“Duck Dynasty”, a reality show about “rednecks” from southern Louisiana who made it big in the duck call business, are a bigger hit than one might imagine, and judging by what the featured family members do and say on the show, it is easy to see that they are guided by Christianity in their everyday life. Phil, the patriarch, often quotes the Bible, and his sons frequently thank God for their successes. In fact, the show concludes every episode with the whole family at dinner praying together. With people that are not afraid to say what they believe, it is not hard to predict that once in awhile, they will say something that the whole world doesn’t agree on. The President of the United States of America says controversial things everyday, however, news networks do not deny him airtime because of that. When Phil Robertson made “anti gay” comments to the magazine GQ, the network A&E suspended him from the show indefinitely. So what is the difference between a disputable comment made by the President and one made by a duck hunter in Louisiana?

The Constitution applies to any and all people living in the United States, as does the Bill of Rights. And the very first amendment written on this document states that there can be no law made that curtails an individual’s freedom of speech. Though A&E is just a TV network, and therefore does not make laws, technically they do not have to give him airtime. Yet, the show was created about him and his family, and with that comes his mind and his beliefs. And because of his aged moral code, he has become a villain in the ever changing story of 21st century.

Now, I am not saying that Phil Robertson does not deserve the storm of criticism he received from his comments, the President experiences that too. Yet, no one has impeached him, so why do it to Robertson? Robertson has the full right, and honestly, the expectation, of saying just what he believes. Some may say he needs to get with the times, but until just recently, the only people that cared about his opinion were the small amount of individuals he came in contact with in the outskirts of the small town of West Monroe, Louisiana. Consequently, Robertson is not unlike many other older people in our lives. Even my grandfather may spew comments that sometimes surprise me, but he often reminds me that he was brought up a different way in a different time, and as the saying goes, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. If it didn’t matter when Robertson was not famous, it shouldn’t matter now. I think everyone should be entitled to say what they think, and in this case, all this American grandpa was trying to do was answer GQ’s question.