Gretchen Carlson Whines About Poor, Persecuted Christians
Reported by Priscilla - February 21, 2009 -
An ongoing meme for the conservative, Christian right wing is that Christians are being persecuted by the nefarious forces of evil liberals. Fox News seems to be more than willing to promote this notion as shown in their providing a platform for the bogus “war on Christmas” and for their resident guardians of public morality (Beck, Hannity, O’Reilly) to bray about how liberals are “godless” and are trying to take God away from good, God fearing Christians. Recently, Fox presented several pieces of journalistic dishonesty regarding “persecution of Christians” within the stimulus bill. Foxette, Gretchen Carlson is particularly incensed about the treatment of her fellow Christian soldiers. She was so outraged about the “war on Christmas,” (the Seattle atheist sign and festivus pole which poor Gretchen said “was an insult to Christianity) that she advocated that there should be no right to free speech and free rights on December 25th. Yesterday (February 20th), on Fox&Friends, Carlson took up the cross again, proclaiming Christians are “made fun” of and she’s tired of it.
Carlson, who apparently spent her youth in church, is upset. This morning she proclaimed that “one thing that, according to some, is unpopular to be, is a Christian because it’s easy to make fun of Christians in this day and age.” The little Fox morning pals were discussing a poster (described on the chyron as “provocative”) on the campus of the University of Georgia which advised those using condoms not to open them with a sharp object. Under the graphic that said “condom tip #5” was an illustration of a condom packet between two fingers – the finger of God and the finger of Adam in Michalangelo’s (and he was gay!) Sistine Chapel painting of God giving life to Adam. A pink triangle graphic was on the bottom of the poster. No big deal, right? Wrong – always willing to be outraged at this slightest “slight” to Roman Catholicism, The Catholic League (headed by homophobe and anti-Semite Bill Donahue – like O’Reilly, another fine product of 50’s Catholic education) immediately complained that the university had “hijacked an icon of Christianity.” (Funny, I thought that the cross was the icon of Christianity – not a copy of painted hands which are an artist (gay) representation of the Divine.)
But Miss America was on a tear because the poster “used the hand of God” and this shows that people “continue to beat up on Christianity because that’s what’s in.” (Memo to Gretch: on Hollywood. Com’s list of “what’s hot and what’s no,” Christian bashing was so not on the list) She did note that the poster is down; but “if this was about the Muslim religion, somebody would have their head cut off.” (Comment: I don’t recall any beheadings when Fox News aired (several times) a movie, “Obsession,” that many Islamic scholars considered to be anti-Islamic.) The chyron read “Catholic league blasts UGA concom flyer,” “Ad sparks outrage – religious group slam UGA’s racy poster.” Geraldo Rivera, who was on the couch, didn’t have a problem with the poster and said that the “unbridled emotion” elicited by it was “over the top.” When he said that folks should simmer down and “sing Kumbaya,” an outraged, pouty faced Gretchen said, “Stop insulting Christians and I’ll do Kumbaya.” At another point in the show, Gretchen introduced another segment about the condom flyer by saying (projecting) that “this will make you irate.” She claimed that this ad is insulting to anyone in the Christian religion. (Memo to Gretch: speak for yourself. I suspect that most reality based Protestants and Catholics would probably wonder why this is an issue!). The reproduction of Adam and God was shown on the screen (and Adam’s groin area wasn’t blurred on this morning kid’s show! Oh, I’m outraged!) When one of the boys said that this was a picture of God giving life, Our Lady of the Divan said the ad was trying to “evade life because it’s a condom.” (Memo to Gretch: condoms also evade AIDS! Hello?) She indignantly proclaimed “how many times to we have to go down this path when it’s OK to make fun of the Christian religion?”
Comment: It’s amazing how these conservatives, who accuse liberals of playing the “victim,” seem to be quite adept in promoting their message of “persecution.” When Gretchen attends her Church, she is not met by a phalanx of screaming “Christians” as are women trying to access health care at Planned Parenthood. She is not a member of a major world religion that is constantly demeaned, on national media, by haters like Dennis Prager and “great American” Bill Cunningham. I find it interesting that Fox promotes Bill Donahue who is not an official Catholic spokesperson– but his extremist views dovetail nicely with theirs. You don’t see liberal Protestant and Jewish clergy on Fox – yet you see Donahue and a priest who is based at the Vatican. Is Fox wary of American Catholic clergy who might be too liberal on social justice and immigration issues? But the whining about persecuted Christians is annoying. Didn’t Jesus say to “turn the other cheek?” I know that Christian teachings urge followers to stand up for what they believe in; but this whining is annoying. Perhaps Gretchen Carlson should just shut up and pray.
