Duck Dynasty: Belief, free speech and the tyrrany of political correctness

So, "Duck Dynasty" patriarch Phil Robertson expresses his faith, and his biblically based belief in "traditional" family structure and "normal" sexuality.

And, he gets suspended from the most popular TV show on the air.

He also has become the cause célèbre for a large, if increasingly reviled segment of American society under an unrelenting attack from the so-called "tolerant" among us.

Tolerant, that is, unless someone had the audacity to dispute the mantra now in vogue by the extreme Left. Tolerant, until someone suggests he or she views any behavior – let alone sexual behavior – a “sin.”

Everyone these days seems to want a smiling, laughing, never judgmental God, and anything – including His purported Word to the contrary – is swept under the metaphysical carpet, as it were.

The crudity of Robertson's discussion of sexual preference for vaginas over anuses makes one wince. It also goes the the heart of the argument that, for the first time in history, how someone decides to sate his or her sexual urges has become equated with racial, ethnic, political and religious minorities and how they were treated in the past.

It's the supposed new "civil rights" movement, we're told. But I wonder how someone's honestly held, indeed once universally held views that biological construction and purpose point to male-female unions rather than colonic, same-sex coitus as not only the norm, but the Design.

That is essentially what Robertson said, albeit in far more graphic, earthy terms.

I grew up during what I dare to call the real Civil Rights era, when African-Americans and those supporting them literally put their lives on the line to end institutionalized discrimination in education, business and at the ballot box.

Sorry, but I do find it difficult to extrapolate that to the call today to gag the free, albeit unpopular speech of anyone.

And yes, that also means the free expression of anyone -- gay, straight, liberal, conservative, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, agnostic, atheist -- to say what they think without the fist of political correctness slamming them into the ground.

Disagree today with a liberal about the failures of the Obama administration, or suggest that marriage was and always has been, heretofore, between males and females, and you are labeled a bigot, thrown into the same "hate" group as Nazis, the KKK and the Taliban.

Lost in the rush to PC judgment is the fact that folks like Robertson are not advocating any form of discrimination against gays, and in fact have made it clear they strive to treat everyone fairly. The issue, for them, is a moral one, based on their beliefs.

Other Christians have differing opinions on any number of issues, including homosexuality. But they are largely ignored in the rush to throw anyone with evangelical Christian roots into the same intellectual gulag.

I, for one, recognize two things: First, I cherish friends I have who happen to be gay; to me, if their lifestyle is “sinful,” then so are those of other friends who cheat on their spouses, their taxes or their commitment to provide a fair day's work for their wages. 

The more strident among us, believers and unbelievers, tend to forget that we are, all of us, sinners and can only be “saved” through grace.

And second, that being the case, I am content to love all my friends and leave judgment to God . . . and I suspect He is and will be far more compassionate that any of us can comprehend, or deserve.

But back to Robertson and "Duck Dynasty." A&E's reaction may have been knee-jerk, a decision driven by reaction to the outrage of some who seek to muzzle the new dissidents in our society. But it also is A&E's right to do so. Employees these days are let go for far less, even no reason, being more and more "at will" staff. 

 

There always is a price to pay for standing up for what you believe, and sometimes -- due to questionable judgment in how that is done -- the price can be high.

But given the strongly pro-Robertson reaction thus far -- petitions, statements of support by celebrities, etc. -- perhaps A&E should look more to its bottom line.