Posted on 12/21/2013 9:45:41 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
A&E’s Woes Over Phil Robertson Firing Intensify with Duck Dynasty Family
By firing the star of the reality show “Duck Dynasty”, the A&E Network is walking a very fine line between fans and demands from gay rights groups such as the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).
Interestingly, the lines aren’t drawn squarely between conservatives on one side and gay rights activists on the other.
Noted writer and lesbian Camille Paglia has expressed outrage over the denunciation of Phil Robertson and affirmed his right to express his religious views on homosexuality. Paglia claims the moral right to speak on the matter given that she was openly gay when doing so brought a person adverse consequences. She said that Robertson has a right to express his religious views even if they are against homosexuality.
“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.
She went on to say that he did so via a magazine interview and to punish him for that is Stalinist.
“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.”
Now, the Robertson family has made a carefully veiled threat that they are not going to move on without their patriarch. They announced yesterday that they are speaking with A&E about the show’s future. A&E grossed $885 million this past year and a large portion of that comes from advertising revenue from “Duck Dynasty”.
Duck Dyansty Family Defends Patriarch Phil
Amidst the furor over “Duck Dynasty” star Phil Robertson’s remarks to GQ, his family has issued a statement defending him. While the statement characterized some of his statements a “coarse”, they stated they reflected his deeply held religious beliefs coming from the Bible.
According to eonline.com, the family stated that “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.” The statement clearly leaves the future of the hugely popular show in jeopardy, since it could not go on without them.
Robertson’s comments which state that homosexuality was a sinful behavior and that sex between men was illogical, led to Robertson’s suspension from the show. The remarks have ignited a firestorm of argument both for and against Robertson. Both Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Sarah Palin have come to Robertson’s defense, while GLAAD and the NAACP have declared their support for Robertson’s suspension. So far Phil Robertson himself has not made any statement regarding his suspension from the show.
On The Web:
Palin and Beck add fire to blazing row over Phil Robertson and Duck Dynasty http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/dec/20/palin-beck-phil-robertson-duck-dynasty
Paglia: Duck Dynasty uproar ‘utterly fascist, utterly Stalinist’ http://dailycaller.com/2013/12/19/paglia-duck-dynasty-uproar-utterly-fascist-utterly-stalinist/
Phil Robertson’s Entire Family Stands by Him, Implies Duck Dynasty Can’t Continue Unless He Returns http://www.eonline.com/news/492746/phil-robertson-s-entire-family-stands-by-him-implies-duck-dynasty-can-t-continue
I bet they ride Harleys when nobody’s looking.
:-\
The war on Christians matters. They are trying to destroy Christianity. The propaganda is in everything from education to Hollywood. Our kids are taught that Christ is a myth. Teachers sneer and ridicule Christianity in the classroom. Meanwhile they are taught that Islam is a religion of peace.
I think he could have been more judicious in his choice of words, but God bless that man and his family for standing up for Christ. He did speak for me and my fellow believers.
Enough with the attacks on Christians in this nation. It matters. Free speech matters. Free exercise of religion matters. It matters more than Obamacare or the economy or any other thing that you think important.
It is the basis of our Constitution and strikes at the very heart of the freedoms they are taking away from we the people at an alarming rate.
It is what your freedoms are based on. Not to mentions we are throwing freedom of religion and free speech out the door so a very small vocal minority group that causes great harm to themselves and others can feel better about themselves.
Reading your post, I believe YOU smoke weed.
hate to tell y’all but I have heard these Robertson characters are Democrats ,
who encourage folks to vote for Dems . Is this true ?
***************
Well you can hear most anything if you listen and explore. But the truth maybe of a
different flavor when analyzed.
I don’t what their history of voting and supporting of candidates is but I do
know that Phil and Willie came out in support of Vance McAllister in the Nov. 16,
2013 CD 5 election in LA. McAllister, a Republican won and is now serving in D.C.
https://www.google.com/#q=phil+robertson+++endorses+vance+McAllister++
It matters - deeply. Our country is based on Judeo-Christian tenants. In order for the left to obliterate the Constitution, they have to remove those tenants and our freedoms to live by them. People are starting to see that and fighting back.
Utah in one week I think had “living polygamously together” and “homosexual marriage” legalized.
Polygamous marriage isn’t yet legal there, but a man, his wife and common law second wife are now legal to live together and plan on suing for their marriage to be fully legal.
Exactly! All this brouhaha over less than 2% of people in this country who make it their goal every day when they wake up to “sell” the other 98% of us that two men laying in bed repeatedly sticking their penis in the rear end of the other is “normal”.
That we even engage in a passing conversation of this subject or pay it any mind at all much less suffer a NATIONAL ALL CONSUMING DEBATE about it is insanity.
This “insanity” of some sick men has been going on for centuries. That their “community” is still stuck on just 1.7% of the population is a material fact! Why don’t we all see that and give them 1.7% of the national attention instead of 98.3% of the national attention!
I say “to hell with em” and “forget about them”. They deserve no special standing and they are no special class entitled to ANYTHING, special.
If the government and the population also said “to hell with em” and “forget about them”, there would be no problem. I’m sure everyone would be happy with that. Sadly, 1.7% of the population is forcing the 98.3% to shut up and go along.
How did 1.7% of the population manage to get their deviant behaviour taught as normal to every child in the public school system? How did the 1.7% manage to get the laws regarding marriage changed to accommodate them, so that they could pretend they were normal? How did 1.7% manage to get nearly every show on television to celebrate their perversion? And if we disagree, we are hateful bigots.
Evil will triumph when good people do nothing.
I quit watching it after a while though for two reasons.
The exact same format every show, as many of the "reality" shows have.
Some fake, trumped up conflict between two people or groups and the final resolution.
The other was the fake "cussing" and bleeping of every other word to make it look like they were cussing.
It got out of control to the point of insanity.
I read somewhere this was one of the things that pissed off the Duck guys too.
If the Duck guys were allowed to produce and EDIT their own show, I'd watch it again.
I've also noticed FR, like many other places is populated by urban and suburban folks who have absolutely no clue what goes on outside their little enclaves and look down upon real country folk.
If something is unknown to them, it must be bad or stupid.
Well, when the SHTF, don't come out into the countryside and expect a warm welcome.
You’re wrong an an important point and that is there are federal laws that protect people based on their religious beliefs in the workplace.
I don’t watch TV and don’t have TV programming in my home. I have the internet and this duck dynasty thing is all over YouTube if it is searched for. Doesn’t take but a few minutes that this is some hoaky reality show about some backwood types who also happen to be millionaires because they produce a lot of products for duck hunters.
But the cause of action they have is as follows:
1. They have a contract with A&E and this contract creates a ‘workplace’ environment.
2. One of the parties to the workplace expresses his religious views outside the workplace to a magazine called GQ.
3. The management of the workplace which is A&E fires or suspends the party for expressing his religious views, even though such expression could cause no disruption to the workplace because the expression occurred outside the workplace.
Remark: Homosexuals cannot plead it was disruptive to them in the workplace because it happened outside the workplace. Reading or hearing about the expression in GQ is not a disruption inside the workplace.
Federal anti-discrimination laws prohibit taking action against persons in the workplace based on a number of things among which is a person’s religion.
When A&E heard about the GQ interview, they retaliated. They overstepped their bounds not because it is illegal to fire someone for expressing views or making statements to the press, it is legal in general to do that. What is illegal is to retaliate against a person based on their religious views unless it is disruptive to the workplace.
I am not allowed to terminate contractors because I find out that outside the workplace they are non-Catholic, or if they are Episcopalians giving ‘rainbow weddings’ to same-sex partners.
Similarly A&E is not permitted by law to do what they did.
It was legal for MSNBC to fire Alex Baldwin for his slur against homosexuals because it was not based on religious conviction and was filled with hostile profanity “C-— Sucking Faggot!”.
Martin Bashir was fired because his commentary was not based on anything protected by federal law.
Federal law permits all of us to express our religious views as long as we don’t fall afoul of other laws such as disrupting a gathering, creating a public nuisance, etc,
“....2 The Ducks move to another network, either way he will be back bigger and better than ever”
I’ll take Door #2! Screw A&E!
It looks like Phil Robertson’s suspension from “Duck Dynasty” may be just for show. Entertainment Weekly learned that on Jan. 15, A&E will begin airing new episodes of the show that include scenes featuring the “Dynasty” patriarch.
“The network also hopes the media and fan furor will cool down over the holidays and that tensions over shooting future episodes can then be resolved,” Entertainment Weekly reports. “There’s no negotiation to have; we’re doing the show,” an inside source told them.
After A&E’s suspension, Robertson’s friends and family came out in support of him. Sources told E! News that the family was “very serious” about leaving the reality show after Robertson was placed on hiatus. “[Phil] is the reason for their success—they’re not going to abandon him. They’re also not about to let anyone threaten their religious beliefs,” the source told E!. The family released a statement on the Duck Commander website saying, “We are disappointed that Phil has been placed on hiatus for expressing his faith.”
Phil Robertson’s controversial comments on homosexuality have just got a shot from Charlie Sheen. The “Anger Management” star unloaded on Robertson for offending his gay friends, and threatened to give the “Duck Dynasty” star a “MaSheen style media beat down”.
http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00066885.html#ixzz2oDntmuIm
In his letter, Sheen called Robertson nasty names such as “Mallard Brained” and “shower dodger”. The actor said, “Your statements were and are abhorrently and mendaciously unforgivable.” He also took a jab on Robertson’s meteoric rise to fame, saying “The idea that you have a job outside of dirt-clod stacking is a miracle.”
Sheen, who is no stranger to make his own terms, continued, “Shame on you. You’re the only surviving brain donor I’ve ever known. When the gators and Egrets kick you out of their hovel, you need to make serious amends to those you have radically offended.”
Feb 24, 2013 - Robertson is good friends with NASCAR driver Clint Bowyer and the two raced a pair of camouflaged limousines on the popular television show.
And Willie is also good friends with country singer superstars Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan.
Franklin Graham: ‘I support my friend Phil Robertson’
Posted: Dec 20, 2013 5:17 PM CST
Franklin Graham, son of Rev. Billy Graham
CHARLOTTE, NC (FOX Carolina) -
In a statement released Thursday, Franklin Graham, the son of 95-year-old Rev. Billy Graham, said he stands with Phil Robertson, star of A&E’s “Duck Dynasty,” after Robertson’s controversial comments on homosexuality.
Your post about the Robertsons is a complete lie. (BTW - I cannot stand potheads either)
Excellent, excellent point! You nailed it!
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