Phil Robertson "Fired"

[jvcarroll]

Isn't that the major criticism given to Christianity? That's it's based in fear of punishment and fire and brimstone? I'm simply telling you I agree, those aren't good reasons for doing the right thing.

And I'm not saying that. You seem to be quarreling with some strawman, inventing the worst possible scenarios and then playing the out in your head.

We all believe different things and should be able to voice them respectfully. Should we be forced to? Well, of course not. But who's to say that is what happened here?

I guess one could travel the path of pessimism and say that the Robertson family is being made to make nice even though they don't believe what they're saying, but I choose to believe they saw at least some error in their part of the equation and are taking steps to correct it. That's a win for everybody.

I've been rather outspoken on this issue. If I can give them the benefit of the doubt, I don't see why his supporters would have such a problem. Either way, I won't be watching the program. Poking fun of backwoods people isn't really my idea of enjoyable television.

If I'm going to watch unscripted television, it'll be something more like this. Cookie Monster terrorizing Martha Stewart always makes me smile!

 

[jvcarroll]

I just discovered this interesting little article. It'll be interesting to see how this plays-out.

President Robert Mugabe’s Son Reveals His Homosexuality

11, 27, 2013

"THEY are worse than pigs, goats and birds…. We will chop off their heads…” These are homophobic utterances of one Robert Mugabe, a Zimbabwe president who has made his stance towards the LGBTIQ community very candid.

Unbeknown to him, Robert Mugabe is carrying the seed of homosexuality himself. His third eldest son, Chipape Mugabe, has revealed his true sexuality at an emotional interview with a U.K radio station, consequently confirming a cliche; “Karma is a b***h!”.

My coming out of the closet was an important move in that much as my father is advocating anti-homosexuality, his own blood carries the very cells of what he deems as worse than pigs….” Chipape Mugabe told the Good Morning U.K drive-time radio DJ.

Chipape, who is studying towards an MBA at Oxford, explained that it is very crucial for Zimbabweans to start exercising the power of independent thinking and stop letting “dictators” like his dad ambush how they think.

Robert Mugabe has an extensive history of violent and homophobic statements. During last January’s elections, this president ran on a platform that assured “**** for gays” if his party won, promising laws that would make LGBTIQ individuals rot in jail for life.

“As a gay person and a very independent thinker, I feel Zimbabwe can do so much more than dwell on making the lives of minority groups a living ****. The question that everyone should always ask themselves before persecuting anyone gay is; how is he sleeping with another man directly affecting my life and how will torturing him propel my life to the better? The answer to both is zero,” articulated Mugabe.

Like many closeted gay men across the globe, Chipape Mugabe also fell on a trap of having to get married and have children so as to hide his true sexuality from the public, especially from his very homophobic father. He has since separated from his wife but says his revelation has brought them even closer.

Probed on how the Zimbabwe president is taking the news, Chipape said: “My father is probably still very shocked, therefore I’m giving him space to allow all these news to sink in, more so, to get him used to the idea of having a gay son. I sincerely hope my revelation will allow people to stop and think; what if my own child is gay?

“I often say; being straight is not an indication of strength much as being gay is not a weakness. What defines our strengths and weaknesses is our ability to rise against all odds and shape our own lives for the better. What are you doing with your life?” concluded Chipape.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Father sounds like a bit of a psycho on several issues and the son should count his blessings to be far away from him, heh.

 

[jvcarroll]

Father sounds like a bit of a psycho on several issues and the son should count his blessings to be far away from him, heh.

Things are terrible for gay people over there. I really upsets me that people seemed to notice LGBT oppression in Russia right away, while the plight in Africa is hardly reported.

I'm just glad America has taken such strides over the past few years. I think a lot of people are still trying to catch up!

 

[CensoredAlso]

Things are terrible for gay people over there. I really upsets me that people seemed to notice LGBT oppression in Russia right away, while the plight in Africa is hardly reported.

Sadly I get the impression people are just used to Africa having problems. But people actually fell for the idea for awhile that Russia was progressing as far as human rights, heh.

 

[fuzzygobo]

This is off topic, I know, but all of this has suddenly reminded me of a story I once saw on the news maybe a year or two ago. There was this guy who was one of those Neo-Nazi White Supremisists, and he let people know it too, not only would he go around preaching his hatred towards Jews and African-Americans, but he literally had it all over him, as he was tattooed from head to toe with Neo-Nazi signs and propaganda, he even met and married a woman who was in the same sect as he was, and likewise, had hate messages and signs tattooed all over her too.

Then, one day, they both suddenly had a wake up call, I don't remember under what circumstances caused them to really open their eyes, but they both saw the errors of their ways, and they saw how much hurt and destruction they caused, and they completely turned their lives around; the man even started undergoing the process of having all of this tattoos removed (which they said would take up to a year with all the ink he has over his body), the reporter even asked him if this wasn't painful for him, and he said along the lines of, "Yes, but I deserve it, and it's nothing compared to the pain and hurt I've put others through." Not sure how it's all working out for him, or if he and his wife have stuck with their changed ways.

Again, I know this is off topic, but I was reminded of it and felt like sharing.

That's always encouraging that even people like that can find salvation. Once you open up your heart like that, you can start the healing and make amazing changes.

Even Paul of Tarsus used to persecute Christians. Then through his own wake-up call became Jesus' biggest cheerleader. If it wasn't too late for him, so many others can still have a shot at redemption.

 

[jvcarroll]

Ick! Here are some sexist and disturbing remarks he made encouraging guys to marry underage girls. I hadn't seen this particular clip before. A fifteen year old girl is a child. That's apparently not how Mr. Robertson sees it. I hope he was joking. ​

 

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His wife was 16 when they got married (he was 20). That used to be more acceptable decades ago. Thankfully most of society has moved on from that. On that issue, I'd probably tell Mr. Robertson to get with the 21st century, lol.

 

[D'Snowth]

There's an evil televangelist out there somewhere (on the run from the law according to AMERICA'S MOST WANTED) who mentioned in cermons that girls should be allowed to marry as soon as they start menstrating, even if they start doing so at an early age, such as 11 and 12... in fact, his first wife died, and he kept having his congregration pray to have God rise her from the dead, but after like a year or so, he saw she wasn't coming back, so he finally laid her to rest (yes, he had his congregration pray every, single, day, to raise her from the dead, even as she decayed in her casket). Finally, he remarried... a 12-year-old girl, saying that God was reuniting him with his previous wife in the form of a younger girl.

But yes, heralde does have a point, particularly here in the south, it wasn't uncommon for youngens to elope and get married, as a matter of fact, that was a plot point in an early episode of Andy Griffith (remember, the kids' families were in a Hatfields and McCoys-esque feud, and the main reason they were running away to get married in the first place was because they knew their fathers wouldn't approve)... but then again, heralde says Phil needs to get with the 21st century... ugh, how are we any different, or any better than the previous century? We're kinda worse now, as sex-crazed as our society is, kids aren't eloping to get married at 15 and 16, they're just straight up letting their hormones take over, and then the girls end up getting pregnant, and neither of them know what to do, and we end up with abortions, babies put up for adoption, or just straight-up abandoned because the parents don't want it.

 

[CensoredAlso]

but then again, heralde says Phil needs to get with the 21st century... ugh, how are we any different, or any better than the previous century? We're kinda worse now, as sex-crazed as our society is, kids aren't eloping to get married at 15 and 16, they're just straight up letting their hormones take over, and then the girls end up getting pregnant, and neither of them know what to do, and we end up with abortions, babies put up for adoption, or just straight-up abandoned because the parents don't want it.

That's a valid point. What happened is we simply replaced one set of bad behaviors with another set and then declared the problems all fixed.