Drew Magary's Fantastic Interview with Phil Robertson

Recently, Phil Robertson of the sensational cable TV program Duck Dynasty has drawn quite a bit of flack for his very Christian views kept largely hidden until now through A&E’s refusal to air his more candid statements. Setting personal opinions aside though and totally disregard the absurdity of crucifying Phil for his beliefs because today’s hyper-sensitive, disgustingly entitled society seeks to vilify everyone who challenges their nuanced values, and looking at this from an unbiased standpoint, a very interesting lifestyle emerges in Drew Magary’s article for GQ — incidentally, the article that started this whole debacle. The entire piece is excellent, but if I had to pick my favorite line it came down to Drew’s revelatory experience toward the end, for I can relate to that very feeling myself:

“Whatever you think of Phil’s beliefs, it’s hard not to gaze upon his cultivations and wonder if you’ve gotten life all wrong. This is life as summer camp. It’s gorgeous, in a way that alters you on an elemental level. I feel it when I breathe the air. I feel it when I survey the enormity of the space around me. I shouldn’t be sitting around the house and bitching because the new iOS 7 touchscreen icons don’t have any fucking drop shadow. I should be out here, dammit! Killing things and growing things and bringing dead things home to cook! There is a life out in this wilderness that I am too chickenshit to lead.”

Spectacular. The most impactful line, however, came just a few paragraphs later at the end:

“It’s the direction he would like to point everyone: back to the woods. Back to the pioneer spirit. Back to God. ‘Why don’t we go back to the old days?’ he asked me at one point. But now, I’m afraid, I must get out of the ATV and go back to where I belong, back to the godless part of America that Phil is determined to save.”

Drew took a very measured approach to the article despite failing to see eye to eye with Phil on quite a few things, and I laud him for that and for his impressive writing ability. Very well done, and worth the read many times over.