Bigot and Homophobe? Do the words inflame or calm the debate over homosexuality?

It was the comment heard around the nation. Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson came under fire after he gave his religious views on homosexuality in GQ magazine.

“It seems like, to me, a vagina, as a man, would be more desirable than a man’s anus,” Robertson says, "That’s just me. I’m just thinking: There’s more there! She’s got more to offer. You know what I’m saying? But hey, sin: It’s not logical, my man. It’s just not logical.”

Robertson concludes, “Everything is blurred on what’s right and wrong. Sin becomes fine. Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and those men. Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers; they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.”

The opinion Robertson gave eventually led to him to be indefinitely suspended from cable station A&E for a short time.

Soon hosts to commentators on CNN, MSNBC and HLN, celebrities, even YouTube, television and radio personality David Pakman among others, were calling Robertson a homophobic bigot.

Pakman states, “The last thing we need on television, corporate television, is more homophobes hiding behind God’s word to spread bigotry.”

The topic of homosexuality has always been a subject of heated contention; especially among those who hold religious beliefs against it. However, in recent years the debate has a taken a dark turn, with the derogatory use of the terms homophobe and bigot.

The definition of bigot according to Merriam Webster is: (noun) 1. “A person who is utterly intolerant of any differing creed, belief, or opinion.” 2. A person who strongly and unfairly dislikes other people, ideas, etc.: especially: a person who hates or refuses to accept the members of a particular group (such as a racial or religious group)”.1234