UPDATE: So, this is interesting. From The Wire
In an August poll, more than half of Louisiana Duck Dynasty fans said they support civil unions or marriage for gay couples. As politicians rush to show their support for Phil Robertson, this might be worth keeping in mind.
It makes sense that the huge numbers the show draws would include more than just religious and/or conservatives.
Phil Robertson spoke out for the first time since the GQ article that contained homophobic and race insensitive remarks came out and led A&E to suspend him indefinitely from his family show Duck Dynasty.
As you might have guessed, he’s not backing down from his remarks. He’s got God on his side, so he’s not worried in the least. Here are some quotes from his 45 minute talk:
‘I have been immoral, drunk, high. I ran with the wicked people for 28 years and I have run with the Jesus people since and the contrast is astounding.
‘I tell people, “You are a sinner, we all are. Do you want to hear my story before I give you the bottom line on your story?”
‘We murder each other and we steal from one another, sex and immorality goes ballistic. All the diseases that just so happen to follow sexual mischief… boy there are some microbes running around now.
‘Sexual sins are numerous and many, I have a few myself. So what is your safest course of action? If you’re a man, find yourself a woman, marry them and keep your sex right there.
‘You can have fun, but one thing is for sure, as long as you are both healthy in the first place, you are not going to catch some debilitating illness, there is safety there.
‘Commonsense says we are not going to procreate the human race unless we have a man and a woman. From the beginning Jesus said, “It is a man and a woman.” Adam was made and Eve was made for this reason. They left their fathers and mothers and be united to become one flesh, that’s what marriage is all about.
‘But we looked at it and said it was an outdated stereotype. When you look back at the human race, the sins have always been the same: We get high, we get drunk, we get laid, we steal and kill.
‘Has this changed at all from the time God burnt up whole cities because their every thought was evil?’
‘The acts of the sinful nature are obvious. Sexual immorality, is number one on the list. How many ways can we sin sexually? My goodness. You open up that can of worms and people will be mad at you over it.
‘I am just reading what was written over 2000 years ago. Those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom. All I did was quote from the scriptures, but they just didn’t know it. Whether I said it, or they read it, what’s the difference? The sins are the same, humans haven’t changed.
‘If you give them the bad news, they’ll start kicking and screaming. But you love them more than you fear them, so you tell them.
‘A lot of times they don’t even wait for you to finish and say, ‘But there’s a way out, do you want to hear the rest of the story or what?
‘Jesus will take sins away, if you’re a homosexual he’ll take it away, if you’re an adulterer, if you’re a liar, what’s the difference? If you break one sin you may as well break them all.
‘If we lose our morality, we will lose our country. It will happen. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all walk around without stealing from each other and killing each other?
‘Why don’t we just love each other enough that we wouldn’t want to do these things to each other?’
‘We are a bunch of rednecks from Louisiana, but I am not uneducated, I have a degree from Louisiana Tech.
‘But this week I have been called an ignoramus. This week I have been asked, “Is this the first time you have brought up sin?” I said, “Are you kidding? I have been traveling to and fro spreading this message.”
‘Then he said, “Well do you invite yourself to go and get your Bible and tell people what you are now sharing with us?” I said, “No they are inviting me.”
I have made hundreds and hundreds of speeches and you can pick them apart and the center has always been Jesus Christ.
‘Do many people get up and walk out? Yeah, all the time, do I hold it against them? No. Anybody can get up and stop listening. We are all just humans on this planet.’
He added: ‘Jesus Christ was the most perfect being to ever walk this planet and he was persecuted and nailed to the cross, so please don’t be surprised when we get a little static.’
‘I will not give or back off from my path because you conquered death, Father, so we are not worried about all the repercussions.’
All the whining from the people defending him…the shooting for next season is nearly finished and if Phil misses any shows it might be one or two. Look. He’s continuing to speak his mind. Nobody is stopping him. The notion that Phil is being silenced is ridiculous.
Entertainment Weekly quoted a source from A&E that said “The network also hopes the media and fan furor will cool down over the holidays and that tensions over shooting future episodes can then be resolved. There’s no negotiation to have; we’re doing the show.”
The show only lost one sponsor, Cracker Barrel, and that didn’t last long. After threats of a boycott, they reversed their position saying, ‘You told us we made a mistake. And, you weren’t shy about it. You wrote, you called and you took to social media to express your thoughts and feelings. You flat out told us we were wrong. Today, we are putting all our Duck Dynasty products back in our stores. And, we apologize for offending you.”
I’m waiting for the folks squawking about the right of free speech to show up at the next controversy. Particularly if it’s over a cause they don’t agree with. Where were ya’ll when Martin Bashir was fired for slamming Sarah Palin? I have a feeling some of the same people complaining about the loss of Phil’s right to free speech were petitioning for Bashir’s head to be served on a platter. But that’s just a hunch.
I don’t advocate taking people off TV just because they say something unpopular. But, I also believe a company has the right to protect their bottom line. A woman just lost her job (and probably has to watch her back now) because she tweeted a really bad racist joke as her flight was taking off. The PR firm fired her, because keeping her on might have been perceived as a tacit acknowledgement of her views. The Wrap reported that it was Phil comparing homosexuality to bestiality that drove their decision to suspend him. They felt his remarks were in conflict with “the fundamental values of the company.”
Read More:
Duck Dynasty Family Release a Statement, Circle the Wagons.
Duck Dynasty Star Makes Anti-Gay Comments, GLAAD, A&E Respond (PLUS BONUS RACISM!) (Plus A&E Puts Robertson on Hiatus)
