Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty Worthy of Defense

By Douglas V. Gibbs

The liberal left narrative is that "Republicans" and "Conservatives" don't care about non-whites, non-Christians, and non-heterosexuals, therefore the "right-wingers" are racist, homophobic, bigots who worship some imaginary sky wizard, and they ought to be silenced for daring to think that way.  Then, along comes Phil Robertson of the Duck Dynasty fame from A&E, saying some things in a GQ Magazine interview, that fits the narrative.  Never mind that it was taken out of context, and that the premise Robertson was coming from was one the leftists could never understand.

I don't watch Duck Dynasty.  I have heard wonderful things about the show, and I am surrounded by conservatives that just love the attitude of the folks in this reality show that follows a family of Christians that made it big with duck calls.

Phil Robertson is one of the long-bearded, camouflage-wearing, men from the show, and he made a comment that Yahoo! News calls "racially charged" about homosexuality, saying something about sin, quoting a verse, and that a vagina was preferred over a man's anus.

Racially charged?  Sexual perversion is now a race?

Stores have stopped carrying Duck Dynasty merchandise, and Phil is being treated like a member of the KKK during the civil rights upheaval of the sixties.

A&E, the network that carries the blockbuster show, suspended him for his remarks.

Let me get this straight.  You have the most watched show in the history of A&E, and one of the most popular television shows on all of cable right now, which lends its popularity to the fact that the stars are God-fearing Christians who pray on the show, and say it like it is, and you are going to throw a hissy-fit because he said something Christian?

Honestly, I don't know what is in the man's heart, and I don't know if defending him opens up other questions.  But whether you agree with him, or not, it is a sad state of affairs when a man is lambasted for merely speaking what he believes to be the truth.  Why should the opposition to homosexuality be forced into silence?  Is that kind of intolerance something we should accept?

Let Phil say what is on his mind.  If you don't like it, don't watch the show.  Don't buy his merchandise.  Don't read the articles.

Whatever happened to, "I may not agree with you, but I will defend your right to say it?"

But the gay thing is not the only thing Mr. Robertson is being attacked for.

"I never, with my eyes, saw the mistreatment of any black person. Not once. Where we lived was all farmers. The blacks worked for the farmers. I hoed cotton with them. I’m with the blacks, because we’re white trash. We’re going across the field.... They’re singing and happy. I never heard one of them, one black person, say, ‘I tell you what: These doggone white people’—not a word!... Pre-entitlement, pre-welfare, you say: Were they happy? They were godly; they were happy; no one was singing the blues."

The leftist response to that?  "Robertson thinks black Americans were treated just fine in the Jim Crow-era South, and that they were happy there."

During those days when racism ran rampant, it is the leftist belief that all was misery 24-7, and it was leftists that saved them blacks from the mean ol' racist white republican people.

Never mind that the KKK was created by the Democrat Party, or that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a Republican bill, and was filibustered against by the Dems.

But let's go back to Robertson's remark, and explain what he really meant.

Even in persecution, Christians are a joyous bunch because they have Jesus.  Leftist, secular, humanist types cannot understand such a thing.  In the field, said Robertson, they were all happy, and no one was singing the blues.  You accept where you are at because you have Jesus.  You act joyously, and you work to change your lot in life - without dependency on a government system - but Jesus always is at the forefront.  Without him, regardless of your station in life, life is not worth living.  With him, you feel a joy that even the heaviest shackles cannot take away.  Christianity teaches individuality, and for us to be joyous in our endeavors.  God comes first, and even if we make it big like the Duck Dynasty folks, God still has to be number one.  Riches tend to skew one's view, and that is why the Bible warns that wealth can be dangerous - you know, that "camel through the eye of a needle" verse.

"All you have to do is look at any society where there is no Jesus. I’ll give you four: Nazis, no Jesus. Look at their record. Uh, Shintos? They started this thing in Pearl Harbor. Any Jesus among them? None. Communists? None. Islamists? Zero. That’s eighty years of ideologies that have popped up where no Jesus was allowed among those four groups. Just look at the records as far as murder goes among those four groups."

The leftists will argue, "Robertson thinks the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor because they didn't believe in Jesus."  They will then tell you that all of the wars, and deaths in history, is due to religion - and more specifically, due to Christianity.  The problem is, that is a false statement.  It is leftism that has been behind massive deaths and huge wars.

"What about the Crusades?" a leftist will ask.

That was more about leftism, than religion.  First of all, the Crusades was a response to a theocratic system called Islam, which politically has more in common with liberals, than conservatives - You know, that big government thing.  The Catholic Church of that time was similar, using big government theocracy to control the masses through "divinely appointed" monarchs - or at least that is what the statists of the time wanted people to believe.

As for Robertson's statement, it rings true that the slaughter came from systems without Jesus.  The most prosperous nations of recent history have a couple things in common.  They come from a Christian dominated society, and they are a part of the English-speaking empire from Britain.  The British had a free-market, "our rights come from God," style system that has flourished.  The foes that came against them were either from a leftist-style big government theocracy, or were Jesus-less societies.  As crazy as the leftists think it is, Phil Robertson is right.  If Japan had been a Christian society, they would probably not have become a totalitarian system, and would not have bombed Pearl Harbor.

The thing is, the interview was supposed to be a "gotcha" moment.  That is how the leftists work.  They ask you a question that is designed to corner you, and then take the answer they expected to hear, and work it in their favor, even if the premise is all out of whack.

Considering the "set-up," I think Phil Robertson did a fine job.  I respect him even more because he is not folding.  He is standing tall, defending his responses to the silly questions.

It's enough to make someone like me, who does not like reality shows, to start watching Duck Dynasty.

After all, from what I hear, there are more people defending Phil Robertson, than have been able to sign up for Obamacare.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

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