Celebrities as religious leaders

Back in the day when I was an impressionable young lad developing my taste in music, I used to listen to a little-known rock n' roll outfit called "Rage Against the Machine." It was a fitting name, because, as witnessed by the photo, the band members were apparently very angry about something. If you cared to pay attention to the lyrics, you would hear them criticizing the government, large corporations, the police, and many other things. At their concerts they often took time to discuss political items and encouraged their fans to join their causes — which the fans often did. Of course, the band members weren't experts on politics, sociology or fields related to their causes, but that didn't stop them from advocating nor did it stop people from believing them. I eventually grew tired of their music and political diatribes, sold my CDs, and moved on to other things. However, Rage Against the Machine was not the last time I was to see celebrities taking the role as leaders of popular causes.

Pop culture figures have also spoken out against the war in Iraq, called for the release of political prisoners (Rage Against the Machine), spoken against Scientology (the band Tool and the show Southpark), and led many other social and political causes.

Insofar as these actors and musicians gain broad bases of support and often dictate the tenets of belief for a certain cause, I feel that celebrities often function in the same way as religious leaders. A person may not believe in God, but they may certainly believe in the doctrine of Sean Penn and go to worship at his movies or at protests and rallies that he supports.

A good example of this is with California's recent battle to pass Proposition 8. On one side of the debate were religious leaders, such as those of the LDS and Catholic faiths, who proclaimed a certain set of values. On the other side were various secular groups, which had their own set of values, and who often employed celebrities as their figureheads. Ellen Degeneres, Jack Black, Kathy Griffin, Drew Barrymore and Brad Pitt were used as spokespersons and figureheads in the campaign against the Proposition.

In a double-whammy of Hollywood support for overturning Prop 8, Brad Pitt appeared on The Ellen Degeneres Show and delivered the following statement:

"That to me is an issue of equality. And um, you know, I go back to the Declaration of Independence. We're all created equal, um, we all free to for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And um, that proposition was stepping on people's pursuit of happiness and people's liberty and I don't think it has any place or in our definition of America so I hope we figure that one out [sic]."

Thanks for the legal analysis, Brad.

Now leading or believing in causes is fine, but what I think is worrisome is that large groups of people join celebrity causes simply because the person is a celebrity. I fail to see how being really good at playing guitar or being really good at pretending to be someone else on film also makes that person an expert on law, morality, or politics. How in the world does Brad Pitt, who doesn't hold a law degree and has a long trial of failed relationships, become an expert on marriage or its legal roots? Maybe it's his abs.

So here we have these pop-culture prophets preaching to their dedicated minions. They give their (uneducated) opinion on an issue, and their believers follow. However, if I was in their position, and had the power as they do to influence popular opinion, would I let my lack of knowledge prevent me from exerting my influence?

This brings me to my question: do celebrities have a greater obligation than the average person to study out issues before they try and influence others concerning the issue, simply because so many people blindly follow them? Or if you think that question is lame, you could also explain why people adopt celebrities' opinions on issues about which the celebrities have virtually no expertise (why do these pop-culture prophets have converts?).