Can tear-jerkers turn you liberal?

It seems that watching soppy movies make you a Liberal.

Political scientists found that Hollywood movies can change attitudes more than advertising and news reports

The researchers noted a leftward shift in attitudes after the participants saw a film with a liberal message

Todd Adkins, of the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, said audiences seemed to turn off their critical faculties when they reach the cinema.

That settles it.  Liberals lack critical faculties. It can't be denied, it's Science. You're not trying to deny science are you?

On a more serious note, it has long been known by both  the Left & Right that the culture has more effect on politics than politics on culture.  That's why Liberal group just tried to sink Duck Dynasty and why political correctness via speech codes are such a powerful tool in shaping the country.

UPDATE:

Why Duck Dynasty Threatens The Left

A very good analysis on the media, culture, Liberalism and why the Left controls your thoughts and your speech even when you may not agree with them.  The Left shows their beliefs not by preaching but by showing. That's what the Robertson family does and why they are so popular.  The show is the very opposite of preachy.  It only ends with the family at dinner beginning with a prayer.  The Robertson’s Christian faith is just one part, at the very end.  The show is about the kids, their relationships, work, fishing & hunting & shooting.  It's about the things that most people do in a setting that many would like to have.  I mean, how many people would love to do these things and by the way, get rich by making duck calls?

 Read the whole thing. But here's the bottom line:

The threat of the Robertsons isn’t in Phil’s politically incorrect comments. The threat is that this family has figured out how right-wing politics and Evangelical Christianity can influence pop culture without being the punch line or the bad guy. While the left has spent decades making conservatives look like idiots and Christians look like bigots, Duck Dynasty reminds average Americans that these views are mainstream. The left is alerted but will those on the right take advantage of what the Robertsons have created?

A&E Admits it Ducked Up – will bring back Duck Dynasty Star

A&E has decided to resume filming DuckDynasty “later this spring with the entire Robertson family.”

The "Duck Dynasty" family says they are excited to return to work after A&E Network announced Friday it would resume filming their hit show with Phil Robertson next spring in a reversal of its decision last week to suspend him for comments he made about homosexuality.

In an exclusive statement to FoxNews.com, the family said it was "excited to keep making a quality TV show for our dedicated fans, who have showed us wonderful support. We will continue to represent our faith and values in the most positive way through 'Duck Dynasty' and our many projects that we are currently working on.

"The outpouring of support and prayer has encouraged and emboldened us greatly."...

In a statement released late Friday afternoon, A&E said, “While Phil's comments made in the (GQ) interview reflect his personal views based on his own beliefs, and his own personal journey, he and his family have publicly stated they regret the ‘coarse language’ he used and the misinterpretation of his core beliefs based only on the article. He also made it clear he would ‘never incite or encourage hate.’"

The network added that “Duck Dynasty is not a show about one man's views. It resonates with a large audience because it is a show about family, a family that America has come to love. As you might have seen in many episodes, they come together to reflect and pray for unity, tolerance and forgiveness. These are three values that we at A&E Networks also feel strongly about.

“So after discussions with the Robertson family, as well as consulting with numerous advocacy groups, A&E has decided to resume filming Duck Dynasty later this spring with the entire Robertson family.”

Best comment yet: Duck Hunter 1, Dick Hunters 0

Duck Humor

H/T The other McCain

Banned at Volokh

Randy Barnett at the Volokh Conspiracy presents some poll results that attempt to show that a plurality of Americans approve of homosexual sex. It’s another one in a long line of articles that try to convince people who consider homosexual relations as a sin – a la Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty fame – that they're out of step.

One question that has come up in the Duck Dynasty dispute is how typical is Phil Roberston’s view that homosexual behavior is a sin.

In recent years, the public has been moving from a majority believing that sexual relations between people of the same gender is always wrong to roughly equal numbers believing that it’s always wrong and believing that it’s not wrong at all.

Indeed, less than two years ago, our President finally came around to embrace views on gay marriage that I expect a majority of us at the Volokh Conspiracy have long held.

In searching through polls archived at the Roper Center, I found these surveys showing the split over gay sex:

May 2013: Do you think it is a sin, or not, to engage in homosexual behavior?

(Source: Pew Research Center for the People & the Press Political Survey)

45% Is a sin

45% Is not a sin

10% Don’t know/Refused

March 2013: Do you personally believe that sex between two adults of the same gender is a sin, or not?

(Source: Public Religion Research Institute Religion & Politics Tracking Survey)

44% Yes, is a sin

46% No, is not a sin

10% Don’t know/Refused

If the fact that about half the people in the country are willing to openly state that they agree with Robertson, despite the condemnation of people like Barnett - the ones who dominate the mass media and academia - is a surprise, it may mean that Barnett lives in a bubble at Georgetown.

Barnett remarks (in the comments section)


The entire post is designed to do just what it does -- give information to the intellectually curious on both sides.

That bigoted views on gay sex are so widespread (and are religiously based) makes the challenge all the greater. These views on homosexuality are sadly quite mainstream, indeed, the majority view for men and for those living in Robertson's region of the country. For those who welcome the network's actions, with this information one can get a better sense of what the one is up against. People in my part of the intellectual world often lack basic understanding of the actual views of the American public. It's not just some strange guy out of the mainstream.

For those who oppose the network's actions, one can see that his view of gay sex as sinful is a mainstream view, though no longer in the majority.

As for motivations, the demography of viewpoint diversity is part of what I do.

Really, make of the facts what you will. In my post, other than implying my long-time support for gay rights, I expressed no opinion on Robertson or A & E. As an atheist myself, I do not view the Bible as other than the works of men who lived a long time ago.

Which I call bullshit.   “The entire post is designed to do just what it does -- give information to the intellectually curious on both sides.” No it doesn't.  I'm not sure how many people are curious about the sexual antics of about 2% of the population; who approves and who disapproves and who gives a damn.  Because that's not what the controversy over Phil Robertson's remarks are about.  

It’s designed to put Barnett's finger on the scale by using polling to make people who believe that some things are a sin (or as he might put it “sin”) shut up because their views are becoming less popular. Note he refers to people who believe that homosexual sex is a sin, like adultery, are bigots.  It is also designed to convince people that the way to be part of the “intellectual” in-crowd, to be accepted by professors of law are "sadly" mistaken and need to be re-educated by their betters who don't live in the Louisiana swamps. They must be educated to adopt the view that homosexual sex is normal, perhaps even somewhat noble because it’s somehow associated with inter-racial marriage; something that someone inevitably brings up in comments to posts like his at Volokh.  This is particularly true of the rigid – and rather totalitarian atmosphere of academia where Robertson’s view of sex and sin is simply not permitted to be uttered. Where evangelical atheists congregate to compliment each other on their goodness. People in Barnett's part of the intellectual world are doing their best to de-legitimize the views of the mainstream that disagrees with their views of morality. Slickly done.

I'll give Phil Robertson the last word.


Oh, and my presence at Volokh is no longer accepted.  That's fine, I'll stand with Phil.  His swamp is healthier and more accepting than Barnett's.

Major media anti-Christian

When you have major media outlets declaratively describing Robertson's expression of his Christian beliefs as "anti-gay," what you are really seeing is major media outlets outing themselves as anti-Christian.

Politico. CNN. The Hollywood Reporter. Entertainment Weekly. Yahoo. Variety. And so on…

Robertson listed more than a half-dozen sins other than homosexual behavior, including a number of heterosexual behaviors, and "the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers".

It is certainly possible to try to disguise anti-gay bigotry as Christianity. Singling out gay people and not distinguishing between homosexuals as people and homosexual behavior are two of the most glaring examples.

But Robertson did neither. What he did do was to speak a Christian truth about various sins, and the media know this.

Anti-sin is not anti-gay.

But because the media and left are desperate to toxify Christianity as bigotry and bully Christians into silence, Robertson's remarks are seen as the perfect opportunity to do both.

Of course it is an added benefit to the media to try to tarnish a culturally conservative mega-hit, and maybe drive it off the air.

What we have here is nothing more than the media practicing McCarthyism and disguising it as tolerance.

And here is something else Robertson said that is getting almost no media play:

Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate.

Via Ace of Spades 

Cracker Barrel does a 180: ‘Today, we are putting all our Duck Dynasty products back in our stores.’

Dear Cracker Barrel Customer:

When we made the decision to remove and evaluate certain Duck Dynasty items, we offended many of our loyal customers. Our intent was to avoid offending, but that’s just what we’ve done.

You told us we made a mistake. And, you weren’t shy about it. You wrote, you called and you took to social media to express your thoughts and feelings. You flat out told us we were wrong.

We listened.

Today, we are putting all our Duck Dynasty products back in our stores.

And, we apologize for offending you.

We respect all individuals right to express their beliefs. We certainly did not mean to have anyone think different.

We sincerely hope you will continue to be part of our Cracker Barrel family.

Don’t use the Voltaire defense for Phil Robertson

Here’s a very good essay on the success of the Robertson family of Duck Dynasty fame.

It was only a matter of time before the left complained about Phil Robertson. His actual quotes in GQ are almost insignificant – at some point, someone was going to go after him for his views on guns, women, and even his much-hated “yuppie” comments.

The surprise should be how liberals dismissed the rise of Duck Dynasty until this fall, when it was too late to stem the show’s popularity. Once it became evident that this family held so much influence, the left suddenly realized they faced the first threat to their decades-long monopoly on popular culture.

The family and its values represent a threat to the Left’s iron grip on the popular culture. It allows no dissent, no deviation from the line.  If the Left had its way people watching Duck Dynasty would be like Christians in China meeting in their homes, with closed curtains, to pray and worship God.

But make no mistake, there are no public figures - or none that seek the Uber-culture’s approval - that will defend Phil Robertson without prefacing their remarks by giving us the Voltaire defense of: "I disagree with Robertson but he should have a right to speak his mind" defense.

Stop it.

If you disagree with Robertson, say so. If you agree, say so. But don’t try to have it both ways. That's the way of the waffler, the shyster-lawyer, the one who's been captured by the Liberal culture.

By the same token, the legal defense is nonsense. The law always follows the culture. It's why judges are suddenly discovering the that homosexual marriage is required. If they decided the opposite, their friends and associates, their clubs and social groups would cease inviting them.

For the Christian community, remember the book of Revelation, verse 3:15-16:

Message to the Church in Laodicea

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.

I stand with Phil Robertson and the God of the Bible.  Where do you stand?

Phil Robertson's right.

18 Things You Should Know About Duck Dynasty

It's Sunday.  Go to the links and you may experience a better sermon that you had in church.

God works in mysterious ways.  Instead of a new Pope, maybe His message is best delivery by the Robertsons.