"We're Bible-thumpers who just happened to end up on television. You put in your article 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. Everything is blurred on what's right and what's wrong. Sin becomes fine. 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. 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. 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."
The above is a sample of what Phil Robertson from Duck Dynasty said recently in a GQ magazine.
If you are a fan of the show, it should come as no surprise to find Phil as outspoken as he is. Nor should it come as any surprise to find a family as deeply rooted in their Christian faith as the Robertsons are, aren't supporters of the GLBT community. It's no secret that the majority of the Christian community stand against homosexuality, using their bibles to validate their belief. So why is everyone surprised that a deeply devout Christian from Louisiana that lives off the land has such strong opinions?
I'm not surprised.
Not in the least.
I AM, however, surprised that A&E suspended Phil indefinitely.
“We are extremely disappointed to have read Phil Robertson’s comments in
GQ, which are based on his own personal beliefs and are not reflected
in the series Duck Dynasty. 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 above is the statement issued by A&E.
Now, before anyone starts screaming "There's a war on Christianity", let me stop you. No, there isn't. There's a war on hate. There's a war on bullying. There's a war on intolerance. But let's be real here. People stand up and say what they want to say in the name of their deity every single day. Hence the reason I, personally, take issue with religion as a whole, not each individual sect of it. I, personally, think we should keep our faith but do away with religion. Faith is personal, religion is manmade. But that's not what this post is about.
It's about truth.
And the truth is that until we ALL start trying to be equal and treat everyone as equal, we aren't going to have equality. Because as it stands right now, one side will always be heavier than the other. There isn't a balance.
I was recently asked
what character trait I wanted to give the world. I said I wanted to give the world the trait of acceptance. We lack that so much in this world. We don't accept that we are all different. We live differently. We believe different.
We love the same.
Love is the only commonality between us. Yet it's so often overlooked.
We want marriage equality and human rights equality, but we want to take away a simple notion such as freedom of speech and deem anything that opposes equality as "hate speech". What Phil said wasn't hate speech. It was the views of a man that is set in his ways. I disagreed with everything he said, but that doesn't mean that he shouldn't have the right to say it.
“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.”
That is what Phil later said. Is it a backhanded apology? Sure. But the man was asked his views and he shared them. Personally, while I don't agree with them, I respect him for being that honest. Do I believe that Phil would be nasty or hateful toward a homosexual? No. I really don't. Because, while he isn't afraid to speak his mind, he is also a good ol Southern man that believes in helping his neighbor, whoever said neighbor might be.
Look, I'm not defending Phil. I disagree with everything he said in his interview. However, I disagree with him being suspended indefinitely. Yes, he is the patriarch of his family, which the show centers around. But he is entitled to his views and has the right to state them.
I've always said that my rights end where another person's begins and I think that is truth on both sides of the argument. If we want same sex rights and equality then we have to be willing to accept the rights of the devout. One of those rights is that they can speak openly about what they believe, just as I can, or as you can, or as anyone can.
I think there needs to be a shift in equality, to balance it out. We need to stop individualizing who the equality is for and demand it for EVERYONE. Until we do that, we will never truly be equal.
Phil was right about one thing. We WOULD be better off if we loved each other as we loved our deities. After all, isn't that what Jesus would do?
