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An interview can get you into big trouble. Remember General Stanley
McChrystal? He was the commander of all U.S. forces in Afghanistan until
he gave an interview to Rolling Stone magazine in 2010 and
criticized his Commander in Chief. Soon thereafter, he was sacked. This
time the interview controversy surrounds Phil Robertson, founder of the
Duck Commander company and star of A&E’s Duck Dynasty. Robertson gave an interview to GQ, formerly known as Gentlemen’s Quarterly. And now, he has been put on “indefinite suspension” from the program.
Why? Because of controversy over his comments on homosexuality.
Phil Robertson is the plainspoken patriarch of the Duck Dynasty clan. In the GQ
interview, published in the January 2014 issue of the magazine,
Robertson makes clear that his Christian faith is central to his
identity and his life. He speaks of his life before Christ and actively
seeks to convert the interviewer, Drew Magary, to faith in Christ. He
tells Magary of the need for repentance from sin. Magary then asks
Robertson to define sin. He responded:
“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,” he says. Then he paraphrases 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.”
Christians will recognize that Robertson was offering a rather accurate paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 6:9-10:
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom
of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters,
nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor
the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the
kingdom of God.”
To be fair, Robertson also offered some comments that were rather crude
and graphically anatomical in making the same point. As Magary
explained, “Out here in these woods, without any cameras around, Phil is
free to say what he wants. Maybe a little too free. He’s got lots of
thoughts on modern immorality, and there’s no stopping them from rushing
out.”
Phil Robertson would have served the cause of Christ more faithfully if
some of those comments had not rushed out. This is not because what he
said was wrong. He was making the argument that homosexual acts are
against nature. The Apostle Paul makes the very same argument in Romans
1:26. The problem is the graphic nature of Robertson’s language and the
context of his statements.
The Apostle Paul made the same arguments, but worshippers in the
congregations of Rome and Corinth did not have to put hands over the
ears of their children when Paul’s letter was read to their church.
The entire Duck Dynasty enterprise is a giant publicity
operation, and a very lucrative enterprise at that. Entertainment and
marketing machines run on publicity, and the Robertsons have used that
publicity to offer winsome witness to their Christian faith. But GQ magazine? Seriously?
Not all publicity is good publicity, and Christians had better think
long and hard about the publicity we seek or allow by our cooperation.
Just ask Gen. McChrystal. In the aftermath of his embarrassing debacle
the obvious question was this: Why would a gifted and tested military
commander allow a reporter for Rolling Stone such access and then speak so carelessly? Rolling Stone
is a magazine of the cultural left. It was insanity for Gen. McChrystal
to speak so carelessly to a reporter who should have been expected to
present whatever the general said in the most unfavorable light.
Similarly, Phil Robertson would have served himself and his mission far better by declining to cooperate with GQ for a major interview. GQ
is a “lifestyle” magazine for men — a rather sophisticated and worldly
platform for the kind of writing Drew Magary produced in this interview.GQ
is not looking for Sunday School material. Given the publicity the
interview has now attracted, the magazine must be thrilled. Phil
Robertson is likely less thrilled.
Another interesting parallel emerges with the timing of this
controversy. The current issue of TIME magazine features Pope Francis I
as “Person of the Year.” Within days of TIME’s declaration, Phil
Robertson had been suspended from Duck Dynasty. Robertson’s
suspension was caused by his statements that homosexual acts are sinful.
But Pope Francis is riding a wave of glowing publicity, even as he has
stated in public his agreement with all that the Roman Catholic Church
teaches — including its teachings on homosexual acts.
Francis has declared himself to be a “son of the church,” and his
church teaches that all homosexual acts are inherently sinful and must
be seen as “acts of grave depravity” that are “intrinsically
disordered.”
But Pope Francis is on the cover of TIME magazine and Phil Robertson is
on indefinite suspension. Such are the inconsistencies, confusions, and
hypocrisies of our cultural moment.
Writing for TIME, television critic James Poniewozik argued that
Robertson’s error was to speak so explicitly and openly — “to make the
subtext text.” He wrote: “Now, you’ve got an issue with those of us who
maybe just want to watch a family comedy about people outside a major
city, but please without supporting somebody thumping gay people with
their Bible. Or a problem with people with gay friends, or family, or,
you know, actual gay A&E viewers.”
By speaking so openly, Robertson crossed the line, Poniewozik explains.
A&E was running for cover. The network released a statement that
attempted to put as much distance as possible between what the network
described as Robertson’s personal beliefs and their own advocacy for gay
rights:
“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.”
So, even as most evangelical Christians will likely have concerns about theway Phil Robertson expressed himself in some of his comments and wherehe
made the comments, the fact remains that it is the moral judgment he
asserted, not the manner of his assertion, that caused such an uproar. A
quick look at the protests from gay activist groups like GLAAD will
confirm that judgment. They have protested the words Robertson drew from
the Bible and labeled them as “far outside of the mainstream
understanding of LGBT people.”
So the controversy over Duck Dynasty sends a clear signal to
anyone who has anything to risk in public life — say nothing about the
sinfulness of homosexual acts or risk sure and certain destruction by
the revolutionaries of the new morality. You have been warned.
In a statement released before his suspension, Phil Robertson told of
his own sinful past and of his experience of salvation in Christ and
said: “My mission today is to go forth and tell people about why I
follow Christ and also what the Bible teaches, and part of that teaching
is that women and men are meant to be together. However, I would never
treat anyone with disrespect just because they are different from me. We
are all created by the Almighty and like Him, I love all of humanity.
We would all be better off if we loved God and loved each other.”
Those are fighting words, Phil. They are also the gospel truth.
I am always glad to hear from readers. Write me at mail@albertmohler.com. Follow regular updates on Twitter at www.twitter.com/albertmohler.
Drew Magary, “What the Duck?,” GQ,
January
2014. http://www.gq.com/entertainment/television/201401/duck-dynasty-phil-robertson
[WARNING: explicit language used. Citation is here for the purpose of
documentation.]
James Poniewozik, “Why Phil Robertson Got Suspended from Duck Dynasty,” TIME, Wednesday, December 18, 2014. http://entertainment.time.com/2013/12/18/duck-dynasty-phil-robertson-suspended/
Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph 2357. http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a6.htm#2357
Megan Townsend, “A&E Network Places Star on Indefinite Filming Hiatus Following Anti-Gay Remarks,”
GLAAD, Wednesday, December 18,
2013. http://www.glaad.org/blog/ae-network-places-star-indefinite-filming-hiatus-following-anti-gay-remarks
AJ Marechal, “Duck Dynasty: Phil Robertson Suspended Indefinitely Following Anti-Gay Remarks,” Variety,
Wednesday, December 18,
2013. http://variety.com/2013/tv/news/duck-dynasty-ae-suspends-phil-robertson-following-gay-remarks-1200974473/
