I can understand the case of loneliness even as a believer. As a single person striving towards holiness it becomes a up hill battle as all those around you are younger, or married. The Church in general is not doing it's job of dealing with this issue. As an only child it is even harder because all of my life I have been alone. My prayers go out to Jodie because as a human being she deals with these life challenges just like anyone else. Though I know I am never alone because the Holy Spirit is with me and in me, the human touch is always needed.

when you are lonely because you wont give up your money or your job or a relationship seeped in sin you will be lonely. she is honest. i can't say a hero. it is extrodinary easy to follow your every whim desire and ungodly urge. Sin makes you more lonely because you isolate yourself from community and find other rebels to sit with you, but you never fill the heart ONLY God can do that neither man or women, but i would prefer for her it to be a man.

Coming out as gay is not a confession, as there is nothing to apologize for. Coming out is an act of confirmation. Foster's only confession might have been in why she waited so long when her sexual orientation has been well known for nearly 2 decades.

Wow, well said! Thank you for pointing out Jodie Foster's honesty about her aloneness in the world because I did not catch this in the news clips that were shown about her speech. I didn't know she ended her speech with those poignant words. It was indeed very brave of her. I too appreciate her stark honesty and I will pray for her that this is not where her story ends but that it will be a starting point for her to seek out and find the God who created her and who loves her and knows her deeply already. You can see so plainly in her testimony what happens to us when we choose to turn our backs on God and how we then unwittingly fall into a life of profound loneliness no matter how successful and famous we are (even if we get the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award). May she and each one of us observing her make a better choice.

I can definitely see the confession as a prayer, whether or not she realized she was uttering a prayer at all. However, I do think it's a little strong to label her as a "hero." Of course, that's my opinion and you have every right to choose your own heroes. :) It just really saddens me. I understand loneliness is part of being human, and our only saving from loneliness is through Jesus Christ -- and I understand this on a very visceral, personal level. However, when I hear others confess it (and not just Jodie Foster, but I'm also thinking of very close, dear friends), it makes me weep -- sometimes very literally. Because even with knowing the answer to that loneliness, so many people cannot see it because, as of yet, they have not been given eyes to see. And my soul aches for them to see. rachel (evenonesparrow.blogspot.com)

I find it hard to consider any atheist a hero/heroine.

It's hard to believe that someone with the status of Jodie Foster could ever be lonely. She had the checklist for happiness according to the world's standard - stardom, wealth, physical beauty, and much more. Foster's "coming out" (confusion seems to be the better term) was no prayer, nor was it heroic by any means. Her confession simply expresses the truth of another confession from Augustine, “You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in you.” Every person, even stars like Jodie Foster, searches in vain to fill a God-shaped hole in the soul until he/she is found by God.

It will be interesting how the Supreme Court interpret same sex marriage. My personal view is that same sex marriage; lesbian and homosexual behavior should be tolerated from a civil perspective within the context of the Constitution if for no other reason than it allows people to pursue their happiness and as far as I know it really does not affect anyone else. However from a Christian standpoint I do not believe that the Christian church should dignify such marriages. Individually, as professing Christians, we/they are accountable to God and His ultimate judgment. Churches condoning same sex marriage, and allowing gay pastors, are in my opinion, operating outside the bounds of biblical teaching and Christian standards As a Christian I cannot accept that this behavior should be tolerated by Christian organizations who base their faith on the word of God.

It will be interesting how the Supreme Court interpret same sex marriage. My personal view is that same sex marriage, lesbian and homosexual behavior should be tolerated from a civil perspective within the context of the Constitution if for no other reason than it allows people to pursue their happiness and as far as I know it really does not affect anyone else. However from a Christian standpoint I do not believe that such marriages should be dignified by the Christian church. Individually, as professing Christians, we/they are accountable to God and His ultimate judgement. Churches condoning same sex marriage, allowing gay pastors are, in my opinion, operating outside the bounds of biblical teaching and Christian standards and as a Christian I cannot accept that this behavior should be tolerated by Christian organizations who base their faith on the word of God.

If were at the point where honest confession of commonalities of the human experience are foreign and savored like Truth despite the idolatry, then we are farther down the narcissistic slippery slope then I would have imagined just 10 years ago. Everything around us is fake, and increasingly so. What a strange world we blindly wandered into.

hero or heroine?

This is not a "heroic" act they are citing. But rather the mindset (good or bad) of someone who is denying the Existence of God. Personally, as a Christian, right or wrong, I look at people who say there is no God with a Jaundice eye, and frankly, give them and their ideology very little, if any credibility.

This is not a "heroic" act they are citing. But rather the mindset (good or bad) of someone who is denying the Existence of God. Personally, as a Christian, right or wrong, I look at people who say there is no God with a Jaundice eye, and frankly, give them and their ideology very little, if any credibility.

(cont. from below) ... That said, I do think that the word "hero" is misused here. Coming out as lonely is impressive, unusual, but not heroic. Coming out (in the public eye) as gay is neither; if she'd come out as gay many years ago, when there was a risk of major backlash, would have been risky and potentially heroic.

Atheist, Muslim, Hindu... the deity (or deities, or lack of deities) someone worships or does not worship doesn't affect how they can be heroic. Or are you saying that if a Christian and an Atheist do the same heroic act the Christian is *more* heroic? I'd argue that (if there is a difference, which I don't agree with) it's the other way around, at least in cases of possible death - we *know* we will live after, while an Atheist that risks his life believes he is risking the entirety of his existence.

Please know that Jodie Foster is an atheist. So I am not sure what kind of hero she would make to a Christian.

"no-commitment water cooler camaraderie" - That is one of the best turns of phrase I've read in a long time, Michelle. The confession "I'm so lonely" is scary to say and scary to hear. Thanks for pointing out that the only real cure for those fears is in the salvation Jesus brings. Tim (timfall.wordpress.com)