The suspension from the cast of the Arts and Entertainment cable channel’s Duck Dynasty clan leader seems to brought the culture wars to a boil.
At the outset, let me say that a) Phil Robertson had every right to say what he did and b) A&E (barring some contractual verbiage otherwise) has every right to suspend him from the show.
Personally, I think it is all a tempest in a teapot, except for the fact that the progressives seem to going all out on this issue.
For the record, I didn’t find much to get upset about what Mr. Robertson said, and – as usual for me – fail to see what the ruckus is all about.
First, he is expressing his opinion … and that and a sawbuck will get a coffee at Starbucks.
Second, he is basing he opinion on his reading of a passage in the Christian Bible. His recitation of the passage is pretty accurate as far as I can ascertain … and I don’t hear anybody disputing that. Now, if you don’t like the passage …. well, nobody is holding a gun to your head or a sword to your throat saying you have to be a Christian or at least one of his denomination.
The funny thing about the Bible, as my grandfather (the circuit-riding Congregational minister in the Yellowstone Valley and graduate of Oberlin College’s Seminary) taught me: IF you look hard enough you can just about justify anything you want, one way or another, by citing some biblical passage ... and people will do it.
I am not accusing anybody here, mind you, but by tradition and scripture (reinforced by the comments of the latest Pope in the Catholic Church), homosexuality is considered a sin in the Christian dogma. You don’t like that? Then don’t be a Christian, or a Muslim or any of a large portion of the world’s religions.
Having said that, I was struck by something else Mr. Robertson said:
"I would never treat anyone with disrespect just because they are different from me," he said. "We are all created by the Almighty and like Him, I love all of humanity."
Hello? You got a problem with that? Or maybe you didn’t read/hear that part in the story you are basing your opinion on. To me that is a pretty important part of his opinion. You know, the old “judge not lest you be judged” admonition.
Then he pointed out that having been “poor white trash” living in Louisiana for 67 years, he had the opportunity to live and work among the African-Americans going back to the pre-Civil Rights Act days of the 1960s. Back then, he said, he didn’t see any of his co-workers, friends and neighbors who happened to be darker skinned than he blaming all their woes on evil white folks.
Well, this has got the African-American grievance industry in an uproar. They seem to be blasting away with both barrels on how racist this bayou redneck is. He may be, but I suspect not … and least not in the way that East and West Coast progressives see it.
Now, I spent about half my life living in the Deep South – but I wasn’t raised there, nor did I go to school there. I can say from my own experience that there are those in the South – non-whites, mind you – look back on the 1940s and 1950s with a certain amount of wistfulness and fondness. It seems that before the upheaval of the 1960s (and into the 1970s) there was “era” of “black culture” that left a warm spot in the heart of many of the “baby boomer” generation of the African-Americans.
It seems that there was a greater emphasis on family, church, education (such as it was … and it was not equal, but they tried as hard as they could to make it work), and economic life back then. Thriving black business districts fell victim to urban renewal, schools (which are the anchor of almost any community – black, white, red, yellow, tan, whatever) were wiped out and consolidated as integrated entities that did not have the history that gave students roots to build their futures on.
Now, that is my experience being a newspaper editor in the South. Yes, there were many things wrong with the society and culture that was torn down by the Civil Rights movement … and in time a new society was born. It isn’t perfect. Not by a long shot, it isn’t but it is better than what was there before. Still got somewhat of a problem with 11 a.m. Sunday mornings, but that is by choice and not by government edict.
Unfortunately, the movies and television have perpetuated the old stereotype of the South which has engendered a new bigotry against the people who probably were just as much victims of the old Southern culture.
Unfortunately for those folks, whose educational opportunities also were limited, gone are the days of hoeing cotton, sharecropping or working in a textile mill. The mill culture that ruled much of the South for nearly a hundred years is dead folks and a new reality is rising.
The Duck Commander/Duck Dynasty clan is indicative of that change. Unfortunately, the progressives, gay rights activists, the racial grievance purveyors just can’t get that through their preconceptions. To them, po’ why-at trash is racist and bigoted and always will be.
Well, some are, but most aren’t.
It is like the War of Northern Aggression/American Civil War: Folks, it is over and done with. Same with the South of apartheid of the pre-1970s.
As for how Christians are supposed to view homosexuality? Well, it remains a sin (whether it is a choice or not) and those of us who are heterosexual Christians are reminded to hate the sin, but love the sinner.
So, hey, it don’t matter to me none if you are a homosexual, bisexual, transvestite, transgendered or somewhere in between. However, I do have one request, I won’t slap you in the face with my heterosexuality if you won’t try to force me to condone, approve, etc, your whatever.
And as long as you treat me with respect and dignity, that is what you will be getting from me. You start condemning me and ranting and raving about my views and beliefs, then don’t expect me to be quite so charitable with you. I will try, mind you, but my patience may be sorely tested.
And if that makes me a bigot, then so be it … but then, to my mind, everybody really is sort of some shade of green … but that is the old soldier in me.
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