By now I’m sure, you have already heard the news regarding A&E’s decision to indefinitely suspend Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson after a candid interview with GQ magazine. The left is rushing to the airwaves pointing out his “intolerant” Christian side while those on the other side are quick to defend Robertson’s right to free speech.

Late last night, I opened my laptop and signed on to Facebook. When I pulled up my news feed, I was shocked to see that almost every post that went through it was either a picture or article of the incident regarding A&E’s decision to suspend him. I saw the usual posts from my more frequented friends who always tend to engage in the daily issues. But something was different this time. I noticed that friends who normally do not engage, were out in full force, defending Robertson’s beliefs. Some of these friends have been on my friend’s list for many years and I had not heard a “peep” out of them until last night. I often wondered if they read my posts, agreed or disagreed or had any kind of opinion at all. Regardless, it was refreshing to see that this sparked an outrage and they were willing to rush to Robertson’s defense.  A Facebook page “Boycott A&E Until Phil Robertson is put back on Duck Dynasty” was created and had 162,000 likes in a mere 3-1/2 hours. I just checked the page and it now has 562,000 likes and is almost tied with the A&E Facebook page at 584,769 likes. So why the outrage?

If you listen to those on the left, you will see a typical bible thumping, redneck, gun loving, white man who is intolerant and hateful to gays. They were quick to jump on this just to point that out. A&E, fearful of their backlash, wasted no time in coming out with a statement.

“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.”

Duck Dynasty is not new to controversy regarding Robertson’s Christianity. In an interview with Sports Spectrum TV in April, 2013, Robertson claimed that A&E attempted to cut Jesus from the family prayer at the end of the show. Robertson also claimed to have waged “spiritual warfare” in order for the family to be able to occasionally keep Jesus in their prayer but said that A&E would often use fake bleeps  after edits when no one in the show expressed profanity. I would think that A&E was very aware that the Dynasty clan had very strong religious beliefs and that Robertson’s comments regarding gays would stem from those beliefs. Trying to straddle both sides of the fence by allowing the show to continue, while suspending Robertson, may not get the results that A&E is hoping for after making this decision.

Americans are outraged! Without getting into all the details of Robertson’s comments, it all boils down to this. This is a Duck Hunt. This is an outright attack on a man because of his Christian beliefs. Robertson clearly laid out his position when he stated that:

“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 their homosexuals, drunks, terrorists. We let God sort ’em out later, you see what I’m saying?”

Does that sound like someone who is intolerant? It doesn’t to me. It sounds like someone who is strong in his belief that homosexuality is wrong. Granted the “vagina” statement was a bit harsh, it is still his belief and that is okay with me. Note that Robertson also made a mention of  bestiality, adulterers, idolaters,male prostitutes, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers stating [that]  “they won’t inherit the Kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.”  He didn’t make the comments specifically to gays, as A&E and the media would like you to believe.

As for the free speech aspect, he is afforded freedom to express his beliefs. A&E has the freedom to express theirs as well. We have yet to see the backlash but something tells me that A&E will feel the pain. Duck Dynasty drew in approximately 9 million viewers for their Christmas special that was recently aired on A&E. There are petitions, threats to boycott sponsors, phone calls and emails flooding A&E for their decision to suspend Robertson. I have even read comments from gays defending Robertson on the Dynasty’s boycott A&E page. Even if you don’t agree with what Robertson said, he still offered a wonderful message. ” .. just love ’em — let God sort ’em out later.”