What does A&E’s suspension of Phil Robertson really mean?
This morning when I visited my Facebook news feed, I was confronted with a lot of beards. They were everywhere. My friends are very upset about the fact that A&E has suspended Phil Robertson because of his remarks about homosexuality. I’m not surprised by A&E’s move but I am surprised by the thought process behind all of it.
Now let me back up for a minute. Another news story in my Facebook feed this morning was about Barbara Walters and her most fascinating person of the year. In case you didn’t know, she chose Hillary Clinton. This stunned me. What has Hillary done in 2013 to make her more fascinating? I could have believed it when she stood by her man during his Presidential years. I even could have believed it when she was running for President. But right now? This is a lame duck move by Barbara Walters. And I mean that literally. Barbara says she is retiring and her choice shows a good reason why it’s time. She’s out of touch.
So when you partner Barbara Walters and this choice of Hillary as the most fascinating woman of the year with A&E’s supposed punishment of Phil Robertson, what do you get?
Proof positive the general media is completely out of touch with reality.
As I see it (This is just my opinion. Everyone on the Interweb has one of those. You happened to land at mine.) the media has been in charge of shaping EVERYTHING in our society for so long that they don’t realize they aren’t doing that anymore. The Internet has stripped away that power and control. That is very clear. A decade or more ago, Phil’s program might have been on the air but NO ONE would have known that A&E was censoring “In Jesus Name” out of the prayers on the show. That happened now because an internet news source reported it, everyone else picked it up and the news spread. You didn’t see ABC or NBC covering that in their news stories did you? Nope. Because they have tunnel vision. For years upon years we’ve allowed this talking box in our homes that tells us what to wear and what to think and how to believe. The shows that have been broadcast into your home and my home have led us to believe that the world is what they say is. The mainstream media has done this for so long, they’ve begun believing it themselves. And now, when the rest of us aren’t on board, they’re still trying to drive the train down those same tracks. It’s not going to work.
This morning, I’m getting a good laugh out of A&E thinking that their suspension of Phil Robertson is going to mean much of anything. Christians are angry right now. Very angry. They’re looking for someone that they can support. The Chick-Fil-A experience from this summer is proof of that. It didn’t take but seconds for the news to break on this story before people were nearly rabidly supporting Phil.
A&E, you’ve built a program around a solid, Bible based family. Admittedly, the crazy is what kept the show on the air the first season. Not having to worry that our kids might accidentally get a murder or pornography in their viewing is what kept the show on the air. As the Robertsons espoused those VERY SAME CHRISTIAN BELIEFS, the show’s numbers grew because Christians found someone on television that they could identify with. It wasn’t the camo and the beards. It was the Bible and God. You built a program around a Godly family and then got angry when that Bible believing man stood up and spoke his Bible believing mind in response to a direct question that was designed to confront those very same beliefs.
Oh and one last thing to consider. This guy right here doesn’t care whether he’s on tv or not. He skipped filming with Barbara Walters in order to go duck hunting. (Based on her Hillary choices, we can all now agree that the man made a wise choice. ) However, if you think taking him off of the air is going to hurt him or their business or their family, you’re grossly mistaken. This television program isn’t their treasure. That’s been stored somewhere else and this whole family is at peace with that reality.