Duck Dynasty dust up

As I write this post, A&E, Duck Dynasty and Phil Robertson are the top three trending topics on twitter. This is usually the case when the new season premiers, but that’s not the case tonight. Earlier today, GQ Magazine released an interview that Drew Magary did with the Duck Dynasty patriarch, Phil Robertson.  A few quotes from the interview concerning homosexuality has everyone’s kickers in a wad.

For those who haven’t read the quotes, or don’t know anything at all about the dust up, I’ll do my best to fairly put it all in context. Magary was talking with Robertson about his thoughts on Duck Dynasty’s popularity. Robertson said, “We’re Bible-thumpers who just happened to end up on television,” and that “…the Robertson family really believes strongly that if the human race loved each other and they loved God, we would just be better off. We ought to just be repentant, turn to God, and let’s get on with it, and everything will turn around.” Magary then explains that according to “Robertson’s worldview…he sees the popularity of Duck Dynasty as a small corrective to all that we have lost” due to the secularization of the United States. Robertson then goes on to say, “Everything is blurred on what’s right and what’s wrong, sin becomes fine.” It is here that Magary asks, “What, in your mind, is sinful?” Robertson’s answer to this question is what has set off the social media firestorm.

“Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men,” he then paraphrases 1 Corinthians 6:9-10: “Don’t be deceived. Neither the  adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the  greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers—they won’t inherit the  kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.”

In the article Robertson is also quoted as saying, “It seems like, to me, a vagina—as a man—would be more desirable than a man’s anus. That’s just me. I’m just thinking: There’s more there! She’s got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I’m saying? But hey, sin: It’s not logical, my man. It’s just not logical.”

According to The Hollywood Reporter, A&E, the network that airs Duck Dynasty, released a statement saying, “His personal views in no way reflect those of A+E Networks, who have always been strong supporters and champions of the LGBT community. The network has placed Phil under hiatus from filming indefinitely.” The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLADD), applauded A&E’s decision to put Robertson under hiatus. GLADD spokesperson Wilson Cruz said, “By taking quick action and removing Robertson from future filming, A&E has sent a strong message that discrimination is neither a Christian nor an American value.” An article from the GLADD website adds that Robertson’s statements are, “far outside of the mainstream understanding of LGBT people.”

Entertainment Weekly shared a statement from Robertson in reaction to the controversy:  “I myself am a product of the 60s; I centered my life around sex, drugs and rock and roll until I hit rock bottom and accepted Jesus as my Savior. My mission today is to go forth and tell people about why I follow Christ and also what the Bible teaches, and part of that teaching is that women and men are meant to be together. However, I would never treat anyone with disrespect just because they are different from me. We are all created by the Almighty and like Him, I love all of humanity. We would all be better off if we loved God and loved each other.” The EW article goes on to say that, “Robertson’s statement isn’t very contrite and seems to contradict his previous statements.”

Immediately folks via twitter came out to either drum up support for Robertson or to rail against him. Many were upset that he compared homosexuality to bestiality and many were outraged by his use of crude language concerning vaginas and anuses. Many conservatives bemoaned the loss of freedom of speech for Christians and many liberals lauded A&E for standing up against “homophobia.” A lot of Christians screamed “persecution!” and a lot of non-Christians used the opportunity to criticize all Christians as backward thinking bigots. I think all sides are wrong and this whole culture war brouhaha is ridiculous.

I do like it that Phil Robertson has a passion for sharing the gospel with as many people as possible and that he is using his TV platform to do just that. But he has got to realize that with bigger platforms come bigger responsibilities. You have to be careful about what you say and where you say it because things can be taken out of context or twisted to make you look like a fool. Doing an interview with GQ was a stupid move. I can’t believe his PR people didn’t try to stop him from doing this interview. They should be fired.

To my brothers and sisters in Christ, I implore you to be careful about who you get behind. A lot of what Phil Robertson said in this interview was ridiculous and ultimately unhelpful for the cause of the gospel. His thoughts on the pre-civil rights era Louisiana, which are surprisingly being ignored in most media reports, are completely ignorant. His conflating of homosexuality with bestiality is careless. His paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 was fairly accurate, but you shouldn’t throw out difficult Bible verses unless you can intelligently discuss them. Phil Robertson is not Jesus. He is our brother in Christ, but he isn’t a preacher and he isn’t a scholar, he should stick to sharing the gospel and stay away from hot button issues like homosexuality. It would be advisable for all Christians to stay away from hot button issues unless you can talk about them intelligently.

I would also warn my fellow Christians to be careful about throwing around the word “persecution.” A rereading of The Boy Who Cried Wolf would be apropos. Yes, Jesus warned us about persecution that would come from following Him. However, I think Jesus was talking more about being killed, tortured or imprisoned rather than simply being made fun of in a culture war. There are Christians in the Middle East today who are actually getting killed or jailed for their beliefs. The culture in the US may be shifting against traditional Christian values, but we do not yet have to suffer for our beliefs. Calling yourself a Christian in the US is still relatively easy.

For my conservative friends who claim to be supporters of the constitution, you need to take the time to actually learn what the first amendment protects. I agree it was a bad judgment call for A&E to suspend Phil Robertson, but they didn’t trample his right to free speech. A&E employs Robertson and they are free to suspend him if they don’t like what he says in public. The first amendment protects us from the federal government punishing us for expressing opinions. If it could be proven that President Obama ordered the FBI to arrest Phil Robertson for speaking about his beliefs, that would be a violation of his first amendment rights. We should avoid imbecilic statements like those that came from Sarah Palin concerning this fracas: “Free speech is an endangered species. Those “intolerants” hatin’ and taking on the Duck Dynasty patriarch for voicing his personal opinion are taking on all of us.”

For my liberal and LGBT friends I ask that you would please stop claiming to be the beacons of tolerance and please stop self-righteously sticking your nose up at those who disagree with you. Whenever anyone deviates from or disagrees with your worldview even slightly you start to throw out the standard pejoratives: “racist, sexist, bigot and homophobe.” All those pejoratives do is silence debate. Instead of trying to silence people you disagree with, or celebrating when people you disagree with are silenced, please try to engage in civil debate with them. There are a lot of people on TV I disagree with and there are a lot of shows I don’t like, but I would never advocate silencing or banning anyone.

In conclusion, these media driven “culture wars” are hurting and dividing us in terrible ways. People from both sides of the divide are guilty of talking past each other instead of to each other. If we all took more time to actually learn what other people think and believe we would be better off as a society.

Blessings