Tom Hanks Apologizes for Bashing Mormons

Tom Hanks has apologized for the bigoted, derogatory comments he made about Mormons and their support of Proposition 8.

Read more about Hanks' January 14, 2009, remarks.

From FOX News:

Tom Hanks says he's sorry he told FOXNews.com that Mormons who supported California's constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage were "un-American."

"Last week, I labeled members of the Mormon church who supported California's Proposition 8 as 'un-American,'" the actor said in a statement through his publicist. "I believe Proposition 8 is counter to the promise of our Constitution; it is codified discrimination."

"But everyone has a right to vote their conscience; nothing could be more American," the statement continues. "To say members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who contributed to Proposition 8 are 'un-American' creates more division when the time calls for respectful disagreement. No one should use 'un- American' lightly or in haste. I did. I should not have."

Hanks' original statement was really ugly.

“The truth is a lot of Mormons gave a lot of money to the church to make Prop-8 happen,” he told FOXNews.com. “There are a lot of people who feel that is un-American, and I am one of them. I do not like to see any discrimination codified on any piece of paper, any of the 50 states in America, but here's what happens now.”

Now, he's backed off.

That's good.

It's not good that it took him over a week to issue a statement.

That leads me to believe that factors other than sincere regret prompted his apology. Why the delay? Did Hanks' conscience just kick in? Was he pressured by his handlers to apologize? Was he receiving so much criticism that he determined it's in his best interest to do some damage control?

Who knows what motivated him to do the right thing after so much time elapsed?

Nonetheless, I'm glad Hanks got around to issuing an apology for his ugly remarks. I believe it's never too late to say you're sorry.

However, Hanks' words will be hard to forget.

As Alexander Pope wrote, "To err is human, to forgive, divine."

I really believe that forgiving is divine. To truly forgive someone is godly. It's not easy to do.
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Lawrence O'Donnell should follow Hanks' lead. He owes Mormons an apology. It's way overdue.