Phil Robertson (Duck Dynasty) suspended from A&E

BBC (yeah, I could not find a thread on this on the first few pages)

The reason? Anti-gay remarks and bringing his beliefs into it.

The Louisiana governor is defending him.

It's no wonder he got kicked off. That was pure hate speech.

Why anyone cares about this show to begin with is beyond me.

Can it just be cancelled already?

There are a ton of shows out there spewing just as much crap, if not more, as this one.

Jersey Shore

Bad Girls Club

Real Housewives of Atlanta, Miami, New Jersey, Beverly Hills, etc.

The entire pop culture is filled with senseless bullshit that I swear is lowering people's IQ levels.

Can't wait for someone (The-Apostle maybe?) to yell about freedom of speech.

@JML897: I'm not defending Phil Robertson, but what's wrong with freedom of speech?

Oh, boy! Are his fans doing that. I follow Todd in the Shadows (TGWTG reviewer) on Twitter and when he suggested to search "MACKLEMORE PHIL" in the search bar... *headdesk*

FREE SPEECH! With blackjack... and hookers!

Nothing, but unless the government is coming after Phil Robertson it has nothing to do with this story.

Word.

Lol.....the reporter knew he would get a response like this....its just like with chic fil a, they try to get a controversial response from someone who is obviously a devout christian and follows the bible

ha, the guy states his beliefs and gets punished for it. Pretty stupid man.

Still can't find the full transcript online, but I'm more concerned with reported claims that he felt/said "blacks in Louisiana were better off under Jim Crowe." That's worse to me than his religious feelings on gay culture (he also mentioned adulturers, drunkards).

Fucking white people!

Why? Do the base of people who watch Duck Dynasty actually care? Besides that, weekday and weekend political talk shows have equally bigoted guest panels badmouthing gays on regular programming, and they keep getting invited back. Though, they're always using proxy statements like ruining the American family and hurting traditional values and such, or they'll condemn acceptance of gay lifestyle and support for equal treatment as a slippery slop to bestiality and pedophilia. Or hell, worst comes out of the mouths of elected people to office.

How dare he not believe gay marriage is ok! Not being tolerant of everything and anybody will not be tolerated!

Intolerance towards someone because of their sexual orientation is the same as intolerance towards someone because of their skin color.

uh...no

also, im pretty sure that the duck dynasty fan base couldn't care less if Phil Robertson is anti gay~

@plageus900: not even close.

A business decision

A terrible business decision. I'm pretty sure this is A&E's highest rating/grossing show of all time and I can guarantee you that the audience does not give one shit that Phil Robertson is a Christian.

This is the same group of executives that would not allow Phil to say the word "Jesus" on the show.

Race and sexual orientation are both immutable traits. I see no problem with his statement. Should we be tolerant to the views of neo nazis?

Anyways, A&E have the right to distance themselves from the views of one of their employees.

@GamingTitan: Uh... yes..

How? How is intolerance towards someone being born black any different than intolerance towards someone being born with an attraction towards the same sex?

Silly.

This shouldn't need to reflect A&Es position more than anything else portrayed on the show.

Its a program centered around a traditional, Jesus loving, Louisiana bayou "hick" family. What did they expect.

"Surprise: the subjects of Duck Dynasty have a traditional value system."

Give anyone enough time in front of a microphone and their personal beliefs are bound to surface sooner or later.

This guy grew up living off the land in the bayous has different perspectives than, say, a college educated, northern, city person like myself.

While it's certainly important to promote acceptance of gay love as legitimate we also need to work to understand that people have different worldviews.

Technically A&E is allowed to fire any employees for anything they find offensive. If A&E wants to fire him they are more within their rights to do so. However it does seem unfair to fire him as he was directly asked these questions in an interview and he gave his honest answer. I'd much rather have an employee give an honest answer than lie. Although the media tends to also disregard the fact that in the same interview he also talked how all people must be loved and that only God can judge.

And that is that.

gays and liberals once again show their intolerance

#istandwithphil

If A.E. wants to suspend one of its employees for gravely insulting millions of people and generating a massive potential shitstorm that would stain the company's reputation, that is perfectly alright and has **** all to do with the supposed intolerance of homosexuals/liberals/democrats/government in your country.

@MysteryJ0ker:

I honestly dont know why pepople care either.

Anyways yeah, if you are publicly an asshole you might experience repercussions to your career.

Thought police Fascism has begun in America perpetrated by Democrats, Republicans, and people like the OP.

Soon to arrive: "thought reeducation centers" built and funded by Democrats, Republicans, and people like the OP.

Good riddance to garbage.

If the government had stepped in on this, I might be inclined to think that, but until then....no.

I don't know why people watch these types of shows in the first place.

Likely a bad one to, given the show's popularity.

I have zero problems with what he said. He can say and believe what he wants.

Obamacare finally got repealed?

I don't see the big deal. What he said is standard stuff that you hear at a lot of churches. He just said that it's a sin and he's right. I'm not Christian but I don't know what people expected. Him and his family are obviously hardcore christian fundamentalist type people.

And him losing his job over this isn't going to help - Bill Burr has it right, people who say shit like this need to be sat down and talked to not fired. If anything, he's gonna be pissed about this and may shift the blame to gay people...

This is A&E's loss. Duck Dynasty's viewership would have probably been absolutely unaffected by what he said since most of those who view Duck Dynasty most likely hold the same views. Besides, if A&E dumps them, tons of other networks will be begging them to come onto their network. The Robertson family hasn't really lost anything.

Although the government is not involved, this is still a dangerous precedent. Whether you disagree with what Phil said or not, what he said is basic tenet of Christianity. Tens of millions of people across the country hold the same views as Phil and this incident simply tells them that they better not dare state their beliefs in public or their livelihoods could be in jeopardy. This also shows all the thin skinned gays and gay sympathizers that if one of their colleagues happens to be Christian and believes that homosexuality is immoral, they can get them fired for that reason alone. I'm sorry, but people should not have to be fearful of being fired simply over their religious beliefs. We live in a free society were people ought to be able to express their religious beliefs freely without fear of reprisal.

And when you think about it, who was the one who really got hurt here? Did any gays lose their jobs because Phil said that their lifestyles are immoral? Did any gays get lynched, beaten, or assaulted because of what Phil said? No. There is no proof that any gays suffered any real injury due to what Phil said other than their feelings may have gotten hurt which is not an excuse to silence anyone's opinion. The only person who REALLY got discriminated against here is Phil Robertson since he was the only one who suffered any real loss.

that show was on once so i watched it and i saw no ducks and i was disappointed. never watching again.

Muslims cannot eat pork. This doesn't mean they hate people that do and condemn them to hell. They just don't believe in its consumption.

Fundamental Christians don't support gay marriage. That doesn't mean they hate the gays and damn them to hell. They just don't believe in their practices.

From what I have seen of the show, none of them are hateful people. Its his religious view.

I'm for gay rights. But you can't force a religion that isn't accepting of it to embrace it.

Both are forms intolerance, but let us be aware that there are differences between skin pigmentation and psychology.

My life. How can I move on?

Correct, but both are traits that people are born with.

It was almost like entertainment reading his rant.

I don't think a person is born gay, but whatever.

I am aware of the scientific research indicating that. My point which I am explaining more now is details are crucial when comparing something to another thing.

@Braun_Roid_Rage: Do you think its a choice made later on in life? Being heterosexual, I couldn't even imagine choosing to be with the same sex.

@plageus900: I do believe it's a choice that's made. I'm not going to argue though with all the ppl that may quote me. Just my belief.