Funny thing about celebrities who speak their minds: We only think it’s a bad idea when we disagree with them.

Since 9/11, it’s been increasingly common for pundits to sneer at actors and musicians who express their political opinions. The title of a recent book says it all: “Shut Up and Sing.” Yet, commentators don’t seem to mind that John Wayne, Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger expressed their political beliefs. And neither do I.

Like any other citizen, celebrities retain the right to vote, blog, write letters to the editor and push their way toward the soap box to help shape the world according to their beliefs. Furthermore, celebrities become celebrities through some combination of luck, looks, intelligence, talent and travel that gives them unique perspectives. If they want to share those perspectives, I say the more the merrier, as long as the debate is respectful. In what Jefferson called the free marketplace of ideas, the soundest ideas should prevail.

Charlton Heston was a liberal Democrat for much of his adult life, then he switched party affiliations to Republican during the Vietnam War. Yet he was consistent in his belief in constitutional liberties. In the ’60s, he marched beside Martin Luther King Jr. In the ’90s, he was the president of the National Rifle Association and unashamedly expressed what he called “white pride” in the achievements of the Founding Fathers.

In the pendulum swings of political correctness, Heston was both rewarded and denounced for his beliefs. Personally, I hate guns–my brother was killed by one–and I believe the Second Amendment applies to “a well-regulated militia” and not just any ol’ hothead. But if everyone with whom we disagreed had the integrity of Charlton Heston, this world would have a better chance of moving forward.