@BillRM,
Quote:God fearing mean folks who are not approving of sinners who go against god words in the bible and are hell bound.
Apparently these folks aren't really mean, and there is a big disconnect between the way Phil Robertson thinks and the way he actually treats people.
That's his own private issue to sort out.
He's not the one who has been carrying on about his "freedom of speech" or his "right" to say the sorts of things he did in GQ. And, good businessman that he is, he knows he was misguided to generate the sort of acrimony and controversy that's at odds with Duck Dynasty's image, and that put his employer in the uncomfortable position it did, and that got blown out of proportion by becoming a political football that was getting out of control.
It's nitwits like you that are trying to cast this as some big Constitutional or religious freedom issue, when that's not what it's about.
It's much more an employer/employee conflict--because the employee made ill-considered inflammatory and offensive comments that his employer could not support or agree with, and even his sons, who are also his business partners, disagreed with the manner in which he expressed himself, and all parties had to find a damage control strategy to avoid harming their mutually beneficial, and highly lucrative, reality show business venture.
Phil Robertson knew he had to let A & E handle this in their own way, because he had put them in this pickle, and he wasn't about to turn himself into a martyr, just to satisfy folks like you. He apologized for his comments, and he accepted his sham suspension, and he likely agreed to anything A & E wanted from him, which may have included curbing his future publicly stated opinions, or meeting with representatives from LGBT organizations.
If A & E had wanted to fire him, they would have done that, just as Food Network did with Paula Dean. They didn't want to fire him, the show is too profitable to them, and Robertson didn't want to be fired, the show is too profitable, not only to him, but to his entire family, and he was not about to throw any more fuel on this firestorm, he had ignited, and that had opposing forces, on both sides, busily fanning the flames.
But A & E and Robertson both wanted those flames put out--the publicity for Duck Dynasty was great, the acrimony and controversy wasn't. They've resolved their issues, and they're going back to business.
The larger social issue, of legalizing same-sex marriage in all 50 states, and of treating homosexuals with full legal equality and acceptance, deserves a much more serious platform, and arena for debate, than people angrily taking sides about what some reality TV star, in an off-beat program about a family of redneck millionaires living in backwater Louisiana, says about the matter in a magazine interview.
Phil Robertson isn't just against homosexual sex, he's against all sex outside of a "traditional" marriage--and that includes pre-marital sex, extra-marital sex, adultery, and all sexual acts he personally finds distasteful. Asking Robertson if sex is sinful, is like asking Snooki, of Jersey Shore fame, if she supports keeping alcohol legal, the answers of both really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, they could be predicted in advance. And they both speak only for themselves, and I wouldn't elevate their importance beyond that. I'm far more concerned about the way that Palin, Cruz, and Jindel, those with real political influence, deliberately distorted this situation as a "free speech" matter, and a Christian values under attack matter, totally ignoring the offensive nature of Robertson's remarks, for their own self-serving reasons, than I am concerned about anything Phil Robertson actually said. I don't expect enlightened attitudes from religious fundamentalists, I do expect elected government officials not to rush to endorse blatantly ignorant views of our country's racial history, and views that amount to defamatory speech directed toward fellow citizens and members of the electorate.
A & E, and the duck clan, have worked things out, and put the matter to rest between them. They've opted to continue providing light-hearted entertainment and not controversy. And the network will engage in a campaign to promote tolerance and acceptance. Hopefully that will be enough of an olive branch to all sides.
A & E found a way to split the baby, they've gotten enormous publicity for an already popular show, and they've now pulled the plug on all the contentious voices, on both sides, by making a final decision, that the show would go on, before their comedic family show, and cash cow, became significantly tainted by the anger and animosity swirling around it. I think they've scored a real victory by simply taking control of the situation and calling a halt to the controversy about Duck Dynasty's future. They let the controversy rage long enough to sell lots of Duck Dynasty merchandise over Christmas, and for viewers to tune in to their Duck Dynasty marathon, but, as the new season approaches, letting it fester and mushroom any longer, would have been counter-productive. They are in the entertainment business, so are the Robertson clan, at least in terms of Duck Dynasty, and that was the business they both had to get back to, rather than continue to let their hit show get caught up in other people's agendas.
This was always about the MONEY, any loftier values, on the part of both A & E, and the duck clan, definitely took a backseat. Neither of them was willing to sacrifice that golden duck for a matter of principle.
