Phil Robertson "Fired"

[dwayne1115]

Quoted for truth, and might I add how freaking vapid and hypocritical that is. if a celebrity says something racist or homophobic, they're terrible terrible people. But if a politician, commentator, or corrupt televangelist makes the same comments (heck, far, far worse ones) they get book deals, talk shows, and keep getting re-relected on the platform of racism and homophobia. Bret Rhatner says "pfft rehearsal is for [gay slur used by like 80% of people on the internet with the vocabulary of a 6th grader]" and he's a terrible person who should never host the Oscars with Eddie Murphy. Meanwhile, Darth Putin is spreading the Christian equivalent of Sharia Law on his country, and he doesn't even lose the Olympics.



I do not want to harp on your beliefs, but that's exactly what I'm saying.

Stop treating the bible like it's some big Lord of the Rings holy text prophecy and take it for what it is. A series of stories and events with lessons on how to make you a better person. This whole "it's written there, don't question it" while ignoring the historical subtext is EXACTLY what is wrong with religion. Footnotes and historical references
are not codes of behavior. Biblical scholars have been debating what certain things
mean for decades. Why are we ignoring them, who are having a thoughtful and interesting conversation, and just quoting biblical verses out of context like that's spirituality? It isn't.

Leviticus wasn't the word of God. It was ancient law that doesn't apply today thrown in for historical context. Marriage for love didn't exist, it was all like cattle trading. I fail to see why a historical footnote is the major test of faith for Christianity. But hey... it's written there, so...

I could quote scripture that shows that what your saying is not correct, but it would be pointless because to you, and others the Bible is just a story/history book. The Bible is a holy book, because it is God's written word. Again I could quote scripture on that, but it would be pointless. So the best thing I could do is pray, and hope that God will one day show you and others what the truth really is.

 

[charlietheowl]

I agree to that, but again... we treat celebrities that carry no power or weight who say hateful things like horrible monsters, yet we let politicians that say the same things keep theirs... heck, even gets them re-elected. A&E was expressing their freedom of speech, as were those who were threatening a boycott.

I think that's because more people know about various celebrities than various politicians. More people know about the Duck Dynasty people than senators or congressmen.

 

[Drtooth]

I said something kinda passive aggressive here, so I'll take it back.

However, what I will not take back is that the Bible is written by observers not God himself. Telephone games happen with translation and you have religious scholars doing the hard research and having the debates that need to be had.

I'm DONE talking about what's in and not in the bible and the context. it's not a fun conversation.

 

[D'Snowth]

I really don't have that much to add, as I really don't watch DUCK DYNASTY, and therefor, am not too familiar with everyone in this family (I know about them though, as I've said, I know DUCK DYNASTY is pretty much a spinoff of BILLY THE EXTERMINATOR, as Phil and Willie Robertson were clients of Billy's once before they got their own show, and I've seen publicity for the family before), however, in reading Phil's comments for myself, I feel compelled to add my two-cent's worth here.

Now, setting aside his comments regarding homosexuality and bestiality (because we really don't need to go there), I do have to agree with the point he's trying to get across, as I've been saying it for years, our society has crumbled, deteriorated, and corrupted itself beyond all recognition; Phil says...

Everything is blurred on what's right and what's wrong... sin becomes fine.

That's exactly what's wrong with the world today, what's right and wrong has become blurred, and many people today find sinful acts to be just fine. Among such sinful acts, he mentions:

Sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men.

Yes, yes, YES! This is one of the biggest problems plaguing our society today, all the sleeping around people do! I'm no relationship expert, and I don't claim to be a love guru, but love is serious business, and as such, it needs to be treated with respect; for a man to sleep around with as many women as he wants to, or a women to sleep around with as many men as she wants to, shows a total disregard of other people's feelings and consideration, it's a very shameful, selfish, reckless, mindless, and yes, sinful act. You know how there's all those warning and disclaimers on products like cigarettes, or alcohol, or other things like that that say to, "Enjoy responisbly"? It's the same with sex, sex is something that needs to be handled responsibly, but society seems to think otherwise these days. There's a certain time, and with a certain person that sex is to be enjoyed, but people have gotten themselves addicted to sex, and now they just want to engage in such activities whenever they feel like it, no matter who the other person is.

And getting back to sin in general, a lot of people actually try to justify their sins to make themselves seem less guilty than they really are; I know a lot of people out there are now saying things like, "Well, I'm a Christian, and as such, Jesus already took the punishment for my sins, therefore, that 10 Commandment stuff doesn't apply to me anymore, because Jesus is like my alibi, I can sin all I want, but it technically won't be sin anymore, because Jesus took the punishment for me." Yeah, uh, that peculiar logic aside, don't you think it's still morally reprehensible to, say, go and rob a bank? What are the justifications for that? You needed money? You had bills to pay? You had mouths to feed? What if you were to go around and just kill people? What's the justification for that? Those certain people got on your nerves? You hated those people? They hated you? And why cheat on your spouse? Just wanting more "excitement" in your life? Wanting more sexual adventures?

Looking back at Phil's comments myself, I think the media, not even surprisingly, blew his comments way out of proportion; they claim that he compares homosexuality to bestiality, but that's not what he says at all: he was asked, what he finds to be acts of sin, and he started with homosexuality, then followed it with bestiality, among other things that he finds to be sins... he did not compared homosexuality and bestiality to one another, he listed off things as sins, and bestiality just happened to come second on his list, after homosexuality.

Anyway, my point is this: while I think it was probably best if Phil left homosexuality (and bestiality, for that matter) out of the subject, I find the point he was trying to make most valid, and I think we need to stop trying to change what's right and what's wrong to our own liking so that no matter what good or bad we do, it's, "Fine" either way.

 

[Slackbot]

The one thing I'm taking away from this controversy over an actor I don't know in a show I don't watch is that it is no longer okay to gay-bash, and that's what likening homosexuality to bestiality is. For that alone I am glad.

 

[Drtooth]

The one thing I'm taking away from this controversy over an actor I don't know in a show I don't watch is that it is no longer okay to gay-bash, and that's what likening homosexuality to bestiality is. For that alone I am glad.

There is NO excuse for likening homosexuality to bestiality, pedophilia, or whatever form of Godwin's law the crackpots can pull out of their butts. That's high quality full grade high octane bullcrap made up to make themselves look like the moral high ground.

Now, I do get what Snowth is saying about sex. I get that and I would tend to agree on points. But frankly, the world is crumbling for much worse reasons. We have the worst richer class since the days of the Industrial Revolution, we have a gun tragedy every freaking month... two a month sometimes... but oh noes... two guys love each other and that's the big horrible thing that's bringing about the Apocalypse? Wait... doesn't the bible say something about hoarding riches and screwing the poor class? Oh yeah, but forget that. Leviticus said something, and we chose to believe one out of 3 things because the other two sound silly. THAT'S what gets me. Of all the hate and horror, the worst thing is love because it's not a mechanical thing to make more humans.. and it's not like we have a shortage of humans.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I just think we need to understand that people may say critical things about groups, but that doesn't mean they'd treat people badly in daily life. That doesn't mean they're bad people all around. Dismissing people as mere bigots or punishing them for the crime of speaking is NOT going to enhance the dialogue in this country.

 

[D'Snowth]

We have the worst richer class since the days of the Industrial Revolution, we have a gun tragedy every freaking month... two a month sometimes... but oh noes... two guys love each other and that's the big horrible thing that's bringing about the Apocalypse?

Yes, I've noted that before too: you can rob someone, you can kill someone, and not get nearly as much flack and backlash for your actions as much as gay people do for simply being gay, and again, it's mostly from the uber-Conservative, and the far-right who dish out such flack and backlash (but then blame the far-left of doing it). Somehow, murderer = a poor, lost, misguided soul... gay = spawn of Satan. People don't choose to be gay no more than people choose what color skin they want, what blood type they want, where their roots trace them back to, wherever.

But onto this particular point of the Tooth's... I think I actually saw a meme on Facebook within the last couple of weeks ago, talking about how, one shoe-bomber attempt, and now, everybody has to take their shoes off while going through security at the airport, but shootings at schools, movie theaters, and other public places are still happening, even post-Sandy Hook, and we still can't get gun control?

 

[Slackbot]

If it looks like a bigot, and quacks like a bigot...

 

[CensoredAlso]

If it looks like a bigot, and quacks like a bigot...

...dialogue shuts down once again. Labeling people isn't productive.