The Duck Dynasty Controversy

I have not seen the show, Duck Dynasty, other than a few minutes a couple of times.  And I have not been following the controversy surrounding comments made by one of the show’s stars.  But one comment within a Facebook thread gives me pause at too quickly lumping this episode in with the selection of Sara Palin (etc) as evidence of the promotion of stupidity.  If there is any truth to the comment below, in this case, the stupidity explanation seems too easy.  In response to a very thoughtful critique of the media’s decision to see this controversy as a news story……

As a liberal guy, I'd love to totally agree with you, but I don't. I do agree his view on homosexuality is abhorrent, but things are rarely black and white, and he has the right to speak his mind. Also, this guy's life is quite interesting and he's not stupid. He went from the most extreme poverty to success through very hard work. His life was very screwed up and he owns up to his weaknesses, and his religion changed him. I couldn't disagree more with many of his views but he is voicing his deep felt beliefs. His family is quite charitable, foster parenting an Asian child and adopting a biracial child (hardly a 'red neck' characteristic).

He is extremely dedicated to his family, and they to him. Values I admire. He is also very popular at this point, and I think it makes sense that he was interviewed. You could actually do much worse than have him as a current public icon. He's certainly not what we in NY would call 'sophisticated' nor does he want to be. Living a simple life in Louisiana makes him an easy target. So does his deep faith in his church.

I read his and his son's book because they are so different from me and my life in many ways, yet aren't. This is not a typical dysfunctional family that we all love to gawk at and talk about. It's actually a very successful loving family with very conservative Christian values. I hate his view on homosexuality and I'm sure I'd hate his views on other things as well that have to do with conservative faith. I love his views on money (not super important to him anyway), family, and quality of life. They credit their success to being the only family on TV who isn't dysfunctional. I agree. And as we know, no one is perfect except you and me J

I like the tone of this post.  Even if it is not the best read, it strikes me as accurate enough to give pause to people like me ready to conclude this is another Fox News dumbing down of America incident. 

It is easy to hold opponents to high standards, but in doing so we should hold ourselves to the same standards (at least).