However the "Duck Dynasty" shouting match plays out, the controversy it has generated is a good thing. As has been widely observed, we are going through a remarkable transformation in our attitudes towards the LGBT community, and this incident only works to promote that change. It focuses our attention on the fact that this form of prejudice hides itself behind religious arguments that have nothing to do with the real lives of real people. The religious right once again turns complex biblical issues into rigid dualistic talking points that ignore the way Jesus himself embraced those on the margins, offering the possibility of a loving relationship with God that the religion of his time denied marginal people. The way to a less intolerant, more inclusive and just society is through just such public encounters of this kind.
In the long run, the statements made by Robertson and others who hold his views constitute defamation of character and promote hate speech, which in turn promotes social injustice. The best way to deal with those who hold such opinions, however, is not by throwing them in jail or denying them the opportunity to say what they think. At the same time, companies, communities, and the rest of us can't be forced to help them purvey their hate speech. We have a right to disassociate ourselves from it—and to expose it for what it is. The way forward toward great social justice is difficult and messy, but it is the path we seem to be on when it comes to prejudice in all of its forms. We are learning, albeit too slowly and with too much pain, to be tolerant and even accepting of the superficial differences, such as skin color and sexual orientation, between us, In this direction lies the Kingdom, Amen.
