Duck Dynasty and Slavery

Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson has come under some scrutiny for his recent interview answer about homosexuals.  You can view the Huffington Post article here if you need a refresher.  Obviously social media has been set ablaze with both sides arguing their case about justice being served or that he was unjustly suspended. 

Given the fact that I would be fired from my job (and presumably, any job) for making an indirect racial slur, I feel the punishment was correct.  If I am in an office with 3 or 4 coworkers, they all witness a tirade on some race that is unfounded and unfair, and I get reported to the HR department, I am not going to be working for that company any longer.  For Mr. Robertson, as soon as he stepped out of the private sector and into the public world, he gave up his rights to say whatever he wants in public because all that he says is in his “office”.

This isn’t about him being able to express his “opinions”.  He is absolutely allowed to express his opinions, and he did.  I’m not sure why people think this is a free speech issue, it isn’t.  He hasn’t gone to jail for this remark, and never will.  Freedom of speech upheld.  He is still subject to his company’s rules and guidelines, just like you and me.

If you go in ranting and raving about how we should endorse slavery in this country again, you’re going to get some heat.  It’s your opinion, you won’t go to jail for it, and you also have your “book” to back you up.  God endorses slavery, why aren’t we pushing for a return? The reason is secular morality has stepped in and changed the Bible’s ridiculous morality.  We are almost all of the opinion that slavery is horrible; the Bible is not of the same opinion.  The same trend will happen with all of the ridiculous values contained in that book eventually (ie, promoting homosexuality as “wrong”).  Chic-Fil-A and Phil Robertson are the beginnings of this change.

I’m excited these things keep coming to light.  They keep showcasing how dead and tired the moral principles from an archaic text really are.  As a society, hopefully in my lifetime, we will eventually shed all of these unfounded and ill-conceived “opinions” that aren’t based on anything in reality, and realize how ridiculous we once were.  I’m just very impatient.

How to Always Hit the Bullseye

There is a plague of illogical thoughts in society these days. Most of them are understandable given the current education the average American receives on the subject. There is one in particular that is taking off on Facebook and is continually perpetuated through a combination of pity and ignorance. It is known as “the sharp shooter fallacy.”

To paraphrase it means that when events suit your belief on a subject, you use it as evidence for the belief. When events/facts don’t suit that belief, they are thrown aside and ignored so that you keep hitting the targeted objective.

Let’s look at a recent Facebook example to show why this specific fallacy drives me crazy.

A recent Facebook post that had mass circulation was of a female victim in a brutal stabbing by her ex boyfriend. The paramedic who came to her aid ended up falling in love with her and eventually they got married. A very touching story. The problem lies in the responses by individuals. Over the course of an hour I watched as over 1000 comments came in. On any page of 10; 7 or 8 were something to the effect of “god is great!” Or “god brought you guys together, his plan is amazing and perfect” etc. There are a couple of problems here.

(For all of these we will assume the posters are all predominantly talking about the Christian God, Yahweh.)

If your God exists, he obviously has complete control of us, based on the fact that most people acknowledge his greatness in “bringing together” these two people.

This bothers me (and all non-believers) because these statements don’t either A. Assume their God is also responsible for the stabbing that led to all of this, almost leading to the loss of life or B. holding said God accountable for these actions. He gets off the hook for this crime because of the greatness that came out of it. Seems a little biased if you ask me.

Sandy Hook (or any major catastrophe) is a good example to use for people saying “well she lived through it and came out better on the other end.” At Sandy Hook, nothing “good” came out of it. Kids died. Families were destroyed. A town will forever have a black eye. Yet, at the time, many people posted they were praying for the victims and families.

Who were they praying to? Yahweh? The same God who let this happen in the first place?

Why do we continue to make this terrible error of judgment. How is it comforting to pray to or praise the same dragon that blew fire into our lives in the first place? Why does he continue to get a pass on the thousands of terrible things that he supposedly creates and controls, yet get rewarded and touted when he cleans up the very mess he made?

These are real questions that I am yet to get an even remotely intelligent answer for from a believer. How can you possibly reconcile these?

I’m all ears.

Manziel’s Mayhem

So here we are, not but a half of a game in for Johnny-Football and the critics are already jumping down his throat. He made money gestures; he made a signing an autograph gesture; and then he gestured at the scoreboard, all in response to being badgered by the other team.

Critics say he’s classless. He’s pompous. He’s acting like a fool. He isn’t representing the sport and the Heisman with respect and ceremony. I have a question: who cares? Does he dazzle the crowd and make opposing defenses wonder what happen to their shoes when they get faked right out of them? Yep. Is he the most exciting player in college football right now? Yep. Do you watch football with anything other than entertainment and winning in the forefront of your mind? Nope. The kid entertains. He’s in the entertainment industry. That’s his job. And he’s damn good at it.

Would the NBA have been the same in the 90s without Michael Jordan? Golf without Tiger Woods? Tennis without Sampras or Federer? No, they would be a little less exciting and a little more ordinary. That is not why we go to sporting events, we go to see the all stars do what they do: play the game better than anyone else in the world. I watch Johnny because he’s a showman. I watch him because he’s electric and actually gets things done where it matters, on the field. This is football, not a tea party at Aunt Patty’s on Fifth Avenue after all.

So go on kidding yourselves, critics, tell yourself that at the end of the day all that matters is integrity and respect and other things that cannot be quantified; I will stick with facts and stats, because those are the barometer for his particular craft. His sideshow antics are just a bonus to the on field spectacle, as long as they don’t take him off that field, he can act however he wants. That’s entertainment.