Who Commands The Duck Commander?

By: American Decency Staff

Imagine this: one of the most popular shows on cable stars an aging evangelist and his family. It features the patriarch teaching his grandchildren  not to go too far physically in their dating relationships, that the most important thing about a woman is that she knows her Bible, and it closes every episode with the family praying around the dinner table.

Doubtless some of you realize that this doesn't take any imagination. We're talking about A&E's hit TV show, Duck Dynasty.

The documentary style show follows the self-described "Redneck" family of Phil Robertson, AKA, the Duck Commander, as they go about the business of running their hunting-product empire.

Now going into its 3rd season on A&E, last season's finale raked in 6.5 million viewers, making it the highest rated show for the night and the most watched episode of anything ever on A&E.

Certainly, many viewers have been struck by the Christian values lived out by the Robertson family on the show, but fewer realize that the Duck Commander himself, Phil Robertson, and his sons, WIllie and Jase, preach at sports conventions around the country.

And (in the spirit of Si Robertson,) it ain't no fluffy preaching neither, Jack!

Here's a sample of what the star of one of the most popular shows in America has to say from the pulpit. I pulled it from Youtube.

"You know what you do? You suppress the truth about God by your wickedness. And you know what happens? His wrath is poured upon you. Don't believe it?

First, they say ,'there is no God! Get Him out of your mind.' Then they bow down to birds, animals, plants, and reptiles, and each other and the first thing you see coming out of them is gross sexual immorality. They will dishonor their bodies with one another – degrade each other. Uh, is that going on in the United States of America? Look around! God's not there…

Does it get worse?

'Therefore because they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to shameful lust. Women exchanged natural relations and were enflamed with lust for one another and the men were enflamed with each other.' Women with women. Men with men. They committed indecent acts with one another and 'they received in their selves the due penalty for their perversions'. They're full of murder, envy, strife, hatred. They are insolent, arrogant, God-haters. They are heartless. They are faithless. They are senseless. They are ruthless. They invent ways of doing evil!

That's what you have 235 years, roughly, after your forefathers founded the country."

When that guy is one of the most famous people on cable television, maybe there's some hope for our culture yet.

Granted, however, Phil Robertson isn't quite that outspoken about his faith on Duck Dynasty. But he's not shy either. The series primarily shows the humorous interactions between the Phil's sons, WIllie (the CEO of Duck Commander) and Jase (the COO) with a healthy dose of comedy from the Phil's possibly-crazy brother Si. The whole family is not ashamed to say that they hold the Bible and its principles high.

So the question is, is Duck Dynasty so wildly popular because of the values portrayed on the show or in spite of it?

Does A&E cater to a larger slice of America with Duck Dynasty than any other show on cable because there's no sex, no bad language, no violence (except against ducks),  and it portrays a positive view of traditional families?  Or is it just because Si is silly and Jase and WIllie have a great time playing off of each other.

I think there's an obvious answer. There are plenty of silly and fun characters on television., but a moral, quality, entertaining TV show is a rare gem, unfortunately.

Hopefully , A&E and other networks will recognize this formula for success and repeat it in their future programs.

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