Here's the original GQ interview that caused A&E to put Phil Robertson on "hiatus" (whatever that means).
Albert Mohler: "The Apostle Paul made the same arguments, but worshipers in the congregations of Rome and Corinth did not have to put hands over the ears of their children when Paul’s letter was read to their church....[But] even as most evangelical Christians will likely have concerns about the way Phil Robertson expressed himself in some of his comments..., the fact remains that it is the moral judgment he asserted, not the manner of his assertion, that caused such an uproar....So the controversy over Duck Dynasty sends a clear signal to anyone who has anything to risk in public life: Say nothing about the sinfulness of homosexual acts or risk sure and certain destruction by the revolutionaries of the new morality. You have been warned."
James Poniewozik: Once A&E takes action on what they perceive as offensive in Robertson's comments, "you’ve got the opposite problem — with deeply religious viewers who like the Robertsons for their faith. They’re going to see it as you punishing him for saying out loud what he believes, and maybe for what they themselves believe, and what they believe is the word of God. You’re punishing him, in their eyes, for being one of them."
Rod Dreher: "It must be said that one of the most irritating aspects of the New York media environment is how narrow and monocultural it is, while flattering itself that it is cosmopolitan, diverse, and tolerant. You think Phil Robertson is bigoted? I have been around and worked with liberals in Washington and New York and elsewhere whose opinions were so obnoxious and dismissive of those not like themselves that they make the Duck Commander sound like Dick Cavett. Anyway, one thing I’ve learned from where I grew up, and from all my travels, is how easy it is to demonize people, and how short-sighted and stupid it is. We all do it. We shouldn’t. All of us have had to sit at Thanksgiving tables and listen to uncles or cousins or family friends say dumb, even ugly, things about Those Not Like Us. Sometimes we speak out against it. Other times we hold our tongues and reproach ourselves later for our silence. Still other times we hold our tongues and say inwardly, “Bless her heart, she has no idea what she’s saying.” But unless the relative or friend is a truly wicked person, we grant them grace because we know their limitations, we know that there is good in them as well as bad, and, if we have any moral self-awareness, because we know that we may be in a position one day to depend on the grace of others when we show our ignorance."
Thabiti Anyabwile: "I think Mr. Robertson spoke what a lot of people think and feel but are not accustomed to expressing–for good or ill. His visceral reaction is the reaction of most who stop to think about the actions in question. That he should be beaten up for it is expected. That many should stand by quietly while he is… is sad. Soon they’ll come around for us, too."
Wesley Hill, a gay man committed to living the biblical ethic, points out what Phil Robertson got wrong about same-sex attraction.
Larry Alex Taunton in The Atlantic: "The message A&E’s decision sends is that there is zero tolerance on television for Christians who are conscientious objectors to homosexuality. More than that, it implicitly suggests that the campaign for tolerance has advanced to a campaign to pressure 45 percent of Americans to recant their beliefs and endorse a lifestyle to which they are opposed, conscience be damned. We stand at a crossroads. The country must decide. Is the endgame here to be that orthodox Christians will henceforth have no voice within their own culture? If so, does this mean we have become a nation of bullies, forcing conformity while calling it tolerance?"
