Freedom of Speech (unless your opinion is different than mine)

From Wikipedia:

Freedom of speech in the United States is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and by many state constitutions and state and federal laws. The freedom of speech is not absolute; the Supreme Court of the United States has recognized several categories of speech that are excluded from the freedom, and it has recognized that governments may enact reasonable time, place, or manner restrictions on speech.

Just one of the many freedoms we enjoy in our United States Constitution.  It separates us from many other Countries in the world, and as a Christian, I am so glad we have this right.

Unfortunately the media today has become a police force of sorts, trying to silent people with opinions other than agendas they want to champion.  Someone at A&E made this statement:  "His personal views in no way reflect those of A&E Networks, who have always been strong supporters and champions of the LGBT community. The network has placed Phil under hiatus from filming indefinitely." (bold emphasis added by me)

When I first heard of this I didn't believe it was real.  Seriously, this is happening in 2013?  I didn't want to blurt out with a "knee jerk response" so I decided to do a little fact finding on my own.  How many people are we "protecting" here?  It's a difficult number to nail down, I've heard the LGBT community in the US is as low as 2-5% and as high as 35%.  Really?  We don't have better numbers than that?  I find it hard to believe that in a group of 100 people, 35 people would fit into this category.  The 35% figure came from Gallup Poles in case you are wondering who provided that.

I  have many friends, good friends that are a part of this group.  I care about them and have enjoyed their friendship for years.  Several of them for decades, and I still do!  They don't force their lifestyle and opinions on me, and I don't "Bible bash" them.  We are friends.

Here a few of my thoughts on this.

• Phil is allowed to voice his opinion in GQ or any other forum.  He is a public figure, so it is also subjected to public opinion.
• It's America folks, people have died for years to protect this right.  Some are fighting for it right this second, do not let it be in vain!
• Vote with your voice and your wallet.  Especially your wallet, it's the advertisers that make the real decisions.  I've emailed the network to let them know what I think, it is my right.
• Someone at A&E will be without a job very soon, they will "fall on their sword" so that the network can save face...OR
• Duck Dynasty, Phil and his family will be on the air on some network.  I'm sure they will still have a voice because of their incredible popularity.  Does anyone believe that they weren't approached by other networks within hours of this statement?
• Is anyone really surprised by this comment?  He is from Louisiana, admittedly a Redneck, 67 years old and a loudly, professing conservative Christian!  He wasn't attacking anyone, just his views as written in the bible for many, many years. (Remember the story of Soddom and Gomorrah?)

I don't have a crystal ball, and don't know where this will end.  My wife and I have talked about how everything points that we are living in the last days.  TV ain't what it used to be and it's hard to find many decent shows that you can watch for sheer entertainment.  The LGBT has an agenda and they are making progress.  It's hard to find many sitcoms that don't promote or accept this as "normal" family.  I do not accept that and feel sad for our grandchildren and the world they will grow up in.