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From evangelical Christian Larry Alex Taunton in The Atlantic:
Missing in the controversy over A&E’s handling of its golden goose—or duck, rather—is the fact that the real conflict here is not between Robertson and A&E; it is between gay activists and a solid majority of Christians who believe homosexual acts are wrong. As indicated above, Robertson’s views are hardly anomalous. Christians may disagree on the details, but the Bible strongly condemns homosexuality in both the Old and New Testaments; the marriage model of one man and one woman is first given by God in Genesis 2 and reiterated by Jesus in Matthew 19; and in Romans 1 the Apostle Paul denounces homosexuality as a hallmark of a degenerate culture. The point here isn’t that you have to believe any of this, but many Christians do believe it and feel morally bound to believe it. The Genuine Conflict Being Ignored in the Duck Dynasty Debate - Larry Alex Taunton - The Atlantic
Taunton quotes Pastor Rick Warren, whose point is worth considering: "Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear them or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate."
Is Taunton correct that A&E's decision "implicitly suggests that the campaign for tolerance has advanced to a campaign to pressure 45 percent of Americans to recant their beliefs and endorse a lifestyle to which they are opposed, conscience be damned"?
I think he may be. Perhaps the "endgame" here really is to silence orthodox Christians. If so, as Taunton asks, does this mean that we are becoming a nation of bullies who want to force conformity while calling it "tolerance"?
Missing in the controversy over A&E’s handling of its golden goose—or duck, rather—is the fact that the real conflict here is not between Robertson and A&E; it is between gay activists and a solid majority of Christians who believe homosexual acts are wrong. As indicated above, Robertson’s views are hardly anomalous. Christians may disagree on the details, but the Bible strongly condemns homosexuality in both the Old and New Testaments; the marriage model of one man and one woman is first given by God in Genesis 2 and reiterated by Jesus in Matthew 19; and in Romans 1 the Apostle Paul denounces homosexuality as a hallmark of a degenerate culture. The point here isn’t that you have to believe any of this, but many Christians do believe it and feel morally bound to believe it. The Genuine Conflict Being Ignored in the Duck Dynasty Debate - Larry Alex Taunton - The Atlantic
Taunton quotes Pastor Rick Warren, whose point is worth considering: "Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear them or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate."
Is Taunton correct that A&E's decision "implicitly suggests that the campaign for tolerance has advanced to a campaign to pressure 45 percent of Americans to recant their beliefs and endorse a lifestyle to which they are opposed, conscience be damned"?
I think he may be. Perhaps the "endgame" here really is to silence orthodox Christians. If so, as Taunton asks, does this mean that we are becoming a nation of bullies who want to force conformity while calling it "tolerance"?