Phil: “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.”
Then he responded with this after being asked this question:
GQ: What, in your mind, is sinful?
Phil: “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.”
After this article came out. The GLADD community (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), went crazy saying that Phil had offended them. A&E was quick to respond to the fact and announced publicly that Phil Robertson would no longer be in the show Duck Dynasty due to a temporary suspension.Here are my thoughts. I will address the 3 things I see that need to be addressed here.
A&E
First off, you did what you thought was going to benefit your company and not offend anyone that will have as a potential watching audience. Right move? No, probably not... But hey it's only single handedly the LARGEST show that you have EVER had. Keeping the people that probably don't even watch Duck Dynasty happy is probably not your smartest move. People that appreciate the Christian values and the positivity of the show are the ones that watch your show.
Might take a review of your viewing crowd and quickly rebuttal your decision's backlash.
But.... Hey, what do I know? I'm just one of the thousands to hundreds of thousands that went to support Truett B. Cathy's beliefs when the LBGQT community decided that that was offensive. Chic-fil-a's profits exploded after that and they had one of their best profit seasons that Chic-Fil-a has ever seen.
So, going about the way that you did in addressing this, might not be the absolute greatest way of achieving your sales goals. Because you have to have a popular TV show in order to make a lot of money off of advertisers.
Phil Robertson
Although, I have not really ever been a fan of the show. There is something to be noted about the way your family maintains your Christian beliefs in mainstream culture. It is a breath of fresh air for the TV industry as a whole and I really appreciate your family deciding to do this. However, I'm not going to take the modern Christian approach about you being persecuted for your faith. You are in the limelight of mass media, you did speak your heart and your faith... but persecution seems a bit much. You are still capitalizing off of millions upon millions of dollars in merchandise and other non-TV show routes.
I believe that Jason Huffman spoke about this very well in his blog. (I'll post a link to his blog at the bottom.) Christians are quick to jump and stand up for Phil and his persecution. This isn't in my eyes persecution. Persecution is the underground churches all over the world that have to go underground with their faith to avoid being killed. Victims of persecution are the hundreds, if not thousands of martyrs who die for what they believe in yearly. Persecution is being killed for even mentioning the name "Jesus."
Christians
America isn't facing much if any persecution... we are having disagreements about lifestyle and life choices. How else is the LBGQT population supposed to react when what they believe is right is described as "Sinful" "Damaging" and "Destructive" as a lifestyle. We react the exact same way when someone doubts our faith that we have poured our entire lives into out of devotion to a loving God. I would be concerned if there wasn't any fighting, if there wasn't any conflict. First and foremost, we are called to Love one another. Phil did that with flying colors. He had no hate in his speech and that is truly something that we should attempt to model. We can speak about the sinful nature of LBGQT without being demeaning and distasteful.
Leviticus 18:22 (ESV) says, "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination."
We all understand this as Christians. The gay lifestyle is living in a sinful nature.
But
The Bible also says in Romans 13:8-10 (ESV)
'Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,' and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."
We are called to love that is one of the two greatest commandments.
So without further ado...
LOVE PEOPLE!!!!
God Bless,
Brent
Here is the link to Jason Huffman's post.
http://jasonbhuffman.wordpress.com/2013/12/19/the-persecution-of-phil-robertson/
So, going about the way that you did in addressing this, might not be the absolute greatest way of achieving your sales goals. Because you have to have a popular TV show in order to make a lot of money off of advertisers.
Phil Robertson
Although, I have not really ever been a fan of the show. There is something to be noted about the way your family maintains your Christian beliefs in mainstream culture. It is a breath of fresh air for the TV industry as a whole and I really appreciate your family deciding to do this. However, I'm not going to take the modern Christian approach about you being persecuted for your faith. You are in the limelight of mass media, you did speak your heart and your faith... but persecution seems a bit much. You are still capitalizing off of millions upon millions of dollars in merchandise and other non-TV show routes.
I believe that Jason Huffman spoke about this very well in his blog. (I'll post a link to his blog at the bottom.) Christians are quick to jump and stand up for Phil and his persecution. This isn't in my eyes persecution. Persecution is the underground churches all over the world that have to go underground with their faith to avoid being killed. Victims of persecution are the hundreds, if not thousands of martyrs who die for what they believe in yearly. Persecution is being killed for even mentioning the name "Jesus."
Christians
America isn't facing much if any persecution... we are having disagreements about lifestyle and life choices. How else is the LBGQT population supposed to react when what they believe is right is described as "Sinful" "Damaging" and "Destructive" as a lifestyle. We react the exact same way when someone doubts our faith that we have poured our entire lives into out of devotion to a loving God. I would be concerned if there wasn't any fighting, if there wasn't any conflict. First and foremost, we are called to Love one another. Phil did that with flying colors. He had no hate in his speech and that is truly something that we should attempt to model. We can speak about the sinful nature of LBGQT without being demeaning and distasteful.
Leviticus 18:22 (ESV) says, "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination."
We all understand this as Christians. The gay lifestyle is living in a sinful nature.
But
The Bible also says in Romans 13:8-10 (ESV)
'Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,' and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."
We are called to love that is one of the two greatest commandments.
So without further ado...
LOVE PEOPLE!!!!
God Bless,
Brent
Here is the link to Jason Huffman's post.
http://jasonbhuffman.wordpress.com/2013/12/19/the-persecution-of-phil-robertson/
