Why the ‘Duck Dynasty’ Family Keeps Speaking Out in Face of Vicious Attacks

Alan Robertson, the eldest son of Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson, spoke once again at the Family Research Council’s Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C., on Saturday.

During that speech, “the beardless brother” explained why his family continues to be vocal about their Christian faith and how it informs their decisions, particularly in light of the response it elicits from those who oppose a Christian worldview.

“I don’t know that, in my lifetime, I’ve ever seen more of an attack on traditional values traditional family and, really, religious liberty—that’s where we’re living today,” he said. “Every time that I come in and speak for anything associated with FRC, or with Tony, I get the most vile, vicious, mean notes on my social platform that you can ever imagine.

“Because I’m a person obviously in the public eye part of our family, and so we’re not supposed to talk about what we talked about—who we are, in essence. I guess, you know, it’s OK for other people, but not so much for us. So we’re blasted.”

Tony Perkins is “a really convincing guy,” he quipped, saying in response to questions about why he continues to endure the attacks. The FRC president keeps convincing him to come back, he said, but added there are really three reasons why he continues to “do what I do.”

“One is that I don’t run from a fight,” he said. “Especially when I’m right—and we are right about what we’re talking about and so we don’t need to run from them. You know, as dad said last night, ultimately our conscience and who we are, those of us who are believers know that God has put us in this position on this Earth to be a mouthpiece for Him. …

“In America, we have over 300 years of history on our side and success because this country was founded on the things we believe in and we should be able to talk about that consistently and not be maligned, but we are. But you know what? That’s OK, because God also told us that we would be persecuted for living that godly life and speaking what we speak.

“If Jesus Christ—if it was good enough for Him to be persecuted, then it’s good enough for me. I’m not going to back away from the fight.

“I also want to join and support those who are willing to fight this cultural war for our soul—and that’s what it is, a fight for the soul of America—because we know that we’re citizens of this great country and very proud of that. We’re also citizens of another country—of someplace that’s higher, someplace that we want all men and women to ascend to—and really that’s the third reason why.

“Because I love the folks, even the ones who malign, and talk bad, and hate, and say the things that they say. Whether they hate me, I love them anyway, and I want them to know about eternal life. I want them to know there’s something beyond. I want them to know there’s something better than your family right here in the here-and-now—a life that’s unimaginable when turned to Christ and turned to God.”

Robertson also discussed why he’s voting for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. He also addressed the concerns of evangelicals who still haven’t been convinced to do the same.

“So we’re at this point, again. You know it hasn’t taken us too long to get here—where things are in pretty bad shape—in fact, it’s at such a crossroads that I believe, as many have said on this stage during the week, that we’re at a toppling point. It’s so dangerous and it’s so scary.

“Some of the decisions that we see that come down through the judiciary now, and through the Supreme Court, of course what’s happening and mostly not happening through the legislative branch—in 2016, we’re at a crucial moment and I believe we’re at a clear choice, as well.

“Now, you know we’ve got same ol’ same ol’ coming in on the Democratic side. I mean, it’s just so—in fact, the only thing that adds to it now is we got a person who we know how self-serving she is. And not only wanting to take forward what’s been happening for the last eight years, but also then to serve her own interests.

“It’s a clear choice, because you look on the other side and you see a man who we’re not sure about, you know, because he’s never been a politician—which could exactly be the answer we need, that God has raised up this person for this moment in time—but here’s what I appreciate about Donald Trump …

“He’s evolving in the right direction. You know, he talks openly about where he was, and certainly the news media’s gonna put out there every possible thing they can find about where he was, but he’s telling you about where he’s coming to.

“So, again, I’m not saying he’s the next Ronald Reagan, but I’m saying he has a lot of the qualities of a person that evolved from one place to another place, because they see how bad America has gotten …

 “I’m clearly going to vote for Donald Trump in two months there’s no doubt about it. I’m gonna be that guy. And to my fellow Christians, evangelicals, and those who said, ‘I just, you know, I made my decision in the primary’—because I mean I supported someone else, I mean a lot of us did but—when it comes down to it, if I were a #NeverTrump, I would hope that person would have been a #NeverHillary far before they were ever a #NeverTrump.

“You’ve drawn that line in the sand and you said, ‘Well, you know, I just don’t know if my conscience will allow me to step over it.’ Well, I hope you drew another line that was #NeverHillary before that. So, listen, let’s wipe that off and let’s go back and let’s remember and look at what’s going to happen if we don’t do the right thing.

“I love what Dr. Dobson said last night: We can’t quit now. We can’t just say, ‘Well, you know what? Maybe if we lose this election, then we can start looking for four years down the road.’ We’re running out four-year terms for our great country.

“The judicial is waiting. The legislative is waiting. It’s up to us to do the right thing. It’s so crucial at this moment at this time. I want to encourage all of you to trust in God’s ability to raise up who He raises up. That doesn’t always be the person in our mind that we think it should be. God has done amazing things throughout human history by raising up people that no one can imagine to make a difference.”