Did you hear the news? A Christian man said that he doesn’t agree with gay marriage and then quoted scripture! Oh wait… that wasn’t the news. The news was, the television network that employs him suspended him for his comments in a recent interview with a magazine! No wait… that isn’t news either. So where is the news?

The truth is, the news lies in how Americans are just in an uproar over the entire situation. Brother against brother. Father against son. Duck commander against … whatever. The country is ripping itself a new one on television news networks, and Twitter has probably crashed two or three times today from all the angry ranting about ducks and dynasties.

Mark Zuckerberg reported that his Facebook server temperatures are nearing critical levels after today’s flame wars.

Indeed, the apocalypse has come not in the form of a meteor destroying the planet or even people carrying the number 666. Instead, it came in the form of the removal of a character from a television show.

To quote House Speaker, John Boehner, “Are you serious?!”

The US economy is still in the pooper. Big banks probably illegally foreclosed on another few dozen homes today forcing struggling families to the street. Syria is still tearing itself to pieces. North Korea is still being… well… North Korea. And Americans don’t bat an eye. But take one man off of a television show, and boy do they fly off their rockers.

It really shows where Americans place their priorities.

Gay rights supporters are upset that a Christian doesn’t agree with them.

Christians are upset that A & E suspended (not fired, get it right) one its employees for voicing his opinion.

What is there to be said? Well, the mess can be sorted out quite easily. For Christians claiming that this is clearly a violation of freedom of speech as protected by the first amendment… not quite.

The man was able to make his comments freely concerning his opinion on homosexuality. He wasn’t put into prison. He wasn’t beaten. He wasn’t arrested. He remains a free man without any threat of being hurt or locked up in any way. Phil (the man in question) was able to freely make his speech. There was no violation whatsoever of his rights.

However, after he finished making his opinion known, then, others gained the opportunity to use their free speech rights, and they said things against his words. That’s how dialog and free speech work. So… no… no violation of free speech.

As for whether or not he was fired unjustly, the jury is still out. Nobody wants to be fired for their political and religious views, but sadly, employers (like A & E) can do that. They have that right. It’s THEIR television network. Fortunately, Phil wasn’t fired. Just suspended. So, that’s taken care of.

Now, to gay rights supporters, can anyone really be surprised? The man, well really his entire family, have been openly Christian since the start of the show.

Most Christians aren’t going to say, “Yeah, God loves gay marriage.” They have Bible verses that say otherwise. That doesn’t mean they have free reign to judge or hate members of the LGBT community. It means, they don’t agree with their right to the same unification ceremony that straight couples have. Right or wrong, that’s their opinion and belief.

Furthermore, the man didn’t just wake up one morning and decide to go somewhere public and state his opinion on gay marriage; he was in an interview and was asked specifically about his beliefs. What did everyone expect? Did they expect him to lie? He was asked a question, and he answered honestly. Isn’t that how journalism is supposed to work? Interviews in particular?

So, there it is. Everyone is upset about nothing. America has overreacted and become enraged over a television show. Congratulations. This country shows its intelligence to the rest of the world once more.

What it all boils down to is people don’t just disagree with one another, it’s that they refuse to allow the other side to have a different opinion quietly. Someone’s constitutional rights are always trampled, and then a “news agency” writes a story about it, and the whole populace just loses their minds.

But hey, maybe in a week or so, we can focus on the real reason to be thankful this season. Brian is back on Family Guy!