Paul Haggis, who directed 2006’s Oscar winner “Crash” has quit Scientology after 35 years over the church’s position on gays and lesbians and Proposition 8. In a letter to Tom Davis, who is spokesman for Scientology’s head David Miscavige, Haggis gives his reasons for leaving the often maligned and ridiculed church.

As you know, for ten months now I have been writing to ask you to make a public statement denouncing the actions of the Church of Scientology of San Diego. Their public sponsorship of Proposition 8, a hate-filled legislation that succeeded in taking away the civil rights of gay and lesbian citizens of California – rights that were granted them by the Supreme Court of our state – shames us.

I called and wrote and implored you, as the official spokesman of the church, to condemn their actions. I told you I could not, in good conscience, be a member of an organization where gay-bashing was tolerated.

In that first conversation, back at the end of October of last year, you told me you were horrified, that you would get to the bottom of it and “heads would roll.” You promised action. Ten months passed. No action was forthcoming. The best you offered was a weak and carefully worded press release, which praised the church’s human rights record and took no responsibility. Even that, you decided not to publish.

The church’s refusal to denounce the actions of these bigots, hypocrites and homophobes is cowardly. I can think of no other word. Silence is consent, Tommy. I refuse to consent.

I joined the Church of Scientology thirty-five years ago. During my twenties and early thirties I studied and received a great deal of counseling. While I have not been an active member for many years, I found much of what I learned to be very helpful, and I still apply it in my daily life. I have never pretended to be the best Scientologist, but I openly and vigorously defended the church whenever it was criticized, as I railed against the kind of intolerance that I believed was directed against it. I had my disagreements, but I dealt with them internally. I saw the organization – with all its warts, growing pains and problems – as an underdog. And I have always had a thing for underdogs.

But I reached a point several weeks ago where I no longer knew what to think. You had allowed our name to be allied with the worst elements of the Christian Right. In order to contain a potential “PR flap” you allowed our sponsorship of Proposition 8 to stand. Despite all the church’s words about promoting freedom and human rights, its name is now in the public record alongside those who promote bigotry and intolerance, homophobia and fear.

Tom Davis also appeared on ABC’s Nightine last week, where he stormed out of an interview with Martin Bashir when questioned about Xenu the galactic overlord and souls living in volcanos. Clip below:

And you thought the Mormon church was cooky.

Update: Jonathon Campos has committed suicide.

Navy petty officer Jonathan Campos has been charged with the murder of August Provost III, a gay sailor who was shot multiple times while standing guard duty at Camp Pendleton in San Diego. Provost had confronted Campos as he attempted to break into a secure compound and set fire to a hovercraft.

“The Navy lost a well-respected sailor who was standing his assigned watch, who was standing at his appointed place of duty,” Capt. Matt Brown, a Navy Region-Southwest spokesman in San Diego, said during a news conference at Naval Base San Diego. Provost was training to go on his first deployment later this year.

Brown refuted allegations that Provost’s shooting was a hate crime, a charge raised by some of the sailor’s relatives and friends because Provost had not hid his homosexuality or bisexuality from others and reportedly had complained that he had been harassed.

“No information has been gathered to date to support allegations of a hate crime or a crime that was gang related,” Brown said, adding that the command had received no complaints from Provost of harassment.

Brown said he didn’t know if Campos and Provost knew each other well in the 500-member unit.

Campos has recently been arrested for DUI, and is now alleged to have committed other illegal activities,  including the “use of psilocybin mushrooms, and breaking into another service member’s home to steal $5,400 worth of electronics, jewelry and a .45 caliber pistol.”

Campos is now facing ten criminal charges, including murder, arson, attempted arson, wrongful possession of a concealed and stolen firearm, unlawful entry and stealing military property.

Over 20 gay and straight kissers rallied near a Mormon temple in San Diego late yesterday, showing their support for a Utah gay couple who were cited and detained for trespassing after kissing on LDS property. From the Fox affiliate in San Diego:

This is the third kiss-in in as many weeks, and appears to have inspired a movement which is now going national, with kiss-ins tentatively planned in the following cities:

The movement is being spearheaded by bloggers David Badash and David Mailloux.

An aunt of August Provost III, a gay sailor who was killed on guard duty at Camp Pendleton in San Diego last month, suggested that that her nephew may have been murdered by another closeted sailor for fear of being outed.

Rose Roy, of Beaumont, the sister of Provost’s father, said in a phone interview Tuesday, July 14 that she’s “not at liberty” to identify the source who provided the information to the family. But Roy said the source told the family Provost had a heated argument with the suspect a week before his murder, and that the sailor now being held as a person of interest by the Navy has a history of mental illness.

“This guy went the extra mile to make sure that my nephew would never be able to speak about his [the killer’s] sexuality,” Roy said. “My nephew died for reasons other than what the military is saying.”

This new wrinkle in the story marks a departure from allegations that Provost was the victim of a hate crime because he was gay.

I have been reluctant to cover this story (except when it first happened) because I didn’t want to jump on the bandwagon with everyone else and label Provost’s murder a hate crime until all the facts were known. I think there is tendency, albeit an understandable one, that the first thought we have any time an LGBT person is murdered, or dies under mysterious circumstances, is that it must be a hate crime. I think most of us are hardwired to think that way considering the hate and violence our community has and continues to endure. I think we are even more predisposed to think so in this case, because the military is involved. A military that practices open discrimination against the LGBT community in the form of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

In this case the allegations made by the LGBT community and family of August Provost are at odds with statements made by the military in an investigation that is still ongoing, with a person of interest in custody. The military’s refusal to be more open about the incident during an internal investigation has fueled the fires of a coverup. And as details continue to trickle out about the case, from other sailors and Provost’s family members, it becomes less and less clear what the truth really is. Is it a military trying to cover its ass? Or is it a family and community so wracked with grief that the only way to assuage it is to lash out a known enemy?

I think it would be wise to exercise caution, particularly in cases where not all the facts are known, before assuming any crime is a hate crime.  Sometimes it is blatantly obvious. Sometimes it is not. In those cases we need to be more careful. I would rather not arm our detractors with the ammunition they need to repeal (the hopefully soon to be passed) hate crimes laws because many of the cases were ultimately deemed frivolous or unfounded.