'Duck Dynasty' debacle shows left's complete intolerance & hypocrisy

During a GQ interview, "Duck Dynasty" patriarch Phil Robertson expressed his views on homosexuality, acknowledging his agreement with the Bible, which declares it a sin. He has now been suspended from the hit A&E show for his views.

In a statement, A&E said it was extremely disappointed to hear Robertson's remarks, which it said were based on his personal beliefs and do not reflect those of the A&E Network -- which considers itself a friend of the lesbian and gay community (it's just not a friend of different opinions, apparently). Human rights groups and GLAAD have also chimed in, slamming Robertson for his "vile" comments.

It's interesting, though, how we didn't hear human rights groups, N.O.W. or any other leftist group chime in when MSNBC host Martin Bashir said on air recently that someone should do unspeakable things in Sara Palin's mouth. Bashir has since resigned, but MSNBC gave him the dignity of remaining on air for two more weeks and allowed him to give a farewell statement, rather than firing him on the spot for his own vile comments.

But Bashir gets a pass in general by the mainstream media and others because his personal views are of the leftist variety in general. And as one sympathetic commentator put it, "while I don't agree with Bashir's statements, it is a free country."

Yes, it is a free country - for people like Bashir. But each day that passes it's becoming less of a free country for people like Robertson, whose views are based on Judeo-Christian principles not in line with the leftist world view of anything goes. Instead of tolerating people like Robertson - the left, who markets itself as the champion of tolerance - is waging a systematic silencing campaign against Robertson and anyone else who refuses to fall in line with leftist thinking.

Of course A&E has the right to fire Robertson if it chooses, but the fact that it's firing him simply for violating their stifling speech codes is what's so worrisome.

Consider the baker in Colorado who is being forced by a judge to bake wedding cakes for a same-sex couple, despite the fact it violates his Christian beliefs to do so. The Senate has voted for a bill that allows any homosexual who gets fired to sue for discrimination, regardless of the reason for his termination. Christian employers are being forced to provide for contraception and abortifacients that violate their faith teachings. The military is consistently trying to officially designate Christian evangelicals as a "hate group." San Antonio and other cities' anti-discrimination laws protect gays, but stifle Christians' free speech rights, while schools, cities and other public places are doing everything they can to ban Christmas - or anything Christian related - from even being mentioned.

A&E's actions against Robertson aren't so much a case of employer/employee disgruntlement as it is a very public example of how it feels Christians should be treated in general. While the network was happy to rake in millions of dollars off the popular Robertson show - of which the family's Christian principles are a centerpiece - for Robertson to express those beliefs anywhere else is grounds for termination. Why? Is A&E that afraid of gay activists who are furious that Robertson would dare to speak about his faith in a way that doesn't endorse homosexuality outright? It doesn't matter that Robertson also said we should love and respect homosexuals. The fact that he believes in Biblical teachings on it overall is the problem.

Where will it stop? As an increasing number of private corporations in a post-bailout era are dependent on government use of tax money in order to survive, consider how long it will be before a company's views on homosexuality will be a litmus test for how 'deserving' it is of government support. And as the increasingly bold speech-police state envelops this country, how much more common will it be that employees at these companies - a.k.a. private citizens - will be fired simply for speaking about their beliefs, while homosexuals are given preferential, protected treatment? 

Last time I checked, a free and mature country is one that allows for diverse views, beliefs and thoughts. But according to the supposedly tolerant left, freedom of speech only applies to the extent that you believe and think the same way they do. If you don't, and if you believe in Christian principles, be prepared for the forces of scorn to be unleashed upon you - and worse. The left says conservatives are the ones trying to force their morals on the country, but it is conservatives who are being forced to walk the "acceptable" leftist line, or else. 

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iTunes approves "gay" app for children

Question: “If you’re gay and new to an area, how do you find out where gay people hang out?” Simple. Just get Distinc.tt, the newly approved app for iOS-based phones and tablets, now available in Apple’s iTunes for users 12 years old and older. Yes, 12 years old.

How does Distinc.tt work? It tracks users’ locations through GPS. This means your local friendly pedophile will know that a pre-teen child who has downloaded the app is at the mall, the arcade, the local movie theater, or any nearby location convenient to the pervert who’d like nothing more than to know where to find such young, impressionable kids.

Similar homosexual dating apps require users to be 18 years and above because the makers of these apps acknowledge they’re mostly used for arranging anonymous sexual encounters. But Apple has no problem allowing children to use it, even describing it as the only family-friendly “LGBT app that you can bring home to Mom,” according to Distinc.tt CEO Michael Belkin.

Unfortunately if Mom’s little loved one forgets to turn off the app’s tracking device, predators will know exactly where to find him or her.

While the app is also available for Google’s Android operating system, that company has limited its availability to users 18 and older. Only Apple has approved Distinc.tt for use by minor children. I’m sure NAMBLA members nationwide are rejoicing.

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Do LGBT rights trump religious rights?

A Colorado judge ruled last week that a Christian baker should be forced to bake wedding cakes for same-sex couples despite the fact that homosexuality violates the baker's religious beliefs. The judge, Robert N. Spencer, also ruled that Jack Phillips, the owner of the Masterpiece Cakeshop in suburban Denver, will face fines if he continues to try to live his faith by turning away gay couples who want to buy wedding cakes.

"The undisputed facts show that Respondents (Phillips) discriminated against Complainants because of their sexual orientation by refusing to sell them a wedding cake for their same-sex marriage," Spencer wrote.

Last year, David Mullins and Charlie Craig visited the Masterpiece Cakeshop to order a cake for their upcoming wedding reception. The couple had planned to marry in Massachusetts and hold a reception in Colorado.

Phillips told the men that he could not bake their cake because of his religious beliefs opposing same-sex marriage. He offered to make them any other baked item, but not a wedding cake. Instead of going to any other bakery that would have baked them a cake, the couple opted to file a complaint with the Colorado Civil Rights Division.

"Being denied service by Masterpiece Cakeshop was offensive and dehumanizing especially in the midst of arranging what should be a joyful family celebration," Mullins said in a statement. "No one should fear being turned away from a public business because of who they are."

And nobody should fear the government's power to make us deny our deeply held religious beliefs either. But that's exactly what is happening (and not just in this baker's case, but in other cases around the country). What we're seeing is that homosexuals' rights are being given more credence than citizens' religious rights as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. 

Not surprisingly, the ACLU of Colorado is celebrating the judge's ruling as a major victory for "gay rights." 

"While we all agree that religious freedom is important, no one's religious beliefs make it acceptable to break the law by discriminating against prospective customers," ACLU staff attorney Amanda Goad said in a statement. "No one is asking Masterpiece's owners to change his beliefs, but treating gay people differently because of who they are is discrimination plain and simple."

Phillips was represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal firm specializing in religious liberty cases. Attorney Nicolle Martin condemned the judge's ruling.

"America was founded on the fundamental freedom of every citizen to live and work according to their beliefs," Martin said in a prepared statement. "Forcing Americans to promote ideas against their will undermines our constitutionally protected freedom of expression and our right to live free."

Martin said this was simply a case of a baker who declined to use his personal creative abilities to promote and endorse a same-sex ceremony. "If the government can take aware our First Amendment freedoms, there is nothing it can't take away," she said.

Martin added that Phillips is a devoted Christian who has an unwavering faith. She said he is a person of such deep faith that he won't even bake Halloween-themed treats – at all.

"He's just trying to live within a certain set of biblical principles because he believes that he answers to God for everything that he does," Martin said. "It sends a message not just to other business owners, it sends a message to Americans – that if the government can take away our First amendment freedoms and tell you what to say and when to say it, there's nothing they can't take away." 

Judge Spencer said Phillips did not demonstrate that his free speech rights had been violated and he said there's no evidence that forcing him to make a cake for a same-sex ceremony would hurt his business.

"On the contrary, to the extent that the law prohibits Respondents' (Phillips) from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, compliance with the law would likely increase their business by not alienating the gay community," he wrote.

But who is this judge to make decisions on what is and isn't good for anyone's business? And who is anyone in a position of public power to tell us we must sell goods & services that violate our conscience? 

While pro-homosexual defenders like to compare this case to the kind of discrimination that black Americans have experienced, they're overlooking one key thing: Nowhere in the Bible does it tell us that there is something wrong with being black, and therefore, to discriminate against a human being for the color of their skin is wrong. But in many places throughout the Bible, we're taught that homosexuality is an abomination.  

Yet the government is forcing us to abandon those beliefs by forcing us to take even a slight part in it -- and that is a serious problem that will only get worse if left unchecked. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to see where this trend is heading, including the attempt to force Catholic priests to perform same-sex "marriages". 

In the meantime, where are the lawsuits against Muslim taxi drivers who refuse to pick up passengers who are carrying unopened bottles of alcohol (e.g. a bottle of wine) or who are accompanied by seeing-eye dogs. Muslims refuse to do these things based on their religious beliefs. Where is the outcry against them?

The writing on the wall is clear as to which religion is most targeted for real discrimination here. But imagine a country where a sexual lifestyle carries more weight than a Bible-based belief. Does that look like an America we would want to live in? Think about it.

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