To an intelligent, open-minded person who sincerely believes in pluralism, the entire Phil Robertson, Duck Dynasty incident should have nothing at all to do with where one stands on gay issues or what one thinks of the man’s opinions, but whether we believe in freedom of speech or prefer intolerance and censorship.
Tragically, many people — especially those on the left — are increasingly of the latter variety.
And please spare me the sophomoric argument that this is a market and not a free speech issue.
There is no free market when there is a monopoly of power and influence. It’s like saying it’s a fair fight because there are only two people in the ring; that one is Mike Tyson and the other a schoolboy is suddenly irrelevant.
The reason I write about this subject now is because it is not going away.
Also, a few days after it was revealed Robertson had been suspended by A&E for expressing the views of at least 100 million Americans, comedian Bob Newhart announced he had cancelled his booked speech at the Legatus Summit in Florida next February. Legatus is an organization of Catholic businessmen and is renowned for its charitable work.
The reason was GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, the same group that had campaigned against Robertson, had applied their usual pressure and told Newhart that Legatus was somehow homophobic. It’s not, but such is the enormous influence of the gay community in Hollywood and in media that the man ran away.
As it happens, I am also speaking at the Legatus Summit; I am proud and delighted to be doing so and will not change my mind, no matter what a gang of censorship thugs and their enablers do and say.
I suppose, Mr. Newhart, that I care more about freedom, truth, courage and democracy than I do about being slandered.
I speak to Legatus chapters all over North America, and of the hundreds of members I have met, none has expressed a bigoted remark to me or said anything in any way unpleasant about gay people.
They are Christians and as such, believe marriage is the union of one man and one woman, but they are also kind and loving.
You see, the only people who seem to obsess about gay issues are gay radicals.
The other point is, as far as I know, not one speaker intended to even mention homosexuality, and I certainly had no intention of doing so. I will now, and I am sure I will not be alone.
Preposterous plotline
The very day the Robertson nonsense became public, there was an episode of Law and Order: UK on the television with the preposterous plotline of a devout Christian policeman allowing a fellow officer to die in the line of duty because the man was gay.
Lawyers and cops were angry and shocked at the fatal hatred of these awful Christians.
A far-from-unique example of anti-Christian propaganda. My response to this libel was to watch a different show.
This was almost hate speech; what the Duck Dynasty fellow said was mere difference of opinion.
Grow up you little fascists, grow up.
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