The hypocrisy is truly astounding. Fox & Friends is the flagship Fox show that provides a national public venue for every perceived attack on American Christians. Yet, the show that specializes in "outrages" and "controversy" surrounding alleged insults to the church of the perpetually persecuted Christian has no problem mocking the religious beliefs of American non-Christians. Last week, famous "dick" Tucker Carlson, who is described in an Alternet article about the 24 "most loathsome" Americans as an American pundit "who believes that incredulous squinting qualifies as commentary," mocked Wiccans. And not only did he mock them; but he lied about and misrepresented a diversity (treasonous concept) guide at the University of Missouri. Good ole Fox & Friends - Jesus loves them, yes he does?
Along with the non-existent "War on Christmas," Fox & Friends is obsessed about "political correctness" which is defined by the nice white Christians on Fox & Friends as favoritism shown to those who don't conform to the white, GOP, Christian, and heteronormative standards set forth by Roger Ailes and the white, Christian, heterosexual GOPers for whom Fox exists as a media mouthpiece. So last week, Fox & Friends did a piece that combined the popular and divisive Fox meme of us vs. the strange non-Christian "them" while advancing the theme of "political correctness" - which, in this case, is catering to those nasty non-Christian "others" who are trying to destroy America.
Carlson, who was also described in the Alternet article as a "trust fund douchebag whose perseverance in the face of consistent “journalistic” failure would be admirable were it not derived from a wholly undeserved sense of entitlement," asked if it was "time to call the PC police." The new, patented Fox & Friends "PC" Police cartoon was played. (A cop car crashing into a jail bars bearing a shield that says "PC Police" while audio of a siren is played). He began with a LIE: "The University of Missouri's religious guide says that no exams ought to be scheduled on Wiccan and pagan holidays. That puts those days on a par with Christmas and Hanukkah." He noted that these holidays are 20% of the holidays in the guide. The chyron: "Testy Situation ? MU, No Exam on Wiccan and Pagan Holidays."
Fact Check - the Diversity Guide does NOT order that no exams should be scheduled. The guide recommends that teachers "avoid scheduling" academic events, deadlines, and activities depending on the holy days which are listed for a number of religions, including Christianity, in order for professors to "plan" classroom activities." And None of the Wiccan holidays suggest "avoiding" as do holy times for Christianity and Judaism. When Carlson said that the guide says "no exams ought to be scheduled" on Wiccan holidays, he's lying. Even the Fox News article states that the guide provides "suggestions." While Wiccans have 8 holidays, he didn't mention that Christians have 7 and Jews have 11.
He introduced his guest, Tammy Bruce, who was chastising atheists last time I saw her on Fox. To his question of how many Wiccans there are, she "joked" that maybe she and Carlson should join because they'd get "a lot more holidays." He repeated that 20% of the holidays are Wiccan which "seems bizarre." He still didn't mention the number of Christian and Jewish holidays. Bruce cited the percentage of American Christians. She claimed that this is "about diluting the dynamic of what's important in people's lives" and that "anti-establishment" pagans don't need to be recognized by the government.
Carlson and Bruce "joked" about how they couldn't name any Wiccan holidays except Halloween which, according to Bruce, will be a day off for Wiccans. (Not an official holiday for the school.) She "joked" that if you're an atheist or pagan, "isn't every day a holiday." Carlson described the guide as "frivolous and silly." After reading a statement from the school, about the informational nature of the guide, he continued to mock the Wiccans. Carlson said that "they hate orthodox Christianity, that's what this comes down to." Bruce claimed that Wiccans are "being used for a political agenda to downgrade what's important to a majority of Americans" and that they should be "angry about being used by the establishment." She said that American "tradition" allows pagans and Wiccans to "enjoy their lives freely" and "good luck with that in any other country." Carlson repeated "good luck." (Note to Carlson and Bruce, Wiccans live freely in lots of other places. Perhaps you should check out Stonehenge during the solstices)
Wow. As a gay woman, does Tammy Bruce feel that those who advocate for equal rights for the LGBT community are being "used" for a "political agenda" to "downgrade what's important to a majority of Americans?" But the cognitive dissonance of Carlson's offensive comment, that Wiccans hate Christianity, is amazing considering that much of the content on Fox & Friends is all about hatred of non-Christians - especially atheists. Only in the bizarro world of Fox & Friends is tolerance not only considered a vice - but a denigration of Christianity! And didn't Jesus preach tolerance?
Tucker Carlson, what a total dick!
And memo to Carlson and Bruce - Many Christian feasts were adapted from pagan days of celebrations!
Carlson’s message was that the guide instructed teachers not to do the above activities for Wiccan holy days. But none of the Wiccan holy days contain that wording.
Carlson is lying.
Priscilla
“Every Wiccan I’ve ever known is either a compulsive Dungeons & Dragons player or is a middle-aged, twice-divorced older woman living in a rural area who works as a midwife.”
The second this left his lips, and the other two hosts laughed at it… all pretense that this was anything but hatemongering left the room. Not that how he was treating the story up to that comment presented the idea that it was something else in the first place.
“no exams ought to be scheduled”
The guide says “Avoid scheduling important academic deadlines, events, or activities on this date.” A test is an academic event, isnt it? He’s right on that.