Off the top of my head? <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/fVQjGGJVSXc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I don't see what he said that warranted firing. This stuff is getting out of hand. He never espoused hate for gay people. I don't see how disagreeing with someone else's lifestyle constitutes discrimination and hate speech. If you choose to treat them differently for who they are, that is one thing. But simply because you disagree? There is intolerance here, and it is not on the part of Mr. Robertson. If Mr. Robertson had said sleeping around with women you're not married with is sin, would it also be hate speech? A&E could have simply published a statement saying that Mr. Robertson's views were solely his own, and that they vehemently disagreed with him. Like others have pointed out, the entire premise of the show and the attraction for its viewers is the people on it and who they are. It is extremely hypocritical for A&E to happily make millions of dollars selling the story of a family of bible thumpers, then suddenly fire the patriarch because of a random politically incorrect statement that was not in anyway related to the show.
Yeah, don't you just love how bigotexxx demands explanations of people's posts but completely ignores posts directed towards him?
It's not Palin. He's just stealing lines from Bobby Jindal, who is desperately trying to stay relevant. Jindal: ""In fact, come to think of it, I find a good bit of it offensive. But I also acknowledge that this is a free country and everyone is entitled to express their views. In fact, I remember when TV networks believed in the First Amendment. It is a messed up situation when Miley Cyrus gets a laugh, and Phil Robertson gets suspended." Jindal needs a refresher on the first amendment too.
Just a friendly reminder: Any time you think people are being oversensitive or the "punishment" is too severe over some disparaging remarks someone said....just switch in "African American" or "Jews" in the offending quote and see if you still feel the same way.
To be honest, I've never witnessed a black person being discriminated on in my 35 years either. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen, but I've never personally watched it happen, and I've lived in Houston my entire life in predominantly minority filled areas. Does it make me a racist for pointing that out? No. In my opinion, people are just looking for a way to hate on this guy. He lived in a small town, so maybe it wasn't prevalent where he was from. He has his beliefs, and he has a right to them. If you go to any protestant church, all their pastors echo what Phil Robertson says every single Sunday regarding homosexuality.
True, though at 9:43 this am Sarah Palin said, among other snippets that echo or pre-empted the OP....
Just because you didn't see it doesn't mean it didn't happen. Are you saying you never heard a black person complain about racism? I'd guess you'd be a lot less likely to see something racist happen in a predominately minority neighborhood as opposed to say a small town in the South. I can share my own personal anecdotes of witnessing racist behavior in Katy growing up, back when it was just a small community of 5500 people. Um, no.
The Matt Walsh Blog, not that any right winger is ever going to change the opinion of any lefty on this forum or the opposite for that matter...
The guy is not getting arrested. His boss said that what he said doesn't reflect the values of the company. What if someone for the Osteen organization said that they loved to get drunk and have one night stands. Would they not also get fired?
Not in Houston proper, but there was at least one Klan rally in Huntsiville when I went to SHSU in the mid 90s, complete with a man holding up a stuffed animal monkey to provoke and mock the crowd. Not that too many people came to support them, or that the counter demonstration didn't outnumber them significantly, but they still have a stronghold in Conroe where "white only" barbecues are held for the privledged and toothless few. I actually watch the show and like it. I've actually seen every episode...and I hate reality TV. It's innovative television, and the show's appeal is that it isn't exploitive like most of reality television...and it avoids politics. You don't have to be a rural fundamentalist Christian to like the Robertsons. The writer of GQ piece clearly shares that opinion. I don't think Phil is particularly mean-spirited, and he later qualified the statements that he loved everyone in his universal Christian way (though if you aren't a Christian it doesn't sound so universal). I think if he "hates" anyone it's urban "yuppies" as he refers to them. He said several things that were historically inaccurate, selectively revisionist, and certainly offensive. I don't have any issues with his beliefs, I'm just disappointed at his ignorance and his intolerence of people who think differently than him, a significant amount of which probably crew his show and worked their asses off to make him and his family famous. Their rights not to be in a hostile workplace on the set are no less important than the man's right to his opinions off of it. The contraversy is just a bit manufactured by all involved, really. The GQ piece was decent journalism, and portrayed him in his own words without resorting to snark, but A&E had to make the call. I am sure they don't want to kill the um...duck...laying the golden eggs, but they chose the one their legal and HR people thought was safest, and you can bet your life that conclusion was was made by a team of nervous people fearing a lawsuit. If that comes as a surprise to anyone whohasn't been retired since the Carter administration, please help me get hired where you work, so that I can freely drink and smoke at my desk, wear sunglasses all day when I am hungover, smoke a joint in the stairway, make jokes about people who are different than me, hit on your secretary, and call you a close-minded politically correct weasel if you have any issues with it. I can generally get away with that sort of thing in Israel, but I'm moving back to Texas in February. It echos the beliefs of religious muslims, eastern orthodox (Russia anyone?) and traditional jewish adherents, but the official stances of the mainline protestant churches of North America and Europe don't really jive with the "hate the sin, love the sinner" mantra any more unless you mean Southern Baptists, who broke off to be Southern Baptists in the first place because they thought slavery was justified by scripture...
You have Freedom of Speech, but not freedom from the consequences of the stupid **** you say. It sounds as though you'd make his job a right that coincides with his Freedom of Speech.
That blog really made me crack up. I love reading whiny posts from butthurt Christians. Get over yourselves. You are not being discriminated against. People get fired for saying stupid crap every day. And I don't care what book/scripture you are quoting. If it is hateful and offensive, then it's hateful and offensive.
