Last week I saw “Duck
Dynasty” for the first time, watching the first segment of its fifth season.
Maybe you saw it, too. Even if you didn’t, a lot of other people did. There
were 8.5 million viewers for that opening show of the new season.
But surprisingly,
the number of viewers was down considerably from the 11.8 million who watched the
fourth season premiere, making it then the most-watched nonfiction cable series
in history.
As you may have guessed,
I decided to watch and write about “Duck Dynasty” because of the controversy
stirred up last month by the patriarch of the family, Phil Robertson (b. 1946).
His interview with journalist Drew Magary was published in this month’s issue
of GQ magazine (which I don’t read
any more than I watch DD).
Robertson’s
comments were made public the middle of last month, and they have been talked
about—and both severely criticized and lavishly praised—ever since.
Phil’s remarks were
mainly hurtful to LGBT persons, although what he said about African-Americans
was rather insensitive also. Concerning the latter, he said that the blacks he
knew growing up in Louisiana were happy and not mistreated.
Many older
African-Americans from the South vehemently disagreed with his perception.
It was his comments
about gays that drew the most attention, though—including widespread support
for his speaking out about this prevalent “sin” (his word) in American society.
It may not amount to much, but in case you haven’t heard, tomorrow, Jan. 21, has
been designated “Chick-Phil-A Day.”
People across the
country are being urged to “stand for free speech” and “sit for good food” by
wearing Duck Commander or camouflage gear and by eating at a Chick-fil-A restaurant.
As most of you
probably remember, Chick-fil-A was much in the news in the summer of 2012 after
CEO Dan Cathy made a series of statements condemning gay marriage. Gay rights
advocates called for a boycott of Chick-fil-A.
In response,
supporters planned and executed a Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day on Aug. 1. The latter
won the day, for the company’s sales for the year went up by 14%, to $4.6
billion.
In his interview
last month, Robertson gave “homosexual behavior” as his first example of what
is sinful in this country. He supported his negative views of gays by citing
one Bible passage, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. Those verses include “homosexuals” in
the list of people “who won’t inherit the kingdom of God.”
However, the Greek
word used in that passage was never rendered as “homosexuals” in a Bible
translation until 1946. And no competent Greek scholar will say with confidence
what the Apostle Paul really meant by that rather obscure word.
As I point out in
my book “Fed Up with Fundamentalism,” in his translation of the Bible, Martin
Luther rendered that Greek word into German as the English equivalent of “child
abusers.” My guess is that is much nearer the original meaning than a term that
includes many people who are in a consensual and loving same-sex relationship.
Yes, I’ve had my fill
of Phil. Robertson may well be a very popular TV star and a successful
businessman as the founder of Duck Commander. (Who would have thought you could
become a millionaire making duck calls?) But what he says about the situation
of African-Americans in the Jim Crow south is not trustworthy.
And he certainly is no expert when it comes to the proper
interpretation of the Bible or to giving “the” Christian interpretation
regarding sexual orientation.
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