The Way the Kingdom Rolls

Remarkably Honest Speech

The Duck Dynasty is a very popular cable reality show in the US, starring an intergenerational family of "good ol' boys".  Recently the patriarch of the clan, Phil Robertson had the temerity to express his opinions on homosexuality.  It just so happens his opinions are grounded in the teaching of Scripture. 

GQ Magazine did a profile piece on Phil and his family.  Here is a snippet, to give flavour:

It’s easy to see the appeal. The Robertsons are immensely likable. They’re funny. They look cool. They’re “smarter than they look,” says sportswriter Mark Schlabach, who co-writes the family’s books. And they are remarkably honest both with one another and with the viewing audience: Phil’s old hell-raising, Si’s traumatic stint in Vietnam, the intervention that the family staged for Jep when he was boozing and doing drugs in college (Phil placed him under house arrest for three months)—all of it is out in the open. The more they reveal, the more people feel connected to them.

And then, of course, there is their faith, which plays no small role here. During the family’s initial negotiations about the show with A&E, Jase told me, “the three no-compromises were faith, betrayal of family members, and duck season.” That refusal to betray their faith or one another has been a staple of every media article about the Robertson family. It’s their elevator pitch, and it has made them into ideal Christian icons: beloved for staking out a bit of holy ground within the mostly secular, often downright sinful, pop culture of America.

During that interview, Phil happened to express in passing his views on homosexuality and sin.  Read on:

What does repentance entail? Well, in Robertson’s worldview, America was a country founded upon Christian values (Thou shalt not kill, etc.), and he believes that the gradual removal of Christian symbolism from public spaces has diluted those founding principles. (He and Si take turns going on about why the Ten Commandments ought to be displayed outside courthouses.) He sees the popularity of Duck Dynasty as a small corrective to all that we have lost. “Everything is blurred on what’s right and what’s wrong,” he says. “Sin becomes fine.”

What, in your mind, is sinful?

“Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men,” he says. Then he paraphrases Corinthians: “Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers—they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.”

Then the storm broke.  Phil was paraphrasing (pretty accurately) the Bible and was foolish enough to say it in the public square (that is, where other human beings could hear him).  The company which produces his show suspended him indefinitely.  Why?  On behalf of speaking ill of drunkards and being found guilty of drunkophobia?  Of slanderophobia?  Of course not.  But he was suspended because of homophobia!  We kid you not. 

"We are extremely disappointed to have read Phil Robertson's comments in GQ, which are based on his own personal beliefs and are not reflected in the series Duck Dynasty," A&E said in a statement. "His personal views in no way reflect those of A+E Networks, who have always been strong supporters and champions of the LGBT community. The network has placed Phil under hiatus from filming indefinitely."

Now it looks likely that either A+E will back down, or the family will walk.  Already there are other corporates salivating at the prospect of signing them.  This from the rest of the family:

"We want to thank all of you for your prayers and support. The family has spent much time in prayer since learning of A&E's decision.  We want you to know that first and foremost we are a family rooted in our faith in God and our belief that the Bible is His word.  While some of Phil’s unfiltered comments to the reporter were coarse, his beliefs are grounded in the teachings of the Bible," reads a statement posted on the family's Duck Commander website. "Phil is a Godly man who follows what the Bible says are the greatest commandments: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart' and 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' Phil would never incite or encourage hate. We are disappointed that Phil has been placed on hiatus for expressing his faith, which is his constitutionally protected right. We have had a successful working relationship with A&E but, as a family, we cannot imagine the show going forward without our patriarch at the helm.  We are in discussions with A&E to see what that means for the future of Duck Dynasty.  Again, thank you for your continued support of our family."

The fascist wing of the homosexual lobby rapidly joined in to express its outrage.  The more principled and conscientious wing of the lobby, however, have not joined in the faux-outrage, but have spoken out strongly against the anti-homophobic brigade (we suppose these need to be given the sobriquet the anti-anti-homophobic wing).  Here is Camille Paglia's far more principled perspective:

Paglia: Duck Dynasty uproar ‘utterly fascist, utterly Stalinist’

Posted By Caroline May On 5:42 PM 12/19/2013

The suspension of Phil Robertson from A&E’s Duck Dynasty is outrageous in a nation that values freedom, according to social critic and openly gay, dissident feminist Camille Paglia.  “I speak with authority here, because I was openly gay before the ‘Stonewall rebellion,’ when it cost you something to be so. And I personally feel as a libertarian that people have the right to free thought and free speech,” Paglia, a professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, said on Laura Ingraham’s radio show Thursday.

“In a democratic country, people have the right to be homophobic as well as they have the right to support homosexuality — as I one hundred percent do. If people are basing their views against gays on the Bible, again they have a right of religious freedom there,” she added.

Robertson has been suspended from Duck Dynasty due to comments he made to GQ that have been deemed “anti-gay.” According to Paglia, the culture has become too politically correct.

“To express yourself in a magazine in an interview — this is the level of punitive PC, utterly fascist, utterly Stalinist, OK, that my liberal colleagues in the Democratic Party and on college campuses have supported and promoted over the last several decades,” Paglia said. “This is the whole legacy of free speech 1960’s that have been lost by my own party.”

Paglia went on to point out that while she is an atheist she respects religion and has been frustrated by the intolerance of gay activists.

“I think that this intolerance by gay activists toward the full spectrum of human beliefs is a sign of immaturity, juvenility,” Paglia said. “This is not the mark of a true intellectual life. This is why there is no cultural life now in the U.S. Why nothing is of interest coming from the major media in terms of cultural criticism. Why the graduates of the Ivy League with their A, A, A+ grades are complete cultural illiterates, etc. is because they are not being educated in any way to give respect to opposing view points.”

“There is a dialogue going on human civilization, for heaven sakes. It’s not just this monologue coming from fanatics who have displaced the religious beliefs of their parents into a political movement,” she added. “And that is what happened to feminism, and that is what happened to gay activism, a fanaticism.”

We respect Paglia for her conscientious, principled stand.   But there is a deeper reality here.  Once again we see that the Kingdom of God and its coming is an exceedingly messy affair.  Gloriously so.  The sovereign Lord pours out His grace and mercy upon the most unlikely of recipients--a degenerate hillbilly clan from the Bayou--and washes them clean in the blood of the Lamb, giving them new life. 

In that new life, with all its tumult and ups and downs, they testify to the Lord in their own genuine, honest, unique manner--and in the process garner an audience of 14 million people--more than watch the final series episodes of Breaking Bad.  We suspect that many of those watching have heard more of the Gospel and the saving mission of the Lord Jesus Christ than they have ever heard from anyone else before. 

God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform.  There is laughter and joy and gaiety and humour in the coming of the Kingdom.  That's the way God loves to make it  roll.  And we love Him for it.