As I was getting ready for work today I thought back to something my Father-in-law said yesterday. He was talking about a new commercial that A&E Productions has released with many of the reality stars and actors/actresses that are on their networks talking about being accepting of all no matter who they love or what they look like. My Father-in-law made the point that the stars of Duck Dynasty do not make an appearance in this commercial and how he thought that was funny. I don't know the true cause of this video but I can really only assume that it is a reactionary video to the backlash that A&E received after Phil Robertson's, from Duck Dynasty, interview with GQ. If you are not sure what I am talking about stick around.
In this article Phil Robertson, who is the patriarch of his family, was quoted saying that he doesn't agree with homosexuality. He said that he believes it is against the principles of God and that it is wrong for two men to love each other. When this came out people were outraged. They were mad at the Robertson family, they were mad at A&E and they were mad that anyone could possibly like their show or their company.
Now, I love Duck Dynasty. I think it is hilarious and overall has a great message of loving family and friends through the craziness of life. Sure, it is reality and probably some of it is not real, although who knows. That is really not the point. The point is, they have always advertised themselves as a conservative Christian family. When this article with Phil came out, I was not surprised in the least about what he had said. Even if the situations are fake on Duck Dynasty, they have always been real about their faith and what they believe. It is did not shock me in the least to hear that they believed the homosexuality is wrong.
I am not here this morning to debate that one way or the other, what I am here to discuss is what was created in the wake of these comments. Intolerance.
It is so interesting to me that we get so mad at people for voicing different opinions that we become ignorant at times. We bred intolerance in our fight against intolerance. In the situation with Phil Robertson, people were calling for him to be fired from his show, for a boycott of Duck Commander products for A&E to kick them off their network. They were saying the Robertson family was being a horrible representation of Christianity and should be shut down for their horrible beliefs...
We created an environment of intolerance. The Robertson family has made a point before all this controversy and since that they love all people because they believe they are all God's people. They just don't agree with the actions of some, such as homosexuality. Instead of being tolerant of their beliefs, and trying to open a dialogue about what others believe we created a hostel environment where no dialogue is welcome.
The Phil Robertson controversy is just one example of how we do this, and trust me we are all guilty of doing this same thing at one time or another. We all have friends that do things that we don't agree with or have beliefs that are different from ours, or at least I hope you do. The only way things change is when people with differing opinions get together and have dialogue. But the internet has created a place where we can become intolerant of others beliefs anonymously. We can say whatever we want to people and be as mean as we want and not think about the consequences. We forget that our words hold merit and can invoke emotions from others. Think of all the good that could be done if instead of creating an internet of intolerance, we created an internet of dialogue. Maybe we would have less teen suicides, or have more awareness of world issues. Maybe people would be able to better live with each other in their differences then living in segregation. Trust me we live in a segregated world, it may not be segregation against blacks anymore, although in some places it is, but we are segregated in different ways too. Our intolerance of others causes us to segregate.
I believe that God's hope for us was to be able to live in a world that is tolerant and has an open dialogue, and is a world of love not hate. We don't have to agree with everything that other believe in or everything that others do. But we can be tolerant enough to have dialogue. When dialogue happens things change, and a better world is created.
We are all a work in progress, don't let your intolerance write someone off today as your enemy when they could be the best friend that you need tomorrow.
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