Bill O'Reilly is a devout Catholic who, as a soldier of Christ, never wastes an opportunity to disparage atheists who publicly advocate for their positions. He loves to insult Richard Dawkins because Bill, like the inquisitors of old, believes that anybody who doesn't believe as he does is a filthy heretic. And because he believes in a Jesus-centric Christmas, he wages an annual crusade (jihad?) to protect Christmas from those evil atheists who hate the baby Jesus. But being so devout and all, you'd think that he would be confident in his faith. Yet the Holy Ghost inspired Bill is very disturbed by "fascist" atheists who are trying to ruin his Christmas which, this year, is embodied in a atheist sponsored Times Square sign which says that you don't need Jesus to enjoy Christmas. For Bill, who waged a TV crusade (jihad?) against an abortion doctor which contributed to a climate of hate in which the doctor was murdered, this NY City sign is "mean." Awww...

The Christian right is having a collective hissy fit over a digital billboard in Time Square that asks "who needs Christ during Christmas." The word "Christ" is crossed out and the word "nobody" appears. The words "family," "friends," "charity," "food," "snow," among others, appear around the phrase "Celebrate the true meaning of Xmas." The display ends with a cheerful "happy holidays."

According to David Silverman, the president of American Atheists, who sponsored the sign, this is an affirmation for those who feel that they are forced to be involved in the religious aspect of the holiday. Silverman says, "This year, start a new tradition: Don’t go to church. You hate it, it’s boring; you probably only go because you feel guilty or obligated. Instead, spend more time with your family and friends—or volunteer. There are better uses of your time and money." So no big whoop except for O'Reilly who never wastes an opportunity to whine about how Christians are being denied their First Amendment rights; but doesn't seem to feel the same way about atheists.

Last week, O'Reilly discussed the sign with the Harvard's assistant humanist chaplain. Tuesday night, O'Reilly began his lament about "atheism on the rise" with a reference to this evil sign. His guest, Charles Krauthammer, while describing the sign as "offensive and stupid," did say that people would "give up God" as a result of seeing the sign. Thursday night, O'Reilly interviewed Dan Barker, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. After he was unsuccessful in trying to goad Barker to disagree with the selection of Pope Francis as Time's "Person of the Year," O'Reilly asked Barker about the "obnoxious" (Oh, the irony!) Times Square sign. He said that "we don't ask you to believe in Christmas..." (Excuse me, you want "Happy Holidays" stricken from the lexicon.) He continued "but to attack it, in Time Square, is that really a nice thing to do?" Talking over Barker, he shouted "is it nice to put up a billboard, Mr. Barker?"

Bill O'Reilly asks about "nice?" Oh right, he's on speed dial with God, so it's all good.

Worth noting - ever the narcissist, Bill worked in a reference to his book, "Killing Jesus." When he asked Barker if he had read it, Barker said that it was "down" on his list. Oh, snap!