‘Duck Dynasty’ star Phil Robertson makes more controversial comments; what are the implications?
Here we go again. Months after Phil Robertson set the world ablaze with what were believed to be strongly homophobic remarks, the “Duck Dynasty” patriarch has spoken out again in a way that may cause backlash. His A&E series has probably lost the viewers it was going to because of his initial comments, so we don’t see anything hurting the audience that the show has at this point.
However, there are some other implications here worth discussing, and we’ll get into that in a minute. In a recent interview with the Family Research Council (listen below), Phil had the following to say on the subject of homosexuality:
“I mean, a great question to ask is, ‘Why is it that all of these just — is this coincidental that viewing all of the immoral conduct that America now is participating in, I’ve asked a lot of people: Do you think it’s a coincidence that all of these debilitating — and literally, it can cause death — diseases follow that kind of conduct?’
“… God says, ‘One woman, one man,’ and everybody says, ‘Oh, that’s old hat, that’s that old Bible stuff’ and I’m thinking well, let’s see now. A clean guy, a disease-free guy, and a disease-free woman, they marry and they keep their sex between the two of ’em, uh, they’re not gonna get chlamydia and gonorrhea and syphilis and AIDS. It’s safe.
“Now to me, either it’s the wildest coincidence ever that horrible diseases follow immoral conduct or it’s God saying, ‘There’s a penalty for that kind of conduct.’ I’m leanin’ toward there’s a penalty toward it,'”
Obviously, Phil’s thesis here is that sexually-transmitted diseases are a consequence for what he considers to be “immoral behavior,” and homosexuality is one of the things he would blanket under there.
What we are mostly wonder at the moment is this: Regardless of whether or not you agree with Phil’s comments, he has to understand by now that they are controversial. He saw what happened with the GQ interview. Why do this right now when your granddaughter is on “Dancing with the Stars,” and it will turn the media into a circus around her? Rather than answering questions about something lighthearted and fun, she’s going to be pinned into talking about you, and in an environment where many of these comments are frowned upon.
Freedom of speech is one thing, but consideration for others he may impact? That may be something that Phil needs to look at moving forward. We know that this interview was conducted before the show premiered yesterday, but he had to know something like this was coming.
Tell us: Do you think these sort of comments could be harmful to Sadie on the ballroom competition, mostly in that some voters could choose to punish her for something her grandfather said? (In their eyes, it doesn’t quite matter if this is fair.) Share below, and head over here to get further TV updates via our CarterMatt Newsletter.
Photo: ABC