Actor Bill Murray Praises Parkland Kids; Compares Bravery To Kids Who Protested Vietnam War

Actor/Comedian Bill Murray isn’t known for taking many public stances on political issues. However, that changed after the tragic school shooting that took place on Valentine’s Day in Parkland, Florida, claiming 17 innocent lives.

“We are living in interesting times, and people are becoming politically activated who weren’t previously,” Murray said in an Op-Ed written for NBC News Think on Thursday.

The comedian immediately made a connection between the protests being organized by the Parkland survivors and students around the country with the Vietnam protests of the 60’s and 70’s.

“I was thinking, looking at the kids in Parkland, Florida who have started these anti-gun protests, that it really was the students that began the end of the Vietnam War. It was the students who made all the news, and that noise started, and then the movement wouldn’t stop. I think, maybe, this noise that those students in Florida are making — here, today — will do something of the same nature.”

Murray went on to compare the complexities of the gun control issue with the Vietnam War stating

“You’ve got to surround a deeply political issue like gun control or a war, to come at it from every single direction. You can’t just focus on one thing, or aim for just the one goal.”

He proclaimed that children shouldn’t have to worry about what could happen to them while they attend school. “It’s just a horrible place for us to be at,” the actor opined.

In closing, Murray sent a powerful message to young people and adults regarding idealism.

“The thing that’s so powerful about students is that, when you haven’t had your idealism broken yet, you’re able to speak from a place that has no confusion, where there is a clear set of values.

But there are idealists left over the age of 18, I’m sure of it. Idealism is a voice that’s inside of you; it’s your conscience. That can really deteriorate along the way, depending on the road that you follow, and it can become almost dysfunctional, but it’s there. Everyone has it. Sometimes it’s just a whisper, but, in some people, it’s a shout.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqjjcYUJx_E

You can read the complete Op-Ed here.

It seems that more Americans like Bill Murray realize that the stakes are too high to stay silent. Let’s hope more patriotic celebrities and every day citizens find the courage to speak out against what’s wrong and right.

Lives may depend on it.