Carrie Prejean Appears on James Dobson’s Radio Show

Miss California, Carrie Prejean, was on James Dobson‘s radio show today, talking about the gay marriage question that made her an icon for Christian conservatives everywhere:

Here’s a bit of the transcript:

Dobson: It sounded, Carrie, like your first reaction was to hedge, to say “Well, this is a free country” and then something took over.

Prejean: It really was a switch.

Dobson: And you did one of the most courageous things I’ve seen anybody your age or anybody else do. What was going on in your mind?

Prejean: I started off by saying I want to win this pageant so bad, I’ve worked so hard, I wanted to sound politically correct but still stay true to my values. But I just knew at that moment that God was just telling me “Carrie, how bad do you want this? Are you willing to compromise your beliefs for a one year crown of Miss USA.” And I just knew right there… And I said you know what and the switch went off. And I said, “A marriage should be between a man and a woman and that’s how it should be.”… And I knew there was no way I was going to win Miss USA. No way.

Dobson: So you put it on the line, that’s what I mean when I said you’re courageous because this was the goal of your life to that point. And yet you gave it up. And yet the Lord is using you all over this country.

Prejean: And we are all faced with that at times. And just by me being here, I want to encourage other people that when you’re faced with an issue which you know in your heart what to say, but you’re faced with someone asking it, don’t ever compromise that just for pleasing them. Your goal should be to please God, not to please man…

Dobson: Why did you give the answer you did with regard to the affirmation of marriage?

Prejean: … I felt as though Satan was trying to tempt me in asking me this question. And then God was in my head and in my heart saying, “Do not compromise this. You need to stand up for me and you need to share with all these people… you need to witness to them and you need to show that you’re not willing to compromise that for this title of Miss USA.”

And I knew right here that it wasn’t about winning. It was about being true to my convictions.

A few points to make:

The Lord isn’t using Prejean. The Religious Right is.

I didn’t realize Perez Hilton was Satan.

Anyone else think she just gave a shitty answer, albeit with her actual opinion? It would’ve been far more interesting for the Religious Right if she had said to Hilton: “I know you and many other people here support gay marriage, but I do not. I am a Bible-believing Christian and my faith tells me marriage is between a man and a woman.” She didn’t. In fact, she didn’t even know what’s going on with gay marriage in this country. She said, “We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage.” Of course, we don’t have that choice thanks to people like her.

Dobson makes no mention of the fact she would not have won the Miss USA title regardless of her answer to the gay marriage question.
Donald Trump, who owns the rights to the pageant, said so himself:

Trump also said, contrary to popular belief, Prejean’s answer did not cost her the title. “We went back and added up the scores,” he said, “and she would not have won anyway. So that makes me feel better because it was a tough question.”

I would love to see her get asked some tough questions, though. The conservatives are tossing her softballs because they know she can’t handle any complexity. If they want to make her the official spokesperson for “opposite marriage,” fine. Let’s see where her mind is at when she has to go for a real interview.

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beckster

The funny thing is they think this woman is actually helping their “cause.” In fact, I think she is making more people realize that people who oppose gay marriage are basically nitwits.
Joel

Not that I have any sympathy for Carrie Prejean, but you lose some of your freethinker cred for being so unskeptical of the Donald.
JWB III

I figured the Right would step-in to make her some sort of hero.

When I hear her answer that question, I do not hear someone who was making a stand for her beliefs. I just hear someone who answered the question poorly. Only in hindsight was God testing her.

I’ll be interested to see when she gets a job at Fox News.
Eamon Knight

And putting most of your skin and feminine attributes on public display is soooo much more Christian than just minding your own business about other folk’s domestic arrangements. When did physical modesty stop being a Christian virtue? (Not that I disapprove, but there are Bible passages that are often taken as applying here)
Anonymous

Frankly I don’t see why beauty pageant contestants should be asked to step into the shoes of social commentators anyway. They should be judged based on what they are there for–attractiveness, and nothing more.

Beauty pageants aren’t about politics or social issues. We don’t ask ball players questions like that. It’s just that some people have to politicize everything because they can’t let an opportunity pass to make a mountain out of a molehill if it serves their own purposes. They’ll do anything to keep the issue in the press.

If you don’t like what she has to say, don’t ask the question. She’s not there to be judged for the kind of person she is.
Tom

Preface: I’m gay.

I think Perez Hilton’s remarks about Ms. Prejean after the pageant are inexcusable. While of course it’s perfectly reasonable for him to think she is wrong and disagree with her strongly and say so in civilized terms, there is no call for the kind of language he used about her, and he should apologize for it, both to her for making her the target of it and to the gay community for making it falsely appear that we would support such behavior on his part.

I believe that what Ms. Prejean said and has since done is wrong, and I think it is evidence that she is a bad person. However, I think she has a legitimate beef with Perez Hilton, not for asking the question, but for his nasty remarks since.
Jeff

Some well-to-do gay couple should invite Ms. Prejean to spend a summer with them for $10K. Maybe she would come out of the experience a bit wiser and more tolerant towards people not part of her cultural norm. Even better, a gay atheist couple.
Pseudonym

I can’t say I’m especially surprised to learn that Perez Hilton is Satan.
Richard Wade

Your goal should be to please God, not to please man…

My irony indicator just went off like a fire alarm in a gunpowder factory. So, Ms. enhanced tits and ass is not interested in pleasing man?

And then God was in my head and in my heart saying, “Do not compromise this. You need to stand up for me and you need to share with all these people… you need to witness to them and you need to show that you’re not willing to compromise that for this title of Miss USA.”

“You need to stand up for me”?? So, is God a helpless, incontinent, quadriplegic little hate monger who can’t do his own dirty work but instead has to whisper into the mind of a beauty freak to trash gays, the mind of a pudgy demagogue to blame the victims of hurricanes for His wrath, the mind of an aging Nazi Youth pontiff to say that wearing rubbers is too evil to use against AIDS, and the minds of a dozen Middle East psychopaths to fly planes into buildings full of people?

I thought he was supposed to be all-powerful.
medussa

Richard Wade about sums it up.
Except for the strange fact that that bizarre god you describe is apparently turned on by enhanced T&A (she’s trying to please god after all).
ATL-Apostate

Update:

Semi-nude pictures of Miss California were released by “someone” today, and she will be “stripped” of her crown, probably tomorrow.

Wonder if Dobson will have her back on after that?
Buffy

Interesting how all this time she and her RRRW buddies keep insisting she doesn’t have anything against Teh Gays, but is merely defending “Opposite Marriage”. Yet here she is saying Perez Hilton/gay people are Satan.

If any of them were to tell the truth–even once–I’d probably die on the spot.
James H

Ummm … I could buy Perez Hilton as Satan … but just because I don’t like celebritology columns …
Jeff

You can see “Sky Daddy’s” favorite enhanced little girl at thedirty dot com.

Disregard Matthew 18:9
Thought Walker

To be fair to her on the calling-Perez-Hilton-and-Gay-people-“Satan” issue, I don’t think that’s what she’s doing. It’s a pretty common Christian belief that just as God speaks through people, so does Satan. That doesn’t make them God and it equally doesn’t make them Satan.

I think it’s good she gave an honest answer, albeit in the context of an incredibly shallow and in some ways deceitful (enhanced assets etc) contest. I don’t think anyone should use her as a figurehead or as a scapegoat, but the media tends to make us want to do one or the other…
Spook

Ugh. I think it would be embarassing to have her on your side. She’s like a mini-Palin.
mikespeir

It’s radio, so it’s hard to tell if she had her clothes on.
Erik

I love how the conservative can never admit that one of their own has made a mistake. They in fact will take that mistake (in this case a poorly answered question) and turn it in to a battle cry.

OPPOSITE MARRIAGE!

BRISTOL PALIN ABSTINENCE ADVOCATE!

FREEDOM FRIES!
martymankins

Richard Wade said it best here:

My irony indicator just went off like a fire alarm in a gunpowder factory. So, Ms. enhanced tits and ass is not interested in pleasing man?

She keeps defending her right to free speech. No one is denying that. They are just calling bullshit on her being a lackey on the subject of same-sex marriage.
anonymouse

The misogyny used against Prejean is not acceptable. I want to die for having to defend her. I can’t stand her.

In any case, it’s not surprising to me in the least that the right would make her out to be some sort of heroine. They are very good at pretending to be the victim. She’s going on and on about discrimination.

Hey, Miss Cali- Bigotry is NOT a virtue.

And Mr. Dobbs can focus on his own freaking family.

As a side note, while I don’t care one way or another how a woman uses her body (HER body) for picures, or what have you, if she lived by “Christian” principles as described in the old testament (where those lovely “you can’t lie with a man as a woman” verses mostly are, then she’d be married, be property of said husband, and would be publicly stoned to death for wearing a swimsuit. Just like Christians to pick and choose what is suitable for their own preferences.
Indigo

While admittedly Sunday school was a long time ago, I don’t remember ever hearing that God was especially pleased by people stating their awkwardly-phrased political views and then making the religious talk-show circuit to claim that their detractors are persecuting them. There *was* something about loving one’s enemies…and turning the other cheek…and maybe a bit about praying behind closed doors so people don’t think you’re a show-off. But like I said, it was a long time ago and I’m sure a Christian like Prejean would know better than I.