Commentary
By Scott Buttram
I recall the first time I stumbled across an episode of “Duck Dynasty” and the first thought that crossed my mind: Here we go again.
From the reality television genre that brought us “Honey Boo Boo,” another embarrassment from the South. These ZZ Top wannabes would really be the icing on the cake of Southern humiliation. But like anyone else who comes across a train wreck, I paused and watched for a few minutes. I was hooked.
This was different. Very, very different. It was anything but a train wreck.
For starters, these people were funny. Not in a laughing-at-them, but in a laughing-with-them kind of way. Quick wits and sharp minds are a good beginning d Magary of GQ proved to be quite educational. For starters, I was slammed between the eyes with a “god*****” in the first paragraph and peppered with F-bombs and a host of other words throughout the story that would have resulted in soap in the mouth in the home where I was raised.
Evidently, it is perfectly acceptable for a major magazine to take the Lord’s name in vain, but unacceptable to share one’s faith in that same Lord. I haven’t read one mainstream news article questioning or so much as raising an eyebrow in regard to the writer’s language. To my knowledge, he hasn’t been reprimanded or suspended. But Phil Robertson’s expression of his faith in a country in which that expression is guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution results in condemnation.
How does that make sense?
One quote by Robertson jumped out at me. I had not seen it reported in other stories and I realized there was a reason for that. This quote didn’t fit into the picture that the mainstream media wanted to paint of a homophobic, Southern Christian, so why bring it to the table? Best to leave it out of the stories, especially if the goal is to portray a Christian in the worst possible light.
“We never, ever judge someone on who’s going to heaven, hell,” Robertson told GQ. “That’s the Almighty’s job. We just love ’em, give ’em the good news about Jesus—whether they’re homosexuals, drunks, terrorists. We let God sort ’em out later, you see what I’m saying?”
Phil Robertson of “Duck Dynasty”
photo courtesy of “Duck Dynasty on A&E” Facebook page
