Weekly Thoughts: Phil Robertson

This week, “Duck Dynasty” star Phil Robertson was suspended indefinitely from the show after expressing his belief that being homosexual is a sin, compared to bestiality and being promiscuous.  He then went on to say “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.”  This angered many pro-LGBTQ organizations, and A&E eventually suspended the star from “Duck Dynasty.”  This angered many people, including conservative Christians and fans of the show.  However, I believe that A&E was right in their decision to suspend the star.  Producers of the show have bosses to appease to and a reputation to uphold.  When you are a star on a reality show, and you say something that offends many people, that comes back to A&E, and Duck Dynasty itself.  Remember the conservative belief that the employees of a corporation should be dictated by the CEO’s beliefs? That doesn’t just apply to birth control.  If you want to go about this logic, then Phil Robertson and the cast of “Duck Dynasty” are held to the beliefs of the higher-ups at A&E.

This also brings into question how far the 1st amendment goes in protecting employees.  Phil Robertson was technically an employee at “Duck Dynasty”, and had bosses who could fire him at any time, like they did this week.  He went to a magazine interview and intentionally said something that he most likely knew would offend a lot of people.  People supporting Phil Robertson often go “but what about his freedom of religion? Doesn’t he get that?”  Yes, to an extent.  However, there is a difference between saying “I don’t like gay marriage” and comparing two men or two women who love each other to raping an animal.  There is a difference between saying that you think being gay is a sin and saying that being gay is not logical.  Phil Robertson drew the line between freedom of speech and something that can be taken as hate speech.  Also, the 1st amendment does not say “you can say whatever you like without consequences.”  If you went into your job and swore a lot, or said offensive things about your bosses or potentially members of your bosses’ family, you’re going to get fired.  It’s cause and effect, Phil Robertson stated his opinion and now we all have the right to say he’s a homophobe.  Phil Robertson could have gotten fined or jailed for what he said, as someone who stated hate speech often would in many countries as well as America.  Kicking Robertson off “Duck Dynasty” is not infringing on the 1st amendment.

Finally, this is selective outrage.  It seems that many of the people supporting Robertson have only supported people who  have spoken out against gay marriage.  They probably said nothing about what happened to the Dixie Chicks, and they did nothing when the band Pussy Riot was actually arrested for singing about their beliefs.  Edward Snowden technically used freedom of speech and freedom of the press to leak about the NSA, had the Whistleblower Protection Act, and was still kicked out of America and forced to stay in Russia.  So, next time you threaten to boycott an entire network for expressing the power you said corporations should have, think a little about all the other cases of free speech that happened to both liberals and conservatives?  If you didn’t, then you have no leg to stand on when it comes to Robertson.