Whenever Bill Maher lampoons Christianity, he is bashed for being anti-Christian. Yet, when Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson's ugly homophobic comments were condemned by GLAAD, the same folks who are offended by Maher claim that those who criticize Robertson are attacking his Christian faith. And in defending Robertson's crude statements, they invoke freedom of speech (not accorded Maher or Martin Bashir), religious freedom, and the word of God. This morning, Fox & Friends, hosted the owners of a company that sponsors Duck Dynasty. They stand with Phil because they share his biblical beliefs which, of course, include the notion that gays are going to hell. The curvy couch Christians had no problem with the comments because they're based on faith - in fact, the segment was part of their "fight for faith" series. 

After the graphic for Fox & Friends patented "Fight for Faith" series, which included warm validation for bakers who refused to bake cakes for gay weddings, Brian Kilmeade talked about the awesomeness of Duck Dynasty and how it is now "in the eye of the storm" as a result of comments, made by Phil Robertson (the "patriarch!") in GQ, that are considered "controversial." Steve Doocy shouted "to some." Kilmeade repeated "to some" but acknowledged that "they were crude." Doocy spluttered, "he was being frank expressing his religious belief." Kilmeade noted that Duck Dynasty's network, A&E, is putting Robertson on indefinite leave. Hasselbeck read a statement, from the Robertson family, which invoked Robertson's constitutional right to express his faith.

Doocy read a tweet from Harvey Levin, who said that even though he is gay, in which Levin defended Robertson with the comment that "it's not hate based, it's religious." (It may be religious but it's still hate based, Harvey!) Doocy added "misdirected, some might say, but it's his right." The chyron reinforced the message that it's OK to hate gays because religious freedom: "Faith Under Fire, Robertson Suspended For Voicing Religious Beliefs."

The next part of the segment was devoted to a defense of Robertson by two men from a company (Skyjacker) that sponsors Duck Dynasty. They discussed how these are Phil's "core beliefs" and how "we have to believe in something, we have to speak out about our beliefs when we're asked about them and that's all that Phil did." One of the men asserted that "if people don't stand up, as did Phil, next thing you know, we'll all believe in nothing." He chided A&E for its actions.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck framed the propaganda message with a question: Does it concern you, he's suffering a punishment, whether it's a knee jerk reaction does it worry you that your beliefs and your faith as a company, that could happen to any company, anyone who expresses what they believe on either side?" To the response that "we definitely have the right of freedom of speech and it shouldn't be subject to penalty," Doocy said "absolutely." He added that "you ought to be able to express your own beliefs and he was talking about his religious beliefs which are sacrosanct to many."

So I guess that when the Wesboro Baptist Church protests outside veterans funerals it's OK because they're exercising their freedom of speech and freedom of religion - just like Phil Robertson whose biblically based views are the same as those of Westboro. As Steve Doocy tells us, bigotry is fine when it's based on faith because religious beliefs are "sacrosanct." Does God hate fags? Steve Doocy seems to think so.