Now the Duck Dynasty guy said something that some people are upset about. Now I don't watch the show, as a rule I try to avoid reality tv, though to be fair I have to admit I have watched Mythbusters in the past (I really should start watching this show again) and I watch Ice Road Truckers. So I don't know what the show is about, so I can't give my opinion on it, or any of the people that are featured on it. And I also admit that I do not know what this person has or hasn't said, all that I can gather from just looking over things that have been posted here on Facebook is that he said something that has upset a lot of people.
If I had more interest in the guy I might check into what it is he has said, however I am not interested in him, and to paraphrase a from the former First Lady, Barbara Bush, why should I waste my beautiful mind with the likes of him. I believe what he has said was derogatory towards homosexuals. If this is the case I am not inclined to have positive feelings towards the man, at least not anymore than I already had. If he did say such things I think he is ignorant and bigoted.
What I do want to say, and this is coming from what I have read in some of the post, if you have watched the show are you really shocked by what he said? If you have watched Duck Dynasty for any length of time I am pretty sure you have gotten to know what this man thinks. Even if he has never said anything about LGBT individuals on the show, he has made his feelings known on other topics, and certain points of view tend to be linked (not always but in most case) to other points of view. This should not come as a surprise to anybody. I mean this is not like Michael Richards going on a racist rant in a comedy club. That was an eye opening event for people.
Now please don't get me wrong, I am not say those of you who are outraged by this have no right to be upset. I believe you have ever right to be upset. I just have different ideas on how this should be dealt with. In my opinion the best way to combat this is to ignore it. Now some of you are probably scratching your heads or saying that if you don't speak out against this then it sends the message that this kind of thing is tolerable in society. Please let me explain my reasoning. Under the First Amendment he has the right to think and say anything he wants to. Some people may not like that, but that is the country we live in. I believe everybody should be able to say whatever it is out in a public forum. I don't like the idea trying to legislate people thoughts. I believe it only forces those people underground and twist their ideas even further. I think this does far more harm to a society than letting the bigots speak. If you let them say what they wish in the light of day, sure they may pick up follower here or there, however what is more likely to happen is that when their ideas are met with open and honest debate people see how foolish these ideas are. When you say these ideas are so harmful that they must not be introduced into the marketplace of ideas you are guaranteeing that people are going to be drawn to them. Just look at how ineffective the War on Drugs has been. You tell people they can't have something they want, even if they had no desire for it in the first place.
What is protest going to get you? Sure you might get the show taken off the air, but let us look at another recent protest that was sparked off by an ideological divide. A year ago the C.E.O of Chick-fil-a made comments opposing same-sex marriage. This led to protest being called for by those that supported same-sex marriage. The thing is that we live in such politically charged times that all the people who were either opposed to same-sex marriage or saw this as an attack on Christian values had their own counter-protest. This led to record breaking sells for the franchise when Mike Huckabee held a Chick-fil-a appreciation day.
If you have made it to this point, I am not saying you should do nothing. What I am trying to say is vote with your wallet. (That would make more sense if you had to pay to watch the show. But seeing how it is on basic cable I guess you are paying to watch it after all.) What I am saying is that you don't watch the show anymore. If all the people who watch the show and were outraged just stopped watching it would have a huge effect on the show. The network the show is on, and the sponsor of the show would take notice. The sponsors are not going to want to sink money into a show that people are not watching, and if the sponsors start to pull out the network will not resign the show for another season. On the other hand, if you make a public call for this show to be pulled off the air (now this is my own opinion) you will get the same results as the Chick-fil-a incident. I can only imagine the same people that took part in the Chick-Fil-A appreciation day are watching Duck Dynasty. And if they are not, then attacks on the show could only peek their interest in it.
Some of you might be saying Will you are a white male, there is no way you know what it is like to be a minority. Sure I am a white male and I have known certain privileges because of that, privileges that I believe everybody should have. But you are wrong to think I have not known what it is like to be a minority or felt oppression. As I have stated a time or two I am an atheist, and I know what it is like to be hated for what you are. Polls have shown that atheist are among the least trust worthy of people in all the United States. There are states that have laws banning atheist running for public office, which goes against the Constitution's No Religious Test Clause (Article VI, paragraph 3), there will probably never be an atheist president, at least not in my lifetime, because the electorate will not vote for one, and most people say they do not want their sons or daughters to date or marry an atheist. Not to mention many atheist have lost their jobs, and have been disowned by family and friends as well.
So I think I know a little something about being hated. So when someone like Pat Robertson, or Steve Harvey say some something hateful, ignorant and bigoted about atheist I might say something in an atheist Facebook group, but overall I ignore it. I will not publicly meet them on their level. I will hold my head up high and proud and just walk away from them. I take my inspiration from Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr, and all those countless, nameless individuals that stood up to injustice through their public suffering. Who showed the world how wrong it was to strike an individual who was not going to strike back.
As always these are just some of my thoughts on what is going on in the world. I very well could be wrong, and you may disagree with me. If that is the case please show me where I am wrong, or how you disagree with me. If you have some valid points you just might change my mind.
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