‘Duck Dynasty’ star Phil Robertson’s views common among Americans

The Washington Post's Style Section ^ | December 20, 2013 | Max Ehrenfreund

[2ndDivisionVet]

A&E has distanced itself from Phil Robertson, the patriarch in its enormously popular “Duck Dynasty” series, following his comments about homosexuality. Yet the opinion he expressed, that homosexuality is a sin, is shared by 45 percent of Americans, according to a recent poll.

Fully 78 percent of white evangelical Protestants agree with Robertson, according to the data. They are demographic group analyzed in the poll that is presumably most likely to watch “Duck Dynasty.”

Scott Collins compares A&E to other networks that have condemned the same traditional world views that make their shows so popular and so lucrative:

Once again, TV finds itself in another cultural hot zone. The “Duck Dynasty” situation recalls last summer’s uproar over celebrity chef Paula Deen, who lost her Food Network gig and many sponsorship deals after she admitted she had “of course” used a racial epithet in the past. . . .

These cases reflect larger rifts in American life — call it a split between progressives and traditionalist values.

But the particular problem for the TV industry is that it’s trying to profit off the same cultural tensions it’s exploiting. That inevitably leads to problems such as the current one engulfing “Duck Dynasty.”

The reality programming trend in recent years has made stars out of everyone from bakers to pawnbrokers to catfish-wranglers. That these “authentic” people have opinions and values that don’t always jibe with those of the media elite in New York and Los Angeles isn’t necessarily surprising....

[Intolerant in NJ]

Yet the opinion he expressed, that homosexuality is a sin, is shared by 45 percent of Americans, according to a recent poll...years ago on one of his many past TV series Dr. Drew Pinsky did a review of a series of experiments at some university which involved functional MRI's or maybe it's CAT scans - the studies recorded activity in various areas of the brain while male and female subjects were shown pictures of nude males and females - the most interesting finding to me was that when most males were shown pictures of males, their amygdala - that part of the brain that serves as a sentry and alerts the individual to novel and possibly dangerous stimuli - lit up in activity (it did not do so for females shown either male or female pictures or males shown female pictures) - even Pinsky, who said he considered himself open-minded with no objectives to homosexuality, found his brain showed the same activity - such studies along with simple old-fashioned experience and common sense suggest that aversion to homosexuality is hard-wired in the human brain, possibly as a remnant from the distant past when it was imperative for human-kind to multiply, and it became advantageous for survival to eliminate anything disrupting reproduction. And this suggests that all the positive propaganda and all the activist threats and intimidation to drive open objection to homosexuality underground will not change basic attitudes toward it......

[HiTech RedNeck]

Might be true, yet beside the point. Men don’t have to hate other men to reject a monkey wanting to get on their back calling them to simulate copulation with one another. Integrating such research with psychology would be more illuminating. I believe it’s ultimately spiritual, and the brain’s role in it is no more than an analogue of the computer’s role to the user of the computer. What windows they open doesn’t tell you anything about the content of the email.

[2ndDivisionVet]

From what I understand, we had a “relief valve” in the distant past where homosexuals would become shamans, witch doctors, healers, pagan priests, magicians, cave or temple artists, ritual dancers, etc. and keep to themselves within those roles or be severely punished.

[Secret Agent Man]

if it’s a decision between a vagina or an anus, i’ll take a vagina every time. he damn sure got that right.

[itsahoot]

I just checked TV guide and A&E is running about 150 episodes of Duck Dynasty over the next few days. They really hate those homophobic Rednecks.

[itsahoot]

I’d be interested to hear the thoughts of the other 22% of “white evangelical Protestants” on the matter.

FOX is loaded with them, they are all Christian and support DD, but....

Sort of like, I really like Sara Palin, but......

There are 100 million Evangelic Christians in this country only half of them are registered to vote, and even worse only half of those bother to vote.

If you want someone to blame the decline of our country on, you need look no further than the Christian Pulpit.

If I live to see another election, I will vote for Sarah Palin, no matter who is on the ballot.

[TomServo]

Ka-ching

[namvolunteer]

45%? Ann Coulter said it years ago: The only poll that counts is when voters actually vote!

[ThePatriotsFlag]

Nope, and that’s what’s wrong. Liberals “feel sorry” for the poor gays who have no “rights.” Most libs aren’t gays...if it were only the 2% of gays we were dealing with, this would be a non issue. But alas we are dealing once again with “feel good” liberals,,,and practically all if them are not homosexuals, but SUPPORT homosexuals.

[elcid1970]

“A&E thought they’d broadcast DD thinking that the audience would be effeminate leftists poking fun at them...”

So then, A&E has made the same mistake with DD that Norman Lear made forty years earlier with “All In The Family” when he discovered to his horror that the audience wasn’t laughing AT Archie Bunker, they were laughing WITH him.

Interesting!

[broken_arrow1]

We are that pesky “FLY-OVER” Country!

[steelhead_trout]

No, I have no plans to do that. But it just shows even a blind squirrel can find an acorn now and then.

[tbpiper]

I thought well over 70% of Americans believe in God.

Believing in God is easy. The problem starts when Jesus enters the picture and clarifies what 'believing' really is.

[boop]

"he discovered to his horror that the audience wasn’t laughing AT Archie Bunker, they were laughing WITH him."

Yes, and Norman Lear had created a Frankenstein's monster.

He now had a working class hero in Archie, who was ironically played by a total pinko, Carroll O'Connor.

O'Connor has expressed his initial "horror" that his character was so "liked". But once the bucks started rolling in, Lear and O'Connor "clammed up", as Archie would say.

Liberals love nothing more in this world than money.

If they have to give the "rubes" what they want, they'll do it.

O'Connor eventually TRIED to soften Archie's hard-nosed "bigotry" in about season 6. All in the Family soon began to decline. Very few laughs after Meathead and Gloria moved to LA.

[Intolerant in NJ]

Might be true, yet beside the point...not really - gay activists believe that with enough pressure and the proper "reeducation" they can induce the public to accept and even welcome homosexuality - but if aversion to the practice is built into the human - especially male - brain, such activities are probably going to be largely useless - psychology is important, but in the experimental situation, even though Pinsky believed himself to be free of prejudice, his brain gave an alert/danger signal in spite of what he thought of himself - if the computer is programmed on boot up to print out always the same message, no matter what emails are sent to it it's going to be difficult to get any other message through.....

[HiTech RedNeck]

I don’t buy the hardwire theory, though. I think the danger signal, if any, is because in this fallen world men too often tend to fight! I say soft-reconfigurability is probably a brain quality too little researched.