Everybody get out your guns and point them at me, because I’m about to say something scandalous. I have no love for the Robertson family or their duck show. Seeing them on television makes me understand why Elvis put a bullet through one of his television sets back in the day. I don’t know what it is. I find them unpleasant. I hate their beards.
My roommate, however, is a huge fan of the duck show, and I often have no choice but to see at least some of it, and that makes me an expert on anything related to their public efforts. Heck, Phil Robertson might make a similar statement based on the same sketchy foundation as I have.
Speaking of Phil, he said some things recently that have made a small portion of the population very upset. That portion has wielded its influence and he has been removed from further participation in the duck show till further notice. There is a larger portion of the population very upset about his removal, and they are in the process of speaking their mind and wielding their own influence, the effect of which we don’t fully know yet.
I’m not going to repeat what Phil said. Google is your friend, and you’ll find either the exact words he used or a bastardization from a website representing the opposite point of view. I’m sure you’re smart enough to figure it all out.
What I will add is that I don’t disagree with Phil, for the most part; however, I disagree with the opinion among Christians today that the biggest problems in the world are abortion and homosexuals. That seems to be all they (we–I’m one of them) talk about. Abortion is bad, homosexuals are bad, and Obama is the anti-Christ; somewhere along the way, somebody named Jesus walked the earth and said some things but that isn’t as important as talking about how bad abortion and homosexuals are.
I don’t mean to attack the church, per se. What I mean to attack, via the above sarcasm (because one of you isn’t going to get it), is an attitude that has developed where we focus on what we consider the “major sins” while ignoring others, and watering down what the Christian message (redemption and a relationship with God) is all about. I wish Christians got just as upset about the “other” sins as they do about the so-called “major” sins (the Bible makes no such separation, by the way), because everybody in church knows that the person they sit next to is more than likely not a homosexual nor have they ever had an abortion, so those topics are easy to bring up.
What is not easy to bring up, but what the Bible describes as equally awful, are the following (and this is not an exhaustive list): gossiping; gluttony (seriously–nobody in church is skinny these days); selfishness; sleeping with people who are not your spouse; going to web sites you have no business going to (I’m looking at the men now); having a “poor me” attitude that brings others down; anger; jealousy; rage; alcoholism (the Bible doesn’t say don’t drink; it says don’t get drunk, because being drunk can damage your body); addiction (drugs, sex, etc.); being careless with your money (Dave Ramsay has made a fortune off Christians who can’t handle their money and weep about being in debt!); and being a phony, as there are some people who only go to church because they have no idea what to do at a bar.
Where is the righteous indignation about those sins?
But, wait, this is about Phil Robertson being shamed for his views, you say. Of course is it. We’re in a dangerous time right now where Christian religious expression is suppressed while Miley Cyrus is allowed to do disgusting things on television with little or no consequence. The press is careful not to offend Muslims, but then attacks Christians who speak out. (Perhaps Christians need to start crashing planes into buildings, starting with MTV headquarters; maybe then we’ll get some respect.) I understand, but while it is the point, it’s also not the point, because Christians have a problem. We’re too focused on what we hate on the “outside” of the church while ignoring our problems “inside” the church, and it’s rotting the church from within. We cannot be a light to the world if we’re drowning in our own filth; going on TV, or any other public forum, to talk about other problems will not make the interior issues go away. In other words, the church has a big plank in its eye, which needs to be removed before we get the speck out of our brother’s eye. Sound familiar? Those are the lyrics from a Rolling Stones song. Mick Jagger died for our sins.
I’m as upset as the next guy about what’s going on between the Robertsons, A&E, and GLAAD. It will be easy for me to boycott A&E because I already don’t watch anything on the channel. Woo hoo, I’m super spiritual. I’m more saved than you because of that. First Hallucinations, Chapter Two.
I’m tired of a watered down church that claims to teach the truth but doesn’t even get close. If the church got close to telling the truth, there would be no money for the jumbotrons in the sanctuary upon which we see the pastor practice his TV face, because every knucklehead pastor wants to get on TV. Churches have too much fancy stuff these days. It’s like walking into an Apple store. If I’m giving you my money, it better be to keep the lights on and fund overseas missions, not pay for your fancy gee-whiz garbage.
Abortion and homosexuals are not the problem; a fallen world is the problem. If the world had not fallen, there would be no need for a Redeemer. Instead of talking about what we think the problem is, we need to talk about the message of Jesus. We need to take people to the Redeemer and let them make the decision. As we are in the Christmas season, there is no better time to do so. I would like to know what would have happened had Phil stuck to a gospel-style message instead of getting specific; perhaps the same thing; perhaps not. We’ll never know now because both sides are in a staring contest. And that is always productive.
Mr. Drake,
if you don’t like the Duck Show I won’t call you a “hater” or tear the heads off my little multi-culti Barbies.
You may be correct about the “Church”, but I’m not sure which one you are referring to or just Christians in general.
I walked from the Catholic Church when it became the target of the Obama Administration and we had to hear about healthcare propaganda and condoms.
An organization called One Thousand Black Churches first snuffed-out the proposed pro-gay marriage laws in California but the gays blamed the Mormons instead.
More hate!
The Kennedy Katholics also gave us pedophile, homosexual priests which we have yet to properly address due to offending the “LGBT Community (who faint at Obama speeches) by telling the truth about WHO those priests are.
Outside leftist intruders have been attacking Christians and Jews to soften us up through intimidation to accept THEIR agenda which is now reaching into grade school children, Hollywood movies, prime time television, and now these phony scandals.
I believe Phil Robertson was set-up for this interview in GQ Magazine and for some reason he took the bait.
My guess is that an A&E producer arranged it knowing what he would probably say for the sake of publicity or GLAAD tried to extort money from them like they have with many others and is very much part of the entertainment industry (Joan Garry, from MTV)
Phil Robertson should have never done that interview unless he thought he was getting a free pair of skinny jeans, but my bet is that he never even heard of the magazine which is now a cable TV station showing old Bravo Network shows that cater to gays, some of those shows are “vile”.
If I was Phil I would have chosen my words a little more carefully or stuck to a gospel-style message as you said, but that’s not what people want in Phil… they want a straight shooter who tells the truth as he sees it and doesn’t have to TRY to be a man (Hello Gentleman’s Quarterly!)
By December nineteenth, Walmart said that they had completely sold out of Duck Dynasty merchandise. As usual, we will follow the money trail to get to the bottom of this, but we wont be hearing about it in the mainstream media which is why I read Conservative Daily News.
Thank you for the CDN article and reading my post.
Joseph,
You might be right. In the days leading up to the GQ article, somebody either on television or radio (I wish I could remember!) said that the Robertsons would eventually be a target. A&E has already told them to tone down the Jesus talk on the duck show as to not offend anybody; they refused; perhaps you’re right, and this interview was “set up” to get them in a bind that will lead to the eventual cancellation of the show. The network can’t drop it for no reason. This will be their reason.
Perhaps. Who knows. What’s nice here is an anti-PC effort is finally mobilizing.
Thanks for your letter.
Brian, you have hit the fundamental issue on the head.
Let me state clearly – I am NOT a Christian. I have a very extensive Christian background and I grew to absolutely loath the Crystal Cathedrals and the insidious message of gemme-gemme prosperity!
I remember the days when David Wilkerson DID walk the walk and castigated the purple robes and what we might now call Sanctimonious BLING! and warned American of where she was going!
Not being a Christian in no wise compromises my beliefs that our Christian heritage and core values. I know that I know these are indeed the best way for mankind to maintain his freedom and individual liberties while co-existing with fellow humans. It in no wise prevents me from striving to be true to myself and concentric in my purpose and action.
Christians argue that we must be redeemed because it is the power of the Anointing – Jesus CHRIST – that we are able to choose good over evil. I am not opposed to that; I simple never connected with that power even having attempted several times. My belief is that we all have the ability to DO THE RIGHT THING of our own free will. When we do what is right and good we PROTECT our Freedom! Perhaps an eternal reward (I have no such beliefs) is what many of us need but to me – alive at this very moment and in fear of loosing my freedom – the unction to do good is OVERWHELMING!
I love Christians in the sense that we are staunch allies but I believe you guys do indeed need to become activists of good at every level. I too am responsible and shall admonish at every opportunity the mandatory pursuit of righteousness in our people.
The reason GLAAD is so successful is because they have ACTIVELY advertised their message and we who stand for goodness have been delighting in the Bling instead of listening to the prophets!!
Freedom is based on the responsibility of the individual to do what is right to their fellow man. A mutual reverence for Unalienable rights! Keep your responsibility! Maintain your integrity – even when no one is looking!
Derrell,
This: “The reason GLAAD is so successful is because they have ACTIVELY advertised their message…”
Right on point. GLAAD has ONE message. Just one. And they repeat it over and over again. The Right, Christian or not, needs to learn from that. We are all over the place trying to cover different targets when we could actually cover all the targets by repeating one single core idea.
Mr. Drake, clearly your bitterness and sarcasm have “outed you.” (Pun intended) Because Mr. Robertson chose to be specific the evangelical’s response was as well. We are called to love the sinner and hate the sin. Your attempt at humor has fallen short and you sir, don’t get it. I am a Christian, conservative, and down right tired of being expected to apologize; much to yours and others chagrin, I never will. I wholly recommend you STUDY the Word of God before spewing angst against those to whom you claim an allegiance.
Rick,
Thanks for your reply. I never said Phil in particular or Christians in general should apologize for anything. I don’t know where you got that from, but it wasn’t in my piece.
Jesus told us to go and preach the Good News to the world. The point of the Great Commission is to win souls for Christ. There is nothing Phil Robertson said that makes me want to sign up. By contrast, when I hear Billy Graham preach, I want to get saved all over again. There is a world of difference between the two.
And nobody hates Billy Graham.
Christians need to spend less time telling people what they’re doing wrong and more time telling them about the love of Jesus. Only then will we see a culture change. However, based on the last two decades, that’s asking too much. We are doomed to go kicking and screaming into irrelevancy. But at least everybody will know that God hates fags.
I think he absolutely gets it. I too am weary of having to justify basic American values. i am tired of listening to race issues, women’s issues, gay issues, socialist cry baby issues, illegal immigrant whining, religious issues, etc, etc, etc. they all believe theirs is the just cause forgetting that without a free America none of those things they espouse are possible. I support Phil Robertsons beliefs but for crying out loud the Ducks are embarrasing. No wonder we are considered idiots. He didn’t our cause any favors at all.