I just read a rebuttal to the BuzzFeed article propaganda that criticized Chip and Joanna Gaines, hosts of popular HGTV show “Fixer Upper.” It is noteworthy because it was written by a homosexual man named Brandon Ambrosino. I obviously don’t see eye to eye with Brandon on same sex marriage, and his view that you can defend it theologically – you can’t without twisting scripture.
I do appreciate what he had to say about the tactics used by LGBT activists who try to bully those who disagree with them. He called the piece a “non-story” and then also said it was “dangerous.”
In summary Kate Aurthur who wrote the hit piece at BuzzFeed questioned whether Chip and Joanna Gaines believed same sex marriage was wrong because the pastors at their church do. We don’t know where they stand, they haven’t made a public statement about it. It hasn’t been an issue before. The assertion basically is that you can’t be a Christian who actually believes what the Bible teaches and be the host of a popular TV show.
In comes Ambrosino with his rebuttal.
A 2016 survey from Pew Research Center shows public support of same-sex marriage is at an all-time high of 55 percent — and it is steadily growing. But the same polls tell us that nearly 4 out of 10 Americans — no small number! — are not on board with it. The minds at BuzzFeed are not naive: They know that the Gaineses and HGTV are going to have to come out with a public statement on same-sex marriage. They also know that if the statement is not 100 percent supportive of same-sex marriage, the network will be pressured to drop them.
Think about that for a moment. Is the suggestion here that 40 percent of Americans are unemployable because of their religious convictions on marriage? That the companies that employ them deserve to be boycotted until they yield to the other side of the debate — a side, we should note, that is only slightly larger than the one being shouted down?
Or maybe the suggestion is that, because they are public figures, they need to be held to a higher standard, one that does not allow them room for moral and religious convictions? But that doesn’t make sense, either.
He also points out diversity doesn’t just include skin color, but ideology as well.
BuzzFeed is probably at the forefront of discussions surrounding diversity in entertainment. But do their reporters think diversity refers only to skin color? Does ideological diversity count for nothing, especially when it is representative of, again, a sizable chunk of the American public? It’s hard to make the case that the website promotes this kind of diversity, particularly on same-sex marriage. In June, Ben Smith, the publication’s editor in chief, told Politico that “there are not two sides” on the issue.
Another concern I have with the story is that it validates everything that President-elect Donald Trump’s supporters have been saying about the media: that some journalists — specifically younger ones at popular digital publications — will tell stories in certain deceitful, manipulative ways to take down conservatives. (And really, I can’t for the life of me imagine any other intention of the Gaines story.)
Good for Brandon Ambrosino for recognizing the danger of this tactic. I wish there were more same sex marriage supporters who vocally share his point of view.