Bill O'Reilly and his boys, Bernard McGuirk and Greg Gutfeld have so much in common. Not only are they devout, pro-life Catholics who revel in their homophobia and misogyny, but all three are former altar boys. For those of you of a given age and religious background, you know the type - the wise ass jerks beloved by sistah who doesn't know that they are passing around their dad's used Playboys. One wonders if sistah would be proud of those saintly, little Catholics, now grown up, who agree that the bogus "war on Christmas" is caused by "misanthropic heathen atheists," slutty sluts who have abortions, and, ta-da, the gay agenda. That was during a December "Factor." Flash forward to March 15 when the boys did some more atheist and gay bashing as well as advancing the popular persecuted Christian whine that Muslims get better treatment than Christians. I don't know if they're getting time off in Purgatory for their efforts in fighting the forces of evil secularism; but it sure does make their Fox fatha, Bill O'Reilly, mighty happy!
In introducing the topic for his "What the Heck Just Happened" Segment, Bill provided the subtle, homophobic framing with the title "God, gay bible characters, and pinheads." He told his boys that some evil athiests are trying to get "in God We Trust" off the currency. Bill was referring to a suit, filed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, to take the phrase off the currency because, they claim, it violates the Constitution. Bill asked Gutfeld to take out some money and read what's on it. When Gutfeld put on his reading glasses, O'Reilly "joked" that they looked "very masculine." After reading the God phrase, Gutfeld "joked" that it should say "40% Goes To Obama."
Theologian Bernard McGuirk said "it's total idiocy, stupidity, it's less a religious thing than a cultural thing throughout the ages, the cultural elders have saw the need to convey the idea that there's a higher power because most people are stupid, selfish SOB's who need to have that notion there is somebody up there looking at you and watching you.." (Ah, yes, the religious elders who, under the rubric of their "god," persecuted and slaughtered those who didn't worship the established god.) McGuirk asserted "there's a practical value to it just as there is religious prayer." He said "you're free not to believe but we'll start from the premise that there is something up there looking at you..." (No, Bernard, we don't have to start with the premise because it's absurd.) Catholic theologian Bill "joked" that if atheists don't like the money, they can barter. (If anybody is stupid it's McGuirk who seems to think that God on money is universal and traditional when the USA put it on coins in 1864 and paper money in the 40's.)
Cue the gay bashing. O'Reilly began by describing South Hadley MA as a liberal area and told his boys that some students are doing a play based on the bible but its isn't "exactly" religious because all the characters are gay. Bill, of course, didn't explain that the play is about "skewering stereotypes while exploring questions of faith and family." McGuirk whined about schools not doing Nativity scenes and accused the charter school for the arts (not mentioned) of using "public money to push an agenda on kids." (McGuirk doesn't realize that the school is in a gay community and the kids are fine with the content).
O'Reilly "joked" that if Adam and Eve were gay there would be no procreation. (Uh, Bill, gays do procreate. You might even have some in your family background!) Gutfeld accused the school of trying to "upset" people. His response to the play is "who cares, grow up, do the Koran you wimps." He accused those who produced the play of being "wimps" and "hypocrites" because Christians won't fight back. Bill's tone was mocking when he said that the play is about "tolerance." There was more joking and when McGuirk said that the bathhouses in the play's Sodom were scrubbed down, laughter erupted in the background. Bill and the crew couldn't contain their mirth when McGuirk engaged in more stereotypic "humor" - "Jesus dancing on water, it's going to be great."
That Fox "News" directs its programming towards those for whom homophobia and religious intolerance are family values is underscored by this piece which is yet another in an ongoing series of Roger Ailes' patented persecuted Christian stories and atheist bashing. Interestingly, the following Monday, Megyn Kelly, validated accusations that the gay themed play is anti-Christian. There should be no question as to why the gay advocacy group, GLAAD is concerned about the anti-LGBT bias that is shown on the "Fair & Balanced" network (O'Reilly was specifically named) where homophobia is a laughing matter!