Duck Dynasty’s Robertson: It’s About Freedom, Not About Homosexuality!
As a writer, the last thing I want to do is write about a media-saturated story and get lost in the midst of it. Here’s my view, one of many, and it gets lost in the crowd. This might happen here but I feel it is important to share my perspective as a Christian about what has happened with Phil Robertson and his suspension from A&E.
Phil Robertson, the patriarch of the Duck Dynasty family, was suspended after sharing his Christian beliefs about homosexuality in an interview with GQ magazine. A &E immediately sent out a press release stating that Phil’s remarks are not “reflected in the series Duck Dynasty”. If anyone watches the show it is evident that the Robertson family are religious and they hold tight to their “guns and religion”. If you look past the heavily bearded faces and all the camouflage, the Robertson family reflects many other American families in both their faith and their ideals.
However, this suspension is not about one man’s personally held beliefs, it is not about A&E defending the gay community and it’s not even really about homosexuality. This media story is about the changing shift that is taking place in our country leading us further and further away from freedom. It wasn’t very long ago that Dan Cathy, the CEO of Chick-fil-A, was dealing with a very similar media driven story. He defended his beliefs in traditional marriage and the gay community stood against his remarks with an effort to boycott Chick-fil-A. Cathy stated in an interview at the time of this controversy, “We know that it (traditional marriage) might not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord; we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles.”
The growing fact in this country is that Dan Cathy’s remarks are not exactly true anymore. It is getting more difficult to openly share our values and operate a business or a television show like Duck Dynasty on biblical principles. Just take Hobby Lobby’s recent challenge against the Affordable Care Act’s mandate in requiring the company to provide abortion-inducing drugs. The government through Obamacare is hindering Hobby Lobby from operating on their biblical principles on abortion. There’s a growing shift in this country against those who hold biblical beliefs and freedom of speech and religion is being attacked. The knee-jerk reaction is to make Phil Robertson’s suspension about his views on homosexuality but it’s a broader issue and the heart of this story is freedom.
Whatever your views on homosexuality or any biblical teachings of the Bible, it is important to take a step back and understand just what this recent suspension means for an American citizen. A man openly gives his personal views in an interview and he is suspended from his employer. Now imagine at your place of work today, you share your views and at the end of the day are asked to leave without pay, indefinitely? Does that sound like America “one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all”? If you are going to take a stand for anything, fight for freedom and realize there is a growing trend that is much bigger than the attack on Phil Robertson and Duck Dynasty.
