The Duck Man, Phil Robertson - wasn't it really only a matter of time?

I will preface this – I have never watched the show and I know nothing about this dude other than what I see on Facebook or in some of the periodicals I peruse.  So, with that said I do not want to bash Phil and his beliefs but society as a whole.   WHAT??  You heard me!  Why is it that we can’t accept people for who they are, for whatever THEY believe in?  Does no one see the hypocrisy here?

Anyway, it is not really about Phil in my mind anyway.  I am mildly amused by the reaction to his comments.   There were many, as most of you have probably seen.   There were many who were raising hell, everything short of calling for his beheading  and then on the other side of the isle, we have the likes of Sarah Palin, Bobby Jindal and Sean Hannity bringing support for his cause.  Not sure any of them are really qualified to weigh in, maybe Sarah has seen a Gay person from her porch.  I did find it mildly amusing that Cracker Barrel took the Duck products out of their restaurants and then after, imagine this, their client base raised Hell, they put them back – they really did not see that coming?  That in and of itself is amusing as hell to me, a restaurant that caters to the folks they cater to – REALLY Cracker Barrel, you did not see that coming?   I suppose the one thing this is going to cause – they are going to sell a shitload of all things Duck Man!  A whole bunch of companies are going to exploit the hell out of this opportunity. 

I think where the conversation needs to go is about evaluating ourselves – yep ourselves!  I would start by asking, why is it that a group of folks (in this case Gay folks), who have struggled so hard for equality and understanding in our society has so little tolerance of some Duck Man and his beliefs?  I mean think about it, how can the community, as a whole, who have struggled for lots of rights, marriage, equal benefits, openly serving in the Military and they (as a group) have no tolerance of someone else beliefs.  I suppose I will get my ass handed to me for the comparison but my bigger point is what happened to our tolerance of anyone or anything that is not exactly like we are?

As many of you have probably seen I have on numerous occasions raised up some prayers for someone who is suffering with any one of many life’s adversities.   What many may not know is that I am not a Christian and that I do not believe in God.  King of hypocrisy many will no doubt say.  WELL, before you smite me and condemn me to everlasting damnation let me explain.  I say those words not for myself, if I have a friend who is suffering and they happen to be a Christian, I will raise up a prayer to their God.  Why, because that is what they believe and because I am tolerant and empathic of another human being – I raise up a prayer to their God.

Why has our society turned into such a divisive group, a group who has no tolerance or even a wiliness to have tolerance of others and their beliefs?  In this Case Mr. Phil Robertson.  I hear that he is supposed to be a decent guy, I don’t know though - and really neither does anyone else.  Folks watch a reality show and they think they know the characters playing on the stage. What folks really know is exactly that, the characters they play on TV.  It is a scientific fact that just by watching something, the watched will change, just from being watched – the watching is a variable that needs to be accounted for. 

I keep hearing Sargent Hulka saying lighten up Francis!  That was from Stripes.  If a dude who makes a duck whistle wants to be a hater (their perception not mine) who are we to stop him?  By the same token, if another group wants to be haters of the original hater (their perception not mine) – what does that really mean, what does it tell us about ourselves?  How is that different from any one else who wants the right to be vocal about what they believe, regardless of what the topic of hate is?   At the end of the day, it is not – it is just hate!    

This is really about the haters, haters of all colors not like their own, haters of different creeds than their own, haters of any religions that might have someone praying to a different God than their own; haters of anyone who may have a different sexual orientation than their own; or a hater of anything that pigeon holes folks into some perceived bullshit reason that might make that person different in any microscopically tiny fucking way than them.  Why is there such an inability to allow others to have their own beliefs and opinions?  Why do we feel that we must conform everyone to our personal belief system?  The hate and the haters are the biggest problem in our country today.  Give em hell Duck man, and give em hell Sean Hannity and most assuredly – give em hell Sarah, from the rocker on your front porch! 

Besides all that, don’t we always tear down people who scratch their way into the public spotlight – I guess that is a topic for some other blog!! 

Oh well, let’s see what kind of attention this one gets.  Bring it on you haters!