Bill O’Reilly Calls Atheists Facists For Not Wanting Christmas Trees On Public Property

Bill O’Reilly is apparently still smarting from the election and the loss of traditional America. Although he told guest David Silverman, president of American Atheists, that he wanted to understand atheists' position on Christmas displays, within minutes he was shouting at Silverman and calling him a fascist. Along the way, O’Reilly insisted Christianity is not a religion and that Christmas is not affiliated with any religion. Fortunately for us, Silverman was a terrific guest and did not take any of the attacks lying down. Grab the popcorn!

I believe O’Reilly meant well. But the road to you-know-where is paved with good intentions. “I’m really trying to get your point of view here,” O’Reilly said at the start. “I don’t look down on you. I don’t think you’re a pinhead,” he said amicably. That was before he called Silverman a fascist, of course.

Oh, what a difference a few minutes can make. Silverman told O’Reilly he’s not “messing around” with Christmas, he just wants to stop the government “from preferring one religion over another.”

That annoyed O’Reilly to the point where he said brusquely, “You listen to me and you answer my questions.” Then, in a condescending tone, he “asked,” “What religion is involved with Christmas?”

As Silverman said, “Christianity,” O’Reilly interrupted to say, “That’s not a religion, that’s a philosophy.”

Silverman was not snowed by this gotcha tactic. He said, “It’s not cool for you to cloud this issue,” with that argument.

Things devolved from there.

O’Reilly said he’d have no problem with Silverman putting a sign saying, “Happy Winter Solstice” on Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office door. Silverman disagreed, saying that O’Reilly would.

That really set off O’Reilly. His finger jabbing the air, he snapped, “Don’t tell me what I think. When I said I didn’t have a problem, I don’t have a problem. Got it?”

But Silverman stuck to his guns and that really aggravated O'Reilly. He said, “This is so unreasonable. You are so unreasonable, it is frightening… Your view is insane… You and your merry band of fascists…”

Silverman did not take that lying down. “You call me a fascist? I am a patriot, Sir, who is taking the craziest notion that everybody in this country is equal and that the government has to treat everybody fairly. That’s fascism?”

It's possible O’Reilly wouldn’t mind a "Happy Winter Solstice" sign on Democratic Cuomo’s door. But he’d almost surely yell the loudest and longest if such a sign was on the lawn of the State Capitol. Even longer and louder if it was anything Islamic. Just think how he squawked about the Ground Zero Mosque – and that was on private property.

By the way, Bill, have you gone down there with your saw and hammer yet? I’ll bet not.

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Showing 22 reactions

Heather Mills commented 2012-11-29 22:21:33 -0500 · Flag

Happy Birthday LORD JESUS….

Ronald Van Atta commented 2012-11-29 21:56:29 -0500 · Flag

My gift list to others is big. As a father and grandfather it is quite big. Also this time of year I give to wounded warriors and salvation army. You have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Lakeview Greg commented 2012-11-29 15:19:46 -0500 · Flag

Ah Ronald has his “get” list all lined up. I wonder if his “give” list is as cool? Or if it exists?

Ronald Van Atta commented 2012-11-29 12:48:01 -0500 · Flag

Hope you all get a lump of coal under your HOLIDAY TREE. I’m getting some really cool gifts under my CHRISTMAS TREE. MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL

d d commented 2012-11-29 12:11:38 -0500 · Flag

Okay, for some reason everytime I post the link something is being added to the middle of it so the correct page won’t load. After the capitalized “Blog&”, it’s automatically adding “amp;” to the middle of my link that doesn’t belong there. I don’t know what’s going on (as the “amp;” is not in the URL of the page I’m trying to link to). Sorry for the confusion, folks.

d d commented 2012-11-29 12:04:52 -0500 · Flag

Sorry – try this link instead…

http://www.billoreilly.com/blog?action=viewBlog&blogID=-873203205386344998

d d commented 2012-11-29 11:55:19 -0500 · Flag

Yes, BOR would definitely take issue if a “Happy Winter Soltice” sign were placed on the NY Capitol’s lawn (which is probably why he so narrowly defined being okay with it being put on “Cuomoâs office door”).

Remember when BOR attacked the Gov. of Washington because the Capitol building there allowed an “anti-religious” plaque to be put up among the other Christmas/seasonal decorations? BOR called for his viewers to contact the Gov’s office about their displeasure for her allowing “the anti-religious plaque displayed in the Capitol Building”.
http://www.billoreilly.com/blog?action=viewBlog&blogID=-873203205386344998

BOR: âWhat religion is involved with Christmas?â Huh? Are you freakin’ kidding me?! Wow, what a wake-up call that must be for most of BOR’s Christian viewers as I’m quite certain they associate Christmas with the Christian religion. I daresay that they would not buy into BOR’s idea that Christianity is a mere philosphy. But then, BOR has often referred to Jesus as a philospher and teacher instead of the Christian Savior so I suppose we shouldn’t be suprised at his latest denial. It might just be enough to make folks wonder about BOR’s depth of faith when it comes to his self-professed Christian faith, no? LOL!

Kinda funny (pitiful) how BOR took issue with the WA Capitol Christmas season plaque for being “anti-religious” but now he is denying that Christmas has anything to do with “religion”. Bwaaah!

Average American Patriot commented 2012-11-29 11:15:07 -0500 · Flag

Check this chit out.

https://twitter.com/Nacimiento2012/status/268402115502821376/photo/1/large

That’s Mexico City.

They are claiming to have the largest Nativity Scene IN THE WORLD. On PUBLIC, gubbimint land.

Wait. That’s Mexico. A real Christian Nation.

Thanks to you LBURLS we can’t have elephants and robots roaming around the Holy Nativity scene.

Somebody help me. I forgot where I parked the sled.

Anne-claire Souza commented 2012-11-29 11:11:56 -0500 · Flag

All Bile wants is to be “Important”,and the way he makes that known is by ,outshouting ,finger pointing,demeaning,and feeding his audience (zombies) the bullshit he proclaims to be true.His absurd war on Christmas is just a figment of his imagination and a tool to make himself relevant.Who cares whether Christmas is a religious day or just a fun time in otherwise a long dreary Winter.All the insane money spending tells me that Christmas has nothing to do with religion.

Sandman2 commented 2012-11-29 10:53:42 -0500 · Flag

Really Billo? All this fake hysteria just to sell more of your shitty books, shitty mugs, shitty pens, and shitty door mats?
And to top it off, you throw your imaginary God under the bus just to sell more of those shitty items?
LOL

truman commented 2012-11-29 10:47:50 -0500 · Flag

“When fascism comes to America, it will come wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross.” Sinclair Lewis.

Bildo’s phony-baloney War on Christmas is blatant fascism.

Visitor 55 commented 2012-11-29 08:40:13 -0500 · Flag

POS borally, like most neocons, just loves to show us all his ignorance and stupidity. Historically, most fascists have declared themselves Christians. For claiming to be an expert on history, POS borally doesn’t seem to know that the KKK – an extremist right wing hate group, call themselves Christians. Fascists have always wrapped themselves in Christianity, claiming their work is inspired by God and Jesus Christ. Obviously, POS borally doesn’t know the definition of fascist.

I really hope that the American Taliban moves POS borally to the top of their hate list. POS borally seems to forget their seasonal motto…“Jesus is the reason for the (Christmas) season!” To say that no religion is involved in Christmas is not only incorrect but down right stupid.

And finally, as Joseph West and Kortez point out, POS borally shows his hypocrisy by first shitting his panties about the whole RI Gov./Holiday Tree crap, then claiming he wouldn’t care about a “Happy Winter Solstice” sign. It’s a 100% guarantee that POS borally would most certainly shit his panties again if Governor Andrew Cuomo himself put a “Happy Winter Solstice” sign on his door. (Not so much if Silverman put the sign up because POS borally would see that as an attack on an e-vile librul democrat and that would make him happy.)

POS borally, shut up. Just shut the fuck up.

mlp ! commented 2012-11-29 07:52:27 -0500 · Flag

I kinda agree with Bildo here. Christianity in many parts of the world is no longer a religion; it’s a cult.

Michael Martin commented 2012-11-29 07:48:09 -0500 · Flag

It is always fun to see someone push back at Douche OâReilly. Only his opinion is right and if you disagree with him you are the wrongest of the wrongs. OâReilly is such a prick.

Kortez Tk commented 2012-11-29 07:15:33 -0500 · Flag

O’Reilly is a hypocrite, and he lies about whatever he feels he needs to, just to promote his agenda, like his claim one could promote the Winter Solstice.

His claim about Christianity not being a religion is an attempt to indoctrinate and establish it as the way of life for all Americans, a very Unconstitutional Attitude!

He is dangerous, rude, and very contemptible. I wish the video was there. I will have to find it elsewhere.

Nick Na commented 2012-11-29 06:48:14 -0500 · Flag

Wait. Did he just seriously claim that Christianity is not a religion, but a philosophy? Did this ignorant bastard just disconnect himself from his only appreciative audience? I’ve seen it all.

Joseph West commented 2012-11-29 01:52:06 -0500 · Flag

No, Bill. “Christianity” IS a religion. It has produced a number of philosophers who’ve expounded on various aspects of the religion but the primary difference between a “religion” and a “philosophy” is that a “religion” involves, by definition, the worship of a “God” or other supernatural being. A “philosophy,” on the other hand, does not involve “worship” of anything. Its primary objective involves thought and learning (the very word comes from the Greek words, “philos” meaning “love” and “sophos” meaning “wisdom”).

As noted, philosophy CAN be used by religion; indeed, a number of major religious thinkers such as Thomas Aquinas and Soren Kierkegaard are highly regarded philosophers who’ve used philosophy to defend religion. However, many other philosophers have largely ignored religion in their studies. People like Plato, Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau have used philosophy to explain ethics and political theory while Pythagoras and Rene Descartes have used their backgrounds in mathematics to influence their views of reality. It would be the height of utter stupidity (something with which O’Reilly is very well familiar) to presume that any philosophers worship their writings (again, Thomas Aquinas would likely be the last person to acknowledge “worshipping” any of his own writings).

I do understand O’Reilly’s confusion—to a degree. There are several major religions—primarily Taoism—which began as philosophies but over the millennia, have adopted a number of formal practices that enshrine the philosophical aspects into ceremonies of worship, although there’s no central deity or series of deities in these religions. Buddhism, likewise, has no real focus of worship in the sense of any “higher power” (the ultimate belief in Buddhism is “becoming one with the universe” or, in a rather pessimistic view, the complete annihilation of the soul or spirit). Confucianism, which many consider a religion, is more accurately described as a philosophy which both absorbs and influences other religious and philosophical teachings (the main reason people think of Confucianism as a religion is the way many Chinese folk religions adopted Confucian philosophy—in much the same way that Haitian voodoo adopted aspects of Roman Catholicism so that practitioners have shrines to both the voodoo loa as well as Catholic saints and the Virgin Mary in their homes; pure Confucianists, however, don’t worship anyone—reverance for ancestors exists, but it’s not real “worship”).

Joseph West commented 2012-11-29 01:18:59 -0500 · Flag

I are confused. Didn’t O’Reilly just have a near-meltdown a couple of days ago because the Governor of Rhode Island is planning to have a “Holiday Tree” instead of a “Christmas Tree?” And doesn’t he usually have a problem with private businesses recommending their employees greet customers with “Happy Holidays?” Yet here, O’Reilly says he wouldn’t have a problem with the Governor of New York having a “Happy Winter Solstice” sign on his office door?

O’Reilly’s threatening to make my head spin like Linda Blair’s in “The Exorcist.”

Average American Patriot commented 2012-11-29 00:19:47 -0500 · Flag

Ellen,

No video here.

It might by my FireFox and AdBlocker, but I don’t think so.

Mediaite and Fux have the video.

Anyway, thank you NewsHounds for your work.

Billdo the theologian is going to have to splain dis one.

Average American Patriot commented 2012-11-29 00:12:09 -0500 · Flag

That [Christianity] is not a religion. It is a philosophy

Mucking steaming pile of fresh ignorance.

I can’t believe Billdo just threw Baby Jeebuz out of the Holy Trinity.

BTY, the Holy Trinity is indivisible.

Billdo, do the math.

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