One of the most sinister movements in the mainstream media is the labeling of Christian beliefs as de facto bigotry, or anti-gay. It is baseless, it is anti-Christian bigotry disguised as tolerance, it is a smear, and it is a form of McCarthyism. And this is exactly what Entertainment Weekly is doing to one of the stars of the wildly popular (and Christian-themed) “Duck Dynasty.”
Absolutely nothing “Duck Dynasty” star Phil Robertson said here even comes close to bigotry, unless you want to claim that he is also bigoted against heterosexuals:
“Everything is blurred on what’s right and what’s wrong… Sin becomes fine. 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.” Robertson then paraphrased Corinthians from the Bible: “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.”
And if that wasn’t explicit enough, the “Duck Commander” added: “It seems like, to me, a vagina–as a man–would be more desirable than a man’s anus. That’s just me. I’m just thinking: There’s more there! She’s got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I’m saying? But hey, sin: It’s not logical, my man. It’s just not logical.”
Had the “Duck Dynasty” star singled out homosexuals, EW might be able to make its case for the absurd charge that he made “anti-gay comments.” But as you can read with your own eyes, Robertson did not single out gays, he appropriately listed heterosexual sexual sin, such as adultery and sleeping around.
The sexuality bar for Christianity is pretty high for everyone, and relating that fact is not bigotry, it is spreading the Gospel.
Robertson is also talking about homosexual sexual behavior, not homosexuals as human beings. That is all the difference in the world.
Moreover, Robertson also lists “the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers” as those who will not “inherit the kingdom of God.”
It is quite obvious that Robertson is only guilty of being anti-sin, not anti-gay.
As far as Robertson’s vagina/anus talk, apparently in our highly sexualized culture (which EW celebrates and promotes) it is only Christian heterosexuals who are no longer allowed to be explicit about their likes, dislikes, and hang ups. Had a gay man said the opposite, EW would celebrate it as “brave” and the government would give him a grant to take the show on the road.
Nothing Robertson said even comes close to being anti-gay, but the entire premise of EW’s attack is nothing but Christian-bashing. This is the mainstream media attacking our very faith as bigoted and playing the homophobe card to try and intimidate us into shutting up about our beliefs.
After Robertson released a statement addressing the phony controversy and standing his ground, EW lashed out again:
Robertson’s statement isn’t very contrite and seems to contradict his previous statements. He would “never treat anyone with disrespect,” yet just compared gay people to drunkards and prostitutes and adulterers and thieves and said they were locked out of heaven. Which seems pretty disrespectful, no?
That is a bald-faced lie. Robertson did not say gay people are locked out of Heaven. He specifically mentioned gay sexual “behavior.” He also mentioned heterosexual behavior in the exact same context.
You might disagree with Robertson, and you might not like what he or the Christian Bible have to say, but Robertson was as anti-gay as he was anti-heterosexual, and that is the very opposite of bigotry.
The only bigots here are Entertainment Weekly and its dishonest smear of the Christian faith and a television show that dares to be a cultural phenomenon while openly practicing that faith.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC
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