Phil Robertson on Cancel Culture: ‘America’s Greatest Problem Is Not Political But Spiritual’

Published: February 7, 2022

Phil Robertson on Cancel Culture: ‘America’s Greatest Problem Is Not Political But Spiritual’

By Movieguide® Staff

In 2013, Phil Robertson and his family were at the height of their dynasty –DUCK DYNASTY, that is. While the Robertson patriarch never shied away from living out his faith on the show, he recalled an interview with a young reporter that would mark the end of his time on mainstream television.

“In the fall of 2013, it began innocently enough. A young writer for GQ magazine was quizzing me on my views about various topics,” Robertson recalled in an article published with The Christian Post. “A quick glance around my living room should have been enough to tell him what I was about. Miss Kay’s Bible verses hung on slabs of wood and my well-worn Bible was held together with duct tape. It was obvious. We read and believe in God’s Word. If God speaks it, we always go with what He says.

“So, when the reporter asked my opinion about homosexuality, I didn’t actually give my opinion. I simply gave him the Bible. From memory, I quoted: ‘Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God’ (1 Cor. 6:9–10),” he told the reporter.

According to Robertson, the reporter’s story hit national news within one hour of the interview.

“He didn’t know I had quoted a Bible verse, either. It would be at least two weeks before the media figured out where my words were from,” he said. “I spent several hours showing the young man around my land, all the while preaching the Gospel to him. I went to great lengths to share the message of Jesus and how all sin can be eradicated by simply putting our faith in Christ.

“He wanted to ‘cancel’ me, but I only wanted to introduce him to the One who could give him eternal life,” Robertson said. “I was fired for quoting that verse from the Bible. The price I paid for telling the truth about God’s will for humanity was a cool $10 million. But I would do it all again. Jesus paid with His life for telling the truth. The only thing it cost me was a few bucks.”

Despite the intense backlash he faced in 2013, Robertson said that “cancel culture” ramped up in recent years.

“I don’t believe the term ‘cancel culture’ was used then. At the time, we just figured the ‘thought police’ were ramping up. What’s going on today is a much more powerful force,” he explained. “Power brokers in academia, the media, politics, and the corporate world have amassed an incredible amount of power to squash anyone who doesn’t toe the line.

“We may not win the public relations war by convincing the masses to love (or even like) us, but we can win the personal war — the real war — by not falling for strategies intended to intimidate us to submit to the god of political correctness,” he continued. “In spite of the tremendous pressure exerted on me to take back my words, I didn’t. I could not take it back even if I wanted to, because those weren’t my words at all. How could I apologize for quoting the Creator?”

Robertson encouraged others to understand that true authority comes from God’s Word.

Robertson added that the real issue in America and the world today is spiritual.

“Our real problem in America isn’t political or religious, at least not in the sense that religion has come to mean allegiance to an institutional denomination. Those are just symptoms of a much more serious disease,” he wrote. “Our real problem is spiritual, rooted in our nation’s drift away from the knowledge of God. Too many of us have abandoned the love of God. As Paul said in Romans, too many have embraced the idea that the knowledge of God just isn’t worth it (1:18–32).

“We need to look up instead. America’s greatest problem is not political but spiritual. If our problem is spiritual, then the solution must be spiritual too,” he said. “I’m an American patriot, but my true patriotism is with the only kingdom that can never be destroyed: the kingdom of the Son of God (Dan. 2:44). I love America. But I’m standing, first and foremost, with God’s kingdom and no one, from either the Right or the Left, will ever shake me on this. I pledge allegiance to the unshakable kingdom — always.”