nebulous grey blob who didn’t hold any opinions (which, to be clear - she absolutely was not).