We would venture to guess that Ericka Anderson, a writer for "The Federalist" might wish she would have chosen her words differently after the responses she has received. In fact, we know she would.
See, in the Country Music world, Dolly Parton isn't just a legend, she's darn near untouchable. The icon has won 11 Grammy Awards including a 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award, 54 Grammy Award nominations, she was on Time Magazine's TIME100 List of World's Most Influential People in 2021, truthfully we could go on and on with the achievements, but let's move on to her philanthropic work.
In 1988 The Dollywood Foundation was formed and the goal was to decrease the high school drop out rates. Then she formed the Buddy Program which gave every seventh and eighth grader $500 who finished high school in her home county of Sevier County, Tenn. The initiative was successful and the dropout rate declined from 35 percent to 6 percent.
In 1991 The Eagle Mountain Sanctuary at Dollywood was built and shelters non-releasable bald eagles.
In 1995 she created the Imagination Library. As of March 31, 2024 over 235 million free books have been gifted to children under the age of 5.
Jumping ahead and skipping over MANY good deeds, in 2022 Parton made a $1 million donation to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. to help pediatric infectious disease research.
Employees of Dollywood Co. have 100% of tuition, fees and books covered to further their education. This program is available to all seasonal, part-time and full-time employees. People are eligible to enroll in the program on their first day of employment.
Now, let's see, why are we discussing this again? Oh yes, Ericka Anderson. The title of the opinion piece was "There's Nothing Loving About Dolly Parton's False Gospel."
Anderson goes on and on about Parton's "love" and then further condemns her because she is accepting of all people, no matter their choices.
In an interview with Drew Barrymore, Parton said, “I’m not a good enough person or a good enough Christian to judge and criticize other people."
Anderson should have heeded Parton's words, but instead chose to turn them against the Country Music legend as a way to express herself in her opinion piece.
Parton's fans responded.
Post after post came to Dolly's defense. One fan summarized the response well, "They came for Dolly. We ride at dawn." The attention Anderson received about the piece brought her to a new conclusion.
Anderson told Yahoo! Entertainment, "I regret using Dolly as the example for the point I was making in the article,” she said. “As I wrote in the piece, I love her and think she does some incredible things for the world. We all make poor choices in how to frame things sometimes. This was one of those moments for me! Dolly is one of the few people who is beloved by all and who loves all. The world is lucky to have her."
On a regular basis Dolly Parton tells the world, "I love everybody." She probably would tell you today that she even loves Anderson, regardless of what she wrote about her.
Parton believes that if there is something to be judged, well that's God's job. She's likely not wrong. One thing Anderson got exactly right, "The world is lucky to have her."
Most Popular
Comments / 0