Ok, so I am sure I will offend someone by the end of this
blog post. If you want to drop me as a facebook friend that’s okay with me or
not follow me on twitter and I think I will survive. If you want to have an
honest discussion then we can do that as well but please let’s don’t get to the
level of some things I have seen on Facebook lately. Yep, here’s my take on the
whole Phil Robertson thing that happened in the last 24 hours.
First I have read the entire article on the GQ website. If
you want to read it you can too but be warned that it was not Lifeway approved
and contains some words that might cause you to go blind if you were
homeschooled. See there is the first group that will be offended. I am just kidding;
it just contains words that are not socially acceptable. Oh wait, I hear those
words all the time on the campus and in the stores and in the songs, so maybe
they are now socially acceptable. And that is from the ladies who I see out
there. Oops that’s the second group.
The leader of the Duck Dynasty family doesn’t compare
Homosexuality to Bestiality any more than saying drunkenness and gluttony are
the same. There was a comma there people. He just says in response to a
question of what sinful is to just start at homosexuality and kinda morph from
that to a whole list of other things. His comments while rather crude in the
way they were expressed are not off base from what the Bible teaches about the
issue. He is stating his opinion and plainly says so in the article as quoted
by the writer doing the interview. That’s where it gets to the tricky part.
You see I have several gay friends and while I don’t agree
with their lifestyle and do agree with Phil that it was, is and will always be
a sin against a Holy God as defined by the scripture, I think they have the
right as Americans to live in the lifestyle if they so choose. I didn’t read
anything hateful about the way Phil addressed the issue. It was crude,
borderline rude, but certainly not hateful. I think most heterosexuals have a
hard time understanding the same sex attraction. I don’t get it either. I also
don’t get what a lot of heterosexual couples see in each other and how that
works out either. But saying I don’t understand why a guy would want to be with
a guy instead of a woman isn’t hateful or ignorant for that matter, it is just
a statement of my thoughts on the subject. That’s the third group, I’m sure.
A&E were bullied into making the statement they did and
by suspending him as an employee. I just thought I should throw out the buzz
word of the year in a blog at some point! Fourth Group now offended. They have
every right to fire him if his contract has a clause allowing for them do so
based on his statements in the press. I just think it has gotten crazy when you
can get fired for saying something off the clock and you can’t fire someone
without due cause for something like lying while they are on the clock. Or a
host of other reasons that could all be demonstrated by someone I am sure.
The most aggressive group of people using their power to
bully those who disagree with them are the highly political gay and lesbian
support groups. Which is ironic given that they often appeal to the fact that
gay and lesbians have been so bullied in their past and that is why they must
be accepted in the present. I believe they should be allowed to speak and say
what they believe, but I also believe that Christians should be allowed to
speak and say what they believe, even when those two don’t line up so nicely.
I don’t agree with Ellen or Neil Patrick Harris or other
celebrities who support an openly gay lifestyle but that doesn’t mean that I
want them to lose their income over it. I don’t agree with celebrities who bash
Christians over different issues but again that doesn’t mean I want their
sponsors to fire them. I didn’t agree with Tiger Woods when his issues came out
that ruined his marriage, but I still use Titleist balls and have a Tiger Woods
Nike golf cap. Somehow we have to learn how to let celebrities have their own
opinions without insisting that they keep them to themselves if we don’t like
them. I just choose to not watch Ellen or How I Met your mother. So if you don’t
like what Phil said, then don’t watch the show.
Finally to offend all my ultra-conservative brothers and
sisters, let’s not go off on everyone over this issue. If you don’t want to
watch an A&E show again, then just say it, then do it, and move on. That’s
what I plan to do. If you want to change the culture in the entertainment
industry, do it by affecting ratings. The next time you get that call from the Nielsen
group, take it and fill out the survey. Show that you didn’t watch that network
and when they realize they killed their golden goose, they will know better. If
you don’t like what Phil said, then watch the network and make their ratings go
up for all the other shows.
Really Phil probably could have said it in a more respectful
way, but if you watch the show you know that just ain’t his way. If you ask him
a question, then be prepared for an answer that you might not like either in
content or delivery. But if start questioning whether his views are in line
with Biblical teaching then you need to go back to school, cause his words may
be strong but so is his allegiance to truth of the Biblical teaching on the
matter at hand.
These are just my views and you are more than welcome to
agree or disagree with them. It won’t make me love you or respect you anymore
or any less either way. I apologize in advance for my attempts at humor along
the way. Living in grace doesn’t mean we condone everything, it means we agree
that we all need Jesus and His forgiveness daily if we are to inherit the
Kingdom of God. Merry Christmas to all my friends from one sinner to another!
