Should non-politician's political views matter?

[George_Bonanza]

I'm just thinking, if somebody's a famous non-politician, like an actor, or a humanitarian, etc., should their political views matter to us? I believe no. Unless one's in politics, I think their political views have a right to be respected and not judged, like their religion or heritage. For example, we all like Lord of the Rings here, right? Turns out J.R.R. Tolkien was a very conservative man, or so I read. Should we ignore his works because of his views? If he wrote those books today, would we ignore or dislike him because of his stance? I also found out here that Salvador Dali was an arch-conservative. And what about royalist (conservative) authors like Shakespeare and Dickens?

Like for example, I would be very angry to find out somebody disliked Mel Gibson simply because he's conservative. I think he's a very talented actor who has a good sense of directing ability, as in Braveheart. Regardless of his political allegiance, we should appreciate his craft. Judging him based on his political compass is like judging people on their choice of religion or lifestyle IMHO.

[Don_G]

1. I Don't Pay Much Attention To An Actor's Opinion

They're getting paid to fool the people and often lie to themselves in the process.

I pay much more attention to what scientists, engineers and humanitarians have to say and do. They're edcuated, generally empathic and tend to speak and act on their convictions instead of playing a role.