Actor Charlton Heston dies at 84

Sunday 06th April, 01:13 PM JST

By Bob Thomas

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Latest 15 of 27 Total Comments Show All

RomeoRamenII at 08:32 PM JST - 6th April

RIP to a legendary entertainer, a World War II veteran, a supporter of civil rights, a Hollywood star who was married for over 60 years to one woman, a spokesman for second amendment rights.

His presidency of the NRA convinced me to become a life member.

A great American who will be missed.

RR
Wottock_Hunt at 08:47 PM JST - 6th April

Sailwind - that was moving indeed. Thanks for sharing it.
Nessie at 09:10 PM JST - 6th April

Advocating heavily armed, non-violent civil disobedience. Surely a conundrum of a man.
Nessie at 09:14 PM JST - 6th April

I guess this means we have his blessing to prise the gun from his cold, dead hand.
Wottock_Hunt at 10:28 PM JST - 6th April

Hey, Wottock, you have any response to anderstungtwist's question?

Which one, and why?
Alphaape at 10:50 PM JST - 6th April

sailwind, thanks for the great post. For the others who are bashing the NRA, if you would do a little research, they advoacte that you have the right to have a fire arm, but not the right to settle differences the old west style (or for those from Yamato, to settle it samurai style with swords).
Charlton Heston was a decent man, and when you look at sailwinds post, you can see that just becuase he was a conservative, he was not some "bible thumping maniac" out to convert everyone to his religion or thoughts.

RIP Mr. Heston.
Betzee at 11:28 PM JST - 6th April

Salwind, Harvard has a tradition of inviting speakers whose words generate controversy. Twenty years before Heston appeared on campus, Alexander Solzhenitsyn gave an address in 1979 that prompted outrage at the time but which has come to be regarded, in some quarters as prophetic in identifying the reasons for the decline of American society. It's not due to political correctness as Heston claims, which exists on the Left and the Right incidentally. Rather:

The individual's independence from many types of state pressure has been guaranteed; the majority of the people have been granted well-being to an extent their fathers and grandfathers could not even dream about; it has become possible to raise young people according to these ideals, preparing them for and summoning them toward physical bloom, happiness, and leisure, the possession of material goods, money, and leisure, toward an almost unlimited freedom in the choice of pleasures. So who should now renounce all this, why and for the sake of what should one risk one's precious life in defense of the common good and particularly in the nebulous case when the security of one's nation must be defended in an as yet distant land?

This is why few Americans will take up Heston's call for civil disobedience. As he himself observes: "Disobedience demands that you put yourself at risk."
Nessie at 12:39 AM JST - 7th April

This is why few Americans will take up Heston's call for civil disobedience. As he himself observes: "Disobedience demands that you put yourself at risk."

What is it exactly that Americans are supposed to be disobedient about? Like, illegally downloading music? Herb? Seems like there's plenty of disobedience.
northlondon at 12:45 AM JST - 7th April

Ever since the days of the Wild West, right up to today, you still haven't worked out that having the 'freedom' to purchase a rifle for everyone equates to enormously high numbers of gun-related deaths and gun-related crimes.

For such a great historic nation, one that has given the rest of the world the likes of Martin Luther King/ NASA/ rock and roll music/ great advances in modern hospital treatment/ Muhammed Ali etc etc, America's biggest downfall and biggest embarrassment has been it's love affair with the rifle.

Rifles are for your defence forces and (possibly) your law enforcement. When you need one at home, and when you are allowed to own one at home, then you are living in the wrong place.
Betzee at 02:04 AM JST - 7th April

What is it exactly that Americans are supposed to be disobedient about?

Exactly, Gandhi and Martin Luther King were "fighting pacificists." This is not an oxymoron. Rather their weapon was the moral power of their ideals. They engaged in peaceful resistance knowing full well they might be met with a crack on the head (or worse) by armed law enforcement authority. But they were willing to face that risk in service to their ideals.

This is a strategy for those who seek to effect change the state is blocking. It is not a tool which will work when it's one group which finds inself in intellectual disagreement with another.
skipthesong at 10:13 AM JST - 7th April

I find it amazing that most here want to talk only of his involvement in the NRA, and in one speech, he made a lot of sense in regards to his relatives, who were law abiding citizens in Europe were first told to give up all arms to the Nazis and once disarmed, they were of course, well you know the rest of the story... Why isn't more information available about him marching with Dr. King? There were a lot of brave white celebrities who challenged the system back then however we hear very little of them.. No, instead we must be forced to hear only what the new post 80's left claims to be wrong with others.

How many of you even know that he was the original "I am Legend"?
Wottock_Hunt at 12:03 PM JST - 7th April

Skip - nope: the second. First was Vincent Price, in "The Last Man on Earth". Chuck was second, in "The Omega Man", which is one of my favourite films ever. The recent Will Smith job was good, and the less said about "I am Omega" the better. But Mr. Heston did a fine job in Omega Man, one of many in his outstanding career. Touch of Evil was magnificent.
conqueror_of_Uranus at 02:34 PM JST - 8th April

What the anti-gun crowd refuse to admit, is that the NRA spends more than 2/3rds of it's revenue on gun/firearm safety education, and advocate more stringent background checks. An NRA spokesman said shortly after the VTech shooting, something to the effect of; if the checks that the NRA approves of were in place, Choi would have never been able to purchase even a hunting rifle.
Loki520 at 10:07 PM JST - 9th April

Why do I get the idea that no matter what happens, some people will find something about the US that is "wrong"?
redacted at 10:48 PM JST - 9th April

This article, like most, downplays and minimizes Charlton Heston's social activism, if only because in the modern world 'liberals' alone can be given the title of activist; conservatives are usually simply labeled 'haters' or 'ultraconservatives.'

Heston picketed a segregated theater premiering his own movie. He accompanied fellow Republican and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr on the 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington - at a time when almost no one in Hollywood was willing to speak out against racism.