I've never watched Duck Dynasty. I don't even have cable. But I have to comment on the suspension of Phil Robertson from the show following his comments regarding homosexuality in an interview with GQ Magazine.
This is not important because of the show. But it is important because it is indicative of the direction our culture has been moving over the past several years. Political correctness (PC) is the common term for it, but the term hardly does justice to how insidious this trend is. What it amounts to is a speech code -- the requirement that ones speech fit within a narrowly defined range of what is acceptable under threat of vilification, harassment, or in this case possible termination of employment.
This brings to mind as a case in point the 2009 Miss USA pageant when "celebrity" judge Perez Hilton asked contestant Carrie Prejean her opinion of same-sex marriage. When she answered that she supported the traditional view of marriage, Hilton, apparently shocked at her ability for independent thought, spent the next several days flogging her on his video blog, and the media basically made it their purpose to find whatever information was necessary to destroy her (she eventually lost her crown due to alleged breach of contract and largely fell out of favor with cultural conservatives who had seen her as a potential poster child for traditional values, but the point I'm making is that the media made it their mission to seek out this information in order to discredit her as a means of retribution for stating her views). One imagines the purpose was to make an example of her for the benefit of any who would dare to not toe the party line when it comes to homosexuality or same-sex marriage.
Apparently, Phil Robertson did not learn from the example made of Ms. Prejean, because he dared to speak his own beliefs, which do not align with the officially sanctioned beliefs, in a public venue. Robertson's statement was not "hateful" (the term frequently used by the PC crowd for any view that they disagree with), it was simply his statement of what he believes to be right. And, by the way, what he said was consistent with what the Bible says about homosexuality. So Robertson is being ostracized not only for stating his own opinion, but for his religious beliefs!
This is no small matter regarding a television program, it represents a seed change in American culture, where the free exchange of ideas is replaced with the Thought Police, waiting for some non-conforming speech or belief to make itself known so that it can be quickly and mercilessly punished.
One important thing to note: This is not a First Amendment issue. The First Amendment precludes the government from prohibiting the free exercise of religion; the government had no role in the incident with Prejean or with Robertson. This is an important distinction, but it is nonetheless alarming. For those who may disagree with Robertson, that's fine, but when people can be subjected to character assassination and be suspended or fired from work for holding traditional religious views, we are crossing a line in our society that I don't believe we want to cross. And ultimately that would come back to bite all of us, regardless of what side of this particular issue you are on.
