Alec Baldwin was born and raised on Long Island, New York.
He was raised in a Roman Catholic family, and continues to be a devoted Catholic to this day. He married his second wife–apparently the priests were willing to forgive his divorce–at a Catholic church in 2012.[1] And he is reportedly a generous donor to his church on Long Island.[2]
He seems to credit God with his professional success. When asked what God is to him, he said,
It's the voice inside me that controls my instincts, the instincts that got me very very far.[3]
But Baldwin's strong personality and anger issues don't always endear him to the Catholic church. He angered Catholics when he said to a photographer who was annoying him, "I know you got raped by a priest or something."[4] And then when he was kicked off an airplane for refusing to turn off his phone, he called the flight attendants "retired Catholic school gym teachers from the 1950′s."[5]
Some of his fellow congregants at the church where he spends so much of his money don't appreciate his antics either. While he was reading from the pulpit one Sunday, some members stood up and turned their backs to the actor.[6]
But he's not going anywhere. Whether they love him or hate him, it looks like Alec Baldwin, Catholic, is here to stay.
Racist, money-grubbing, lying thieves
If you've ever seen the show 30 Rock, imagine the politics of Baldwin's character Jack Donaghy. Baldwin's views are exactly the opposite. He is a dedicated liberal, both vocally and financially. Since 1989, he has donated more than $144,202 to liberal candidates and committees.[7] That's more money than the average American makes in three years.[8]
If there's a hot topic in politics, chances are Baldwin has voiced his liberal–or more accurately anti-Republican–opinion about it. During Barack Obama's re-election campaign in 2012 he sent out tweets calling Republicans "lying thieves"[9] and claiming that if "Obama was white, he'd be up by 17 points."[10]
He has voiced his support for gay marriage[11] and stricter gun control measures,[12] and his opposition to the Iraq War.[13] He stated in a column for the Huffington Post (for which he is a regular contributor), that Republicans were only opposing the Affordable Care Act (or Obamacare) because it would cut down on campaign contributions from insurance companies:
Health care reform means less money for insurance companies. Thus less money for the GOP. We should pass this bill for that reason alone.[14]
He is also a strong advocate for animal rights, working with PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) to further the cause. They even named a rescued animal after him and his bride as a wedding present in 2012.[15]
Much to the disdain of Republicans, Baldwin hasn't ruled out running for office some time in the future.[16] We'll have to wait and see if he's as effective at furthering the liberal agenda as a politician as he is at pissing people off as an actor.
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