It’s time to stop firing people for what they say. The offended need to stop looking for revenge. And the victims of revenge need to understand why the over-reactions to speech are so successful. It’s guilt about seeming to offend people.
But too many minorities are too sensitive and too many majorities are too wimpy.
The Duck Commander is the name of a Duck Call and of a wildly successful, $40 million dollar company in West Munroe, Louisiana founded by Phil Robertson. He recently expressed his preference for men and women to get married but just like the Pope, Phil is against the sexual preferences and practices of the other ten sexes. (Here). For that A & E took him off the show Duck Dynasty. I object.
Phil, like the Pope, finds his proof in the bible. He doesn’t talk about all of the other sexes, only gay males who prefer to copulate with gay males. Phil made no bones about his preference for women. For that view A & E suspended Phil from their show Duck Dynasty. The biggest sponsor of the show decided to support Phil Robertson’s freedom to make his remarks.
The LGBT spokespeople and GLADD, (originally the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) to put pressure on media organizations to end homophobic reporting. Pro-gay groups called for Robertson to be taken off the show. A & E listened to them but a backlash is growing. Robertson is “suspended” unless lots of people tell A&E to back off. That appears to be happening as many people have stepped up in support of Phil Robertson and the rest of the family has said they cannot see the show continuing without their leader, Phil.
What about the gays who were offended by Robertson’s remarks? Well, at the moment they are the ones who won, at least it seems they won. They got Robertson off the show. That’s a win for them but they know loads of people agree with Robertson. That means they can’t win in the long run. Why? Because first, they are a minority. Second, the resistance against gays won’t ever go away.
The good news for gays is most people are OK with gays meaning they don’t really do anything against them except some express their dislike with them, their life styles or both.
Bias against people different then yourself has been with us for thousands of years and will go on for thousands more. It’s human nature to seek out compatibility. Gays do that too. But lots of gays want to be known as gay. They want to “out” themselves and that’s OK too. But some views have consequences. Coming out is one. It’s not a problem in limited circles, e.g., the gay circles, and it doesn’t cause problems for many people. But old ideas die hard. Witchcraft for example is still around even though it’s often discredited. People aren’t afraid of gay’s, they just don’t Want to associate with them. They’re not homophobes, they just choose not to associate with them.
People have different views and even opposite views on many things and it’s not a simple Yes-No conclusion surrounding the gay movement.
In the minds of some people it might have been better if Phil Robertson kept his ideas about gays to himself but he didn’t. Same for the LGBT community and for GLADD who spoke up against Phil. Where will this go and how will it end? If you know, A & E would sure like to know. So would I.
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