<i>Duck Dynasty</i>, the Bible and Justification of Hatred

Feel free to disagree, as I'm sure many who "stand with Phil" will, but if you think believing and saying hateful things about entire groups of people is okay because of some alleged word of God, then my wish is that someday you truly see the light.
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I've waited some time to mull this one over. Here's my decision. We need fewer people in the world like that Duck Dynasty guy. A&E (and by extension Disney) have decided, apparently, that we need more and have chosen not to shut down their golden goose (or duck, as this case may be). So he was just telling us what the Bible considers sin? Well, I don't get my moral direction from the Bible. I get it from a higher power: my gut. And my gut tells me that being proud of your ignorance, spouting hateful speech and spreading irrational fear of others are amongst the greatest sins of all.

Truth be told, most humans inherently know right from wrong, and those with good mothers have those gut feelings reinforced. But alongside our inherent understanding of righteous behavior, we are also beset by fears: fear of strangers, fear of the unknown and, mostly, fear of death. Bad parents, preachers, friends, politicians and, er, gentlemen like that Duck Dynasty guy teach us how to deal with fear by embracing prejudices. They lean on books like the Bible, written by faceless ancient men, lacking in modern science and understanding, to explain what we fear.

In reality, people who use the Bible as justification for subjugating women or hating gay people and others are just hiding from their own insecurities. It's a lot easier to single out others than it is to address your own shortcomings, because life is scary, and why improve yourself when you can just blame someone else?

Out of work? It's because some immigrant took your job. Hate the job you have? It's because that black guy got the promotion you deserved. Not enough money? It's because the Jews control the banks. Think your dick is smaller than every other guy's? Hey, wait a minute, why are you looking at other guys' dicks? It's because gay people are an abomination.

Now, you may ask, why is it okay for me to judge that Duck Dynasty guy, but it's not okay for him to judge gay people? Simple. My gut tells me there's a difference between spreading hate and calling out the haters.

So feel free to disagree, as I'm sure many who "stand with Phil" will, but if you think believing and saying hateful things about entire groups of people is okay because of some alleged word of God, then my wish is that someday you truly see the light. In the meantime, I'll hope that with each new year we get closer to overcoming ignorance, bigotry, fear and hatred. And when the day comes that all of this is behind us, when we no longer lean on mythical legends as excuses for distancing ourselves from each other but embrace each other for what we have in common, when we choose to love before hate and fear, then we will be truly civilized, and that will be a really happy new year.

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