A&E Suspends Phil Robertson From Duck Dynasty

Duck Dynasty patriarch, Phil Robertson, makes no secret about several things ... his love of family, hunting and most of all, the Lord. Loving the Lord as he does, it should have come as no surprise to the executives at the A&E Network, home to the hit show, that he a. has strong opinions on sin and will speak of things found in the Holy Bible. Yet, it apparently did and after Robertson dared to equate homosexuality to sin in an interview with GQ Magazine, the executives at A&E Network have suspended Phil Robertson "indefinitely."

During the interview with Drew Magary (GQ correspondent and a staff writer for Deadspin), Phil was asked "What, in your mind, is sinful?"

His response was, "Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men." Then he paraphrased Corinthians: "Don't be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers-they won't inherit the kingdom of God. Don't deceive yourself. It's not right."

Phil went on to say, "We never, ever judge someone on who's going to heaven, hell. 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?"

GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) high-ups read the interview and went on the offensive, calling the executives at A&E, demanding they punish the elder Robertson for what they called "some of the vilest and most extreme statements uttered against LGBT people in a mainstream publication" that were "littered with outdated stereotypes and blatant misinformation."

Despite the fact that Phil Robertson has a constitutional right to free speech, and despite the fact that America obviously adores the Duck Dynasty clan and values (the season four premiere became the #1 nonfiction series telecast in cable history with 11.8 million viewers tuning in. The episode set a cable record for a nonfiction series telecast among adults 25-54 with 6.3 million viewers), A&E caved to the pressure. They issued a statement saying Phil had been suspended from filming. "We are extremely disappointed to have read Phil Robertson's comments in GQ, which are based on his own personal beliefs and are not reflected in the series 'Duck Dynasty.' His personal views in no way reflect those of A&E Networks, who have always been strong supporters and champions of the LGBT community. The network has placed Phil under hiatus from filming indefinitely."

What Can Christians who support Phil Robertson do?

Christians can speak just as loudly as the folks from GLAAD did. Those who support his right to free speech and his beliefs in the Bible can be heard.

Contact A&E Networks

• Email: feedbackaetv@aenetworks.com or aefeedback@aenetworks.com
• Phone: 212-210-1400
• Fax: 212-907-9497

Remain calm, not letting emotion take over so you're not written off as a "nutjob." Let them know that you do not support the decision to remove Phil from the show. Make sure that you keep their other channels in mind. (A&E Networks owns A&E, Lifetime, The History Channel, LMN, bio, H2, Crime & Investigation Network, Military History, Lifetime Real Women and HISTORY en Español.) And don't forget the advertisers. A&E makes their money from advertising dollars. Companies spend millions for prime ad slots on TV shows based on how popular said shows are.

Some of the advertisers who spend money to have their products shown on Duck Dynasty are ...

• Bass Pro Shops: https://www.facebook.com/bassproshops
• Home Depot: https://www.facebook.com/homedepot
• Ihop: https://www.facebook.com/IHOP
• KMart: https://www.facebook.com/kmart
• Macy's: https://www.facebook.com/Macys
• Microsoft: https://www.facebook.com/Microsoft
• Motorola: https://www.facebook.com/motorolaUS
• Nokia: https://www.facebook.com/NokiaUS
• Pizza Hut: https://www.facebook.com/PizzaHut
• Samsung: https://www.facebook.com/SamsungUSA
• Sensodyne: https://www.facebook.com/SensodyneMe
• Starburst: https://www.facebook.com/Starburst
• T Mobile: https://www.facebook.com/TMobile
• Verizon: https://www.facebook.com/verizon
• Walgreens: https://www.facebook.com/Walgreens

There are already several social campaigns supporting Phil.

• Petition to A&E on Change.org
• Support Phil Robertson on Facebook
• BoycottAETW on Twitter

If you want to purchase Duck Dynasty merchandise, do it directly from the Duck Commander website - not A&E.

(To read the entire GQ interview, go to their website. Be forewarned: Drew Magary apparently believes that using language that you will never hear on Duck Dynasty is a proper "voice" to have in print. If the liberal use of cursing and taking the Lord's name in vain bothers you, skip it.)

Tags : Duck Dynasty Phil Robertson Homosexuality