Surprise! It appears the bloodiest battle in the Culture Wars will be fought over something said by a millionaire reality show star who makes noisemakers that cause ducks to get horny! Disagree? Well maybe you haven’t seen the #IStandWithPhil petition that has already picked over 40,000 signatures!
“Simply put, Phil Robertson is being censored and punished for quoting the Bible, and A&E’s treatment of him is punitive and highly discriminatory,” said Chris Stone, who created the petition. […]
In an open letter to A&E that accompanies the petition, Stone writes: “Mr. Robertson’s comments in GQ Magazine are simply reflective of a Biblical view of sexuality, marriage, and family — a view that has stood the test of time for thousands of years and continues to be held by the majority of Americans and today’s world as a whole.” [TV Guide]
Now, I could sit here and pick apart the language in the petition (specifically the thing about how this view “has stood the test of time for thousands of years,” as though no other long-held belief or theory has ever become outdated or been proven wrong), or point out that A&E is really trying to have their cake and eat it too here (you can’t just hire and promote someone who repeatedly expresses viewpoints that are at odds with your self-proclaimed status as “strong supporters and champions of the LGBT community” and then turn around and wash your hands of the matter once it blows up in your face), or maybe also point out that the dude people are #StandingWith also has some, let’s say, questionable opinions on race, but what would be the point of any of that? Just over 24 hours after the story broke we’re already miles beyond having a reasonable dialogue.
Sides have been drawn. Weapons are raised. Commence yelling at each other.
