The patented Fox News "persecuted Christian" meme is not just relegated to official Fox opinion. It also has crept into the official news programming at Fox where discussions of the "Ground Zero Cross" had Megyn Kelly, an alleged straight news anchor, mocking atheists and fellow straight news anchor and member of Ailes' God squad, Martha MacCallum totally freaking out about those nasty atheists - a group that seems to have moved higher than Muslims on the Fox News shit list. Much of the persecuted Christians vs. evil atheist material comes from Fox's culture clubber and male thong observer, Todd Starnes, who is always on the alert for affronts to good Christians by atheists and the gay agenda. Yesterday, Fox & Friends featured a Starnes story about how Christians are being harassed for blasting prayers, over the loudspeakers, at public school football games. Later, Fox "News" featured another story broken by Starnes; a complaint about churches providing meals to the public high school football players. MacCallum provided the requisite Fox News Christian cheerleading.
MacCallum provided the back story about how a Georgia high school coach is "under fire from a national watchdog group for allowing churches to make pre-game meals for its team." She identified the group as the Freedom From Religion Foundation - a group that seems to have surpassed CAIR as Fox's most reviled organization. She tossed to the two attorneys who discussed the case which, not mentioned by MacCallum, also involves an allegation that the coach has mocked the Mormon Church.
MacCallum provided the patented "this is tradition" argument and the irrelevant point that the team goes to various churches. Bradford Cohen said that if prayer is taking place at these meals, it's a problem. MacCallum did note that the complaint addresses prayer sessions conducted by the coach, bible verses in motivational speeches and on team shirts, and the coach's participation in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. She didn't mention that the coach participated in this group to "share Christ with the kids" and this participation could jeopardize federal funding for the school. She didn't mention that the coach has pressured students to attend a Christian football camp. But she did say that these things got "some individual" (the patented Fox lone complainer who ruins things for everybody?) "fired up." Kelly Saindon didn't see a problem with it as long as it's voluntary. But as the complaint points out, in relation to the coach leading team prayers, school led prayer is unconstitutional.
And that's when Martha, a supposed straight news anchor, proffered her non legal opinion. Shaking her pretty blonde locks she said "it seems kind of ridiculous when you look at on the face of it, the churches get together they want to make a nice meal for the football players, it's kind of a raising school spirit issue it appears to be based on everything I'm reading about the tradition in this town. I mean Brad, it does raise the big question, don't we have bigger fish to fry."
Cohen seemed to discount much of the suit and agreed with Martha about "the fish." Saindon dismissed the suit because the community is "pulling together" and kids aren't complaining. She agreed with MacCallum that there are much bigger issues out there and added that the FFRF is "stirring the pot." (Who cares about that silly First Amendment!). MacCallum accused the FFRF of trying to "make a name for themselves."The group had a good chuckle over the possibility that the suit was filed by a rival coach or a parent.
Funny, when a Christian group files a lawsuit, Fox never dismisses it as trivial. In fact, it's given reverential affirmation and validation. But here's the thing. If Martha MacCallum's children's coach led the group in Muslim prayer and took kids to Muslim houses for a meal and a Koran lesson, do ya think she would be OK with that?
However, here’s the part preceding Ricky’s quote:
“He with body waged a fight,
But body won; it walks upright.
“Then he struggled with the heart;
Innocence and peace depart.
“Then he struggled with the mind;
His proud heart he left behind.”
Basically, it’s a more developed version of the old Oedipus tale where he faces the Sphinx’s question “What walks on four feet in the morning, two in the afternoon and three at night?”
Yeats’ first verse basically describes infancy and early childhood. The second describes adolescence; the third, adulthood; and the fourth (which Ricky quoted), old age.