LOUISIANA, December 20, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Under a beautiful photo of the entire Robertson clan posted on their official webpage yesterday, the Robertson family sent a message to millions of fans noting they are standing firmly behind their patriarch Phil Robertson. A&E television network which has raked in millions of fans for the Duck Dynasty reality show starring the Robertson clan suspended Robertson in response to a GQ interview where he expressed a Biblical view opposed to homosexuality.
“We are disappointed that Phil has been placed on hiatus for expressing his faith, which is his constitutionally protected right,” the message reads. “We have had a successful working relationship with A&E but, as a family, we cannot imagine the show going forward without our patriarch at the helm. We are in discussions with A&E to see what that means for the future of Duck Dynasty.”
Millions of Americans have joined facebook and other pages in support of Phil’s stand. Sarah Palin and Governor Bobby Jindal are among the conservatives who have spoken out in support of the elder Robertson’s freedom of speech.
However, it is not only conservatives chiming in to support Phil’s freedoms and condemn the A&E network. Famed lesbian writer Camille Paglia has slammed A&E’s decision as “utterly fascist, utterly Stalinist.”
“I speak with authority here because I was openly gay before the 'Stonewall Rebellion,' when it cost you something to be so,” said Paglia in an interview with Laura Ingrham. “And I personally feel as a libertarian that people have the right to free thought and free speech. In a democratic country, people have the right to be homophobic as they have the right to support homosexuality — as I 100 percent do.”
“If people are basing their views against gays on the Bible, again they have a right to religious freedom there,” she added. Paglia bemoaned that her “liberal colleagues in the Democratic Party and on college campuses have supported and promoted” the “punitive PC, utterly fascist, utterly Stalinist” punishment meted out to Phil.
“It's the whole legacy of the free speech 1960's that have been lost by my own party,” she concluded.
The family says they have “spent much time in prayer since learning of A&E's decision,” declaring that “while some of Phil’s unfiltered comments to the reporter were coarse, his beliefs are grounded in the teachings of the Bible.”
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The Robertson family message remains simply Christian. “We want you to know that first and foremost we are a family rooted in our faith in God and our belief that the Bible is His word,” they said. “Phil is a Godly man who follows what the Bible says are the greatest commandments: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Phil would never incite or encourage hate.”