It’s been amply established that Phil Robertson is a loathsome character. But on Tuesday night’s edition of “Hannity,” the “Duck Dynasty” patriarch may have gone beyond mere loathsomeness. As he sees it, militants from the Islamic State ought to be executed if they aren’t willing to convert to Christianity.
Robertson was on hand to promote his new book, “unPHILtered: The Way I See It.” However, Sean Hannity quickly steered the conversation to ISIS. Watch the full interview here. Hours earlier, the world learned that ISIS had beheaded a second American journalist–namely Steven Sotloff. After reviewing ISIS’ recent atrocities–including beheadings and putting the heads of children on stakes–Hannity asked the Duck Commander for his take on ISIS. Robertson replied that according to the Bible, there are two kinds of people–the “children of God” and those who are “under the control of the evil one.” Whipping out his Bible, he turned to Proverbs 8:36–“All who hate me love death.” To Robertson’s mind, the reason that Iraq and Syria are a killing field is because the people there hate the God of the Bible. Hannity then asked Robertson how he thought we should deal with ISIS since “like it or not,” ISIS is at war with the United States. Robertson’s reply is reproduced in full.
“In this case, you either have to convert them, which I think would be next to impossible. I’m not giving up on them–but I’m just saying, either convert them or kill them. One or the other.”
Hannity anticipated that Robertson’s critics would see this as just another unhinged statement from the Duck Commander. But Robertson tried to unring the bell. He said that he would prefer to have a Bible study with ISIS in hopes of “showing them the error of their ways” and get them saved. However, he said, if ISIS is looking for a battle, he’s equally prepared to engage in one.
Robertson would have us believe that all he wants to do is evangelize ISIS. But given Robertson’s history, it’s awfully hard to assume that he just misspoke. Remember, we’re talking about a guy who thinks grown men should pursue teenage girls as potential wives. Unless I’m very wrong, Robertson seems to be suggesting that if these ISIS thugs aren’t willing to renounce Islam for Christianity, they should be mowed down without mercy. If there’s any difference between that mentality and ISIS’ sordid history of slaughtering entire cities if their people won’t convert to their heavy-handed version of Islam, I don’t see it.
While Robertson has remained silent so far on this interview, at least one of his compatriots has risen to his defense. Michael Brown, a columnist at Charisma magazine and one of the leaders of the Brownsville Revival, writes that while Robertson is actually being considerably more gracious than those who have vowed to see ISIS hunted down. But two parts of Brown’s treatise have me wondering if we were watching the same interview. Brown also said that Robertson was offering salvation “freely with a Bible in hand,” while ISIS was forcing people to convert at gunpoint. Um, Michael? Robertson said pretty clearly, “either convert them or kill them.” Additionally, Brown said that Robertson is talking about “killing the killers,” while ISIS slaughters innocents. So forcing ISIS militants to convert to Christianity if they want to stay alive would be any different? Two wrongs don’t make a right.
Back in 2003, Andrew Sullivan suggested that we should refer to the religious right as “Christianists” rather than “Christians.” After all, Sullivan pointed out, there really isn’t much difference between them and Islamists. To the mind of this unabashedly liberal charismatic/pentecostal Christian, Sullivan’s description of Christianists fits Phil Robertson like his ever-present headband and beard–literally and figuratively.
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Darrell Lucus, also known as Christian Dem in NC on Daily Kos, is a radical-lefty Jesus-lover who has been blogging for change for a decade. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook.
