LGBT News Duck dynasty star to return to show ?

Phil Robertson Will Return To 'Duck Dynasty' Episodes In January

When I spent Christmas at my parents, someone had to bring up in general discussion about how "unfair" it was for A&E to fire the guy (he was never fired, just "suspended" during the reruns) simply because he was expressing his religious beliefs, and reasons why he's straight. (likes vaginas) I mentioned that one possible solution would be to pass a law that says you can't be fired for expressing your personal beliefs about a topic, or expressing what your sexual orientation is, like being straight. The person was all for that, until I mentioned it could also be used to prevent an employer from firing someone who expressed the opposite opinion of the Duck Dynasty guy. Suddenly it became a matter of religious freedom for employers, or whether the employees views conflict with the companys image, or might offend some of the companys customers.

Before Christmas, my boyfriend said somebody might say something like this, and he was right. The big difference though is firing someone like me would mean little for my employer, compared to A&E losing Duck Dynasty, since the other show members have said they might not participate without him being involved. I find it a little ironic though that a show about a family that sells duck calls is a number one show on a network that calls itself Arts and Entertainment.

 

I didn't take from this article (and a few others like it out there) that they had actually changed their minds yet, only that they were looking for a way to bring him back for season five if they had to. By had to, I mean if

A: season 4 is as successful as the previous seasons, and

B: if the other cast members decide to not return if he's not allowed to participate. If it was a cast member of Pawn stars, they'd probably do the show anyway without a particular cast member (as they've said, family comes first, and money comes second, depending on who you ask) but the Robertson family was doing okay before the show, and will continue to do okay without it. A&E has more to lose than they do, depending on what happens with season 4. One of the quotes from the story was,

"The network also hopes the media and fan furor will cool down over the holidays and that tensions over shooting future episodes can then be resolved,"

Suspended can mean anything they want it to mean, compared to saying terminated. Has A&E come out and said that the suspension is permanent, unless he recants or apoligizes, which isn't likely?

I personally don't care one way or the other whether he comes back or not. I didn't watch seasons 1-3, and wouldn't watch season 4 even if the whole cast came out as gay. I just find the hypocracy of his supporters personally annoying, considering my situation. Over the Christmas holidays, I found someone who is very willing to take my case should one come up, and could survive for a while being unemployed, I just have to decide whether it's all worth it or not personally.