Late last night I posed the following question on Facebook: Should tiny but militant activist groups get to dictate what the rest of us are allowed to think, what we’re allowed to watch, what we eat, and what our churches teach?
If we’re a free country, the answer should obviously be “No.” All of that is at stake in the Duck Dynasty argument, as in the previous argument over Chick-fil-A.
Recall that in that earlier fight, Chick-fil-A owner Dan Cathy told a radio show his personal beliefs, which were based on the Bible. For that, he was torn apart by the Human Rights Campaign and GLAAD, and several Democrat politicians openly attempted to ban his company from their cities. Those politicians have neither the power nor the right to do that. That didn’t stop them from trying. President Obama’s own former chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, led the anti-Chick-fil-A pitchfork brigade in Chicago, the murder capital over which he presides as mayor. So this was not a fringe of the left. It was a major and influential segment on the left.
The coordinated assault on Cathy generated a massive response, even from people who disagreed with what Cathy said, because he has the right to his opinion and to voicing it. Chick-fil-A enjoyed its strongest business weeks in its history, thanks to millions of Americans who are fed up with the PC police.
That brings us to Phil Robertson. The full GQ story quotes him saying a number of things, some of them harmless, some of them uplifting, some of them controversial, and some of them appalling. But he has the right to say them. A&E has the right to decide whether he appears on Duck Dynasty or not. The Robertsons have the right to decide what to do about their relationship with A&E. Everyone else has the right to decide for ourselves what to do with Phil Robertson and A&E and their show. I happen to watch the show because it’s funny and it’s family-friendly. Some people don’t like it. To each their own. We have hundreds of channels plus the rest of the universe to choose our entertainment from. Most of that entertainment conforms with what the left wants. They certainly don’t protest against any of it.
However, two of the groups who have decided that Robertson must be shunned from the public have taken it upon themselves to take the fight directly into Christian churches. They don’t believe in “to each their own,” at all.
GLAAD led the way, using A&E’s decision to tell Christians what to think.
“A&E has sent a strong message that discrimination is neither a Christian nor an American value.” http://t.co/tEjfxfL5J7 #LGBT
— GLAAD (@glaad) December 19, 2013
Do a quick search — GLAAD pretty much owns the media. They partner up with networks, fashion companies, universities, the works. But this one show must be destroyed, and Christians much adopt GLAAD’s values, right now, or else.
PETA followed suit Thursday, again, using the fight over a TV show to dictate what churches should do. PETA — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (when they’re not killing animals themselves) — told Christians that we should call for Duck Dynasty’s cancellation. Because the Robertsons hunt on the show.
PETA’s values are worth an examination. They’re heavily into exhibitionism. One of their preferred strategies is to convince the starlet of the moment around the world to take her clothes off and pose for PETA’s vegan propaganda. If you’re a female movie or TV star in the U.S., Europe, Japan, just about anywhere, you can count on getting a call from PETA to strip down. So they’re a low-rent Playboy.
PETA is also in the habit of coming up with ever more irresponsible and sensationalist ad campaigns to make themselves relevant for a few more minutes. They’re not all that ethical and they’re in no position to tell Christians or anyone else what to do. Frankly, PETA is ridiculous. But they’re forceful and, like GLAAD, they can command media attention whenever they want.
PETA also has gone out of its way to offend Christians in the past.
What’s going on here? Why are two obviously secular groups suddenly using a media circus to try to dictate their will upon churches?
Because they think they can. Camille Paglia, registered Democrat, lesbian and feminist, may have the clearest view of what’s going on.
Registered Dem. Camille Paglia: “My lib. colleagues” have engendered our PC nation, which has become “utterly fascist & utterly Stalinist”
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) December 19, 2013
Is she wrong? What else explains why these non-Christian groups feel the gumption now to seize pulpits and tell Christians what to think?
And where are the pastors who will step up, note and resist what’s going on behind the attempt to get one TV show off the air, forcing churches to conform to a secular viewpoint at the same time?
Have we become leaderless sheep?
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