Alabama lawmaker will introduce bill defending ‘Duck Dynasty’s’ Phil Robertson

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/12/26/alabama-lawmaker-will-introduce-bill-defending-duck-dynastys-phil-robertson/



Alabama lawmaker will introduce bill defending ‘Duck Dynasty’s’ Phil Robertson
By Arturo Garcia
Thursday, December 26, 2013 20:10 EST

An Alabama state senator has promised to introduce a bill calling for the state to lend its support to suspended Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson, the Daily Home reported on Tuesday.

State Sen. Jerry Fielding’s (R) bill states in part that Robertson, who was benched following homophobic and racially-fueled statements to GQ, “should not be penalized in any way for practicing freedom of speech, but should be celebrated as a hero for courageously revealing his self-truth and Christian ideals in a world that can be unkind towards those with a conservative mind-set.”

Like other Republican figures, Fielding bases his defense of Robertson’s remarks — which included likening homosexuality to bestiality and stating that “a vagina — as a man — would be more desirable than a man’s anus” — on the argument that Robertson was stating his interpretation of the Bible, a right that should have been protected by A&E, the network that airs his show.

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However, Fielding’s defense is also similar to the GOP line on Robertson in ignoring the racial components of Robertson’s GQ interview, like his belief that “pre-entitlement” Black Americans were happier living in the Jim Crow era, and his decision to vote for Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election under the belief that Romney was from Salt Lake City (he’s actually from Boston), as opposed to Chicago, where President Barack Obama lived before winning the presidency.