Dog the Bounty Hunter is Offensive
I refuse to watch Dog the Bounty Hunter, because his behavior is offensive.
Everybody is in a tizzy right now, because Dog said “nigger” in a private phone call. Should he have used that word? Should his show be cancelled? I have no opinion on that, because I don’t have a dog in this fight (so to speak).
I’ve only seen his show once, and that was a while ago. Once was enough. Before he and his crew went out on their raid, they all got together and did some sort of bizarre group-hug/pray-a-thon. WTF?
First of all, if I want to see a bunch of guys grope-pray each other, I’ll watch whatever Ted Haggard’s next show will be. Second, is that even legal? Doesn’t this pray-datory behavior create a hostile work environment? What if he hires somebody who doesn’t want to participate? Is it a requirement of the job? Would he refuse to hire someone who doesn’t want to participate? It seems to me that he’s on thin legal ground.
It also makes for annoying television. I don’t want my entertainment interrupted by periodic bouts of superstition. But when I encounter an offensive TV show, I do the only logical thing: I refuse to watch it.
Compare that with what the Parents Television Council, the American Decency Association, and countless other fundie asshat organizations do when they’re offended: They try to get the shows cancelled.
One action is about personal responsibility. The other action is about controlling other people’s lives. One action is the hallmark of a free society. The other action is the hallmark of oppression.
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:13 am
Yeah, that show is terrible. I watched it a few times just so I’d understand the South Park send-up. It won’t be any big loss if it gets canceled, although I’d sort of hate to see him get singled out when so many Fox “News” pundits continue to escape consequences for their hateful statements.
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:09 am
Vjack:
That’s a very good point. How are Fox News and all of the other conservative pundits able to get away with everything they say? I’m guessing it’s because the population at large has finally recognized that the word Dog used is offensive, so it is no longer tolerated. However, a large part of the population agrees with the hate of Fox News. You need an overwhelming majority to be offended before there’s a public backlash.
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:17 am
You know I can’t believe I’m supporting a fundie conservative family (he has a very proud framed picture of Bush in his office), but the man does do good work.
In response to the hostile work environment, for him it’s not a problem because he only employs relatives and they all seem to share his “born again” beliefs. As far as I know, there’s no law against BEING religious in the workplace, as long as you don’t discriminate employees based on religious grounds. There are many other non-camera’d employees of Da Kine that aren’t participating in the man grope prayer and they aren’t necessarily religious nor care.
Now if Dog fired somebody BECAUSE they refused to be in on the group hug grope prayer thing, then you’d definitely have an argument.
I may hate fundies, but Dog is one of the most “Christian” (based on what they are SUPPOSED to be like according to their literature) people I’ve seen on the teevee. He actually seems to live by the moral codes he preaches. And he’s always trying to help the criminals he catches turn straight. Hell, that was like Jesus’ main thing right? Blessed are the meek and all that? Rare for a fundie to care about anything but rich people!
Anyway, back to your original point. Annoying pointless prayer? Yes, indeedy. No argument there. But he doesn’t seem to force it on anybody (he’s just praying with his family, who are his coworkers — remember he has like 500 kids, fifty brothers, 200 ex-wives, and so on). Okay I’m exaggerating but his family is HUGE and contains even non-relatives he calls “brothers.” So let them get their prayer grope on. Free country! And we’re free to moon the teevee when he does it.
Note: my opinion will immediately change if he ever not-hired or fired a non-Christian solely or partly based on religious grounds. But unless he does that, he can go pray up a storm with his family. Just don’t force it. That’s all we’re asking for, right? Just not being forced upon one’s religion?
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:20 am
Oh yea, the n-word comment I haven’t read about. I’m not a huge fan and rarely read “tabloid” news or really any news following teevee or movee stars, but I’ve caught the dog show at 2am many times when I can’t sleep. Racial issues are a whole nother issue for a whole nother website/blog, but if he’s espousing racist comments on the air (or in public), he’s got to realize there will be consequences. I’m not defending that, just defending his religious (and my unreligious) freedoms.
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:59 am
Parrotlover:
On the matter of “the N-word”, you’ll notice that I mostly used that as a jumping off point to mention what I find offensive. I think the people who have been discriminated against using that word and other tactics are the best qualified to determine whether Dog stepped over the line. I’ll leave that matter to them.
I don’t watch his show, because I find all of that religion to be annoying. I was hardly attacking the man. He’s free to live his life how he wants. I was just raising the issue of whether the presence of that much praying and the implied mandatory participation was defensible legally, considering the workplace non-discrimination laws. I don’t think there are any laws against nepotism, so if he is able to populate his workforce with fundie relatives, then he’s free and clear.
November 3rd, 2007 at 4:02 pm
It looks to me like the guy is just another stupid racist fundie that made it big by getting on camera.
I really don’t think a bounty hunter qualifies as a respectable job. It means you hunt people for money. If this Dog person is so worried about those he hunts why doesn’t he do it for free? If he is so Christian it seems the right thing, by his Christian tenets, would be to help the unfortunate individuals on a pro bono basis.
The racial slur just adds to the evidence that he is a typical ass-clown hypocrite making money off of a two thousand year old myth. Kind of like most preachers.
This is kind of off topic but I really like this blog. First time I have read it and I enjoyed my time reading. It was well spent. Thank you.
November 3rd, 2007 at 4:29 pm
Dave:
I think bounty hunting is more respectable than some jobs (e.g., priest, minister, preacher, Sylvia Browne). Also, if you can get somebody to pay you for what you would otherwise do for free, what’s wrong with that?
I do think that at least some of Dog’s act is just that: an act. He has a TV show and wants to portray himself a certain way. He also has a certain agenda (spreading the word of Jeebus), and he’s using the show to that end.
Most of the people I know are non-racists, and they would never use racial slurs. It makes you wonder what type of person so freely uses such language, even if it is in a moment of anger.
P.S. Glad you like the blog. Tell your friends!
November 3rd, 2007 at 9:48 pm
That is messed up how Dog was going off like that with the n word. I put up a video showing how I feel about the whole thing. It has some extra footage of this bull…._and the story of how he became a bounty hunter. The video is called “ Dog Duane Chapman Bounty Hunter “N” Word - Talking With Dave #4”. It’s at
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4oC8OgFkd38
My videos are kind of…. Different.
November 4th, 2007 at 9:09 pm
That’s how we’ve become a banana republic… The government funnels billions to Blackwater, a private mercenary army 20,000 strong, with its own aircraft and tanks, wages an illegal war, exposes covert agents out of spite, and all we care about is some shithead exposing his idiocy or some dumb old cunt exposing her wrinkly nipple on television. We’re fucked.
November 6th, 2007 at 11:44 am
Ron - agree with your reply 100%… But it brings up a question I’ve always had… Why do fundies breed so damn much? And the follow-up question, how can we slow them down so the entire world isn’t fighting over water and potatoes 50 years from now while most of the world starves to death from massive overpopulation? Fundies don’t do a lot of planning for their beloved next generation of snotballs.
November 6th, 2007 at 10:28 pm
ParrotLover:
The breeding thing bothers me, too. They preach abstinence before marriage, so I guess the rule is that once you’re married, you have to make up for lost time.
As far as them overpopulating but not being worried about the consequences, I keep hearing a lot of them say that “God will provide!”
June 21st, 2008 at 2:56 pm
FUCK YOU ALL DOG IS TEH SHYT AND WILL ALWAYS BE, LIKE YOU NEVER SAID THE WORD NIGGER IN A PRIVATE PHONE CONVO ESPECIALLY FOR YOU HIGH ROLLAS UP IN THE PROJECTS AND HUSTERS OF CRACK TO THE AMERICAN PPL…PLEASE I HOPE HE CATCHES ALL OF YOU>
June 21st, 2008 at 3:27 pm
DOG IS DA SHITWIT: Hey Fanboy
http://tinyurl.com/74uzx
October 25th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Ya’ll should have a cute atheist grope-a-thon it sounds like. I have seen alot of ridiculous things to complain about, but this guy can’t pray before he goes in to catch dangerous crackheads? y’all are intolerant and extremely close minded. And guess who I’m being for halloween. So suck it
October 25th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
It’s what you are the rest of the year that concerns me.
October 26th, 2008 at 11:48 am
From your attempts to insult us with accusing us sucking dicks, I have determined you’re trying to call attention away from your homosexuality. So you will dress up as Dog’s bitch and attempt to live up to every fanboy’s dream.
*End Righteous Anger*