Aerosmith Guitarist Joe Perry Defends Phil Robertson of ‘Duck Dynasty’
Aerosmith lead guitarist Joe Perry has defended Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson on social media in the context of freedom of speech and religion.
Perry seems to be saying that it is okay to “talk this way,” as it were.
Perry initially solicited his Twitter followers about their views about the Phil Robertson controversy by tweeting “So what do you think about this Duck Dynasty hoopla? More crackin’ down on Freedom of Speech in the US or what?”
In a follow-up tweet, Perry opined that individuals should be free to articulate their religious beliefs including those with which many others disagree.
Perry, who is a hunting enthusiast as is, of course, the Robertson family, is coming out with an autobiography in 2014. As a member of Aerosmith, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Robertson might have avoided to some degree the uproar over his comments in GQ magazine about the gay lifestyle had he had steered clear of mentioning body parts. The published comments about gays got Robertson suspended by A&E for nine days, but the network did an about-face yesterday and reinstated Robertson. Filming of the hit reality show will continue as scheduled.
In commenting on how network executives handled or mishandled the Phil Robertson controversy, the Legal Insurrection website quipped that A&E “ducked up.”
According to the Washington Examiner, the Robertson duck-hunting clan came out on top in this dispute: “The winners: Robertson and his family.They held fast to their values and learned how deep their fan base really is. The family’s admission of regret about his statements to GQ was no surrender, given that his comments were never about hate as opponents had insinuated. The losers: A&E executives, of course, who knew all along that the Robertson family members were conservative Christians, yet did the world’s worst imitation of Claude Rains in Casablanca when gay rights groups complained.
“And while we’re on that subject, the other big loser is GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination, which showed how far it had strayed off the path of encouraging tolerance into the dark woods where conformity is enforced by witch hunts and demands for blood sacrifices. GLAAD’s intolerance sparked what its leaders called the worst backlash they’d ever seen — a backlash that included prominent members of the gay community such as Andrew Sullivan and Camille Paglia. That’s right: Two groups of smug, urban sophisticates got outsmarted by a backwoodsman who shoots ducks for a living.”
Do you agree with Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry that tolerance should be a two-way street?
@JoePerry Seems to me people have a right to express their opinions & religious beliefs. But that doesn’t mean we have to agree.
— Joe Perry (@JoePerry) December 22, 2013
[image credit: daigooliva]
