As Fox News is the media outlet for Christians and Christian Nationalism (Jesus and Santa are white), it's not a surprise that it hosts a living Nativity outside Fox headquarters. (Fox also provides a dressing room) And as the media outlet for the Christian right, it's also not a surprise that, in its coverage of the annual tableau, Fox validates the agenda of a radical anti-choice/same sex marriage group which is encouraging people to get legal permission to set up their own living Nativities in public places where there are none. In order to promote their message, the Christian Defense Coalition has teamed up with another anti-choice group, Faith & Action, which provides the actors for the Nativity scene. Recently, the traveling Nativity show set up shop outside Fox where, once again, the curvy couch Christians validated this Christmas crusade led by Christians with some unsavory anti-choice history. But as Fox tells us, we really need to worry about that atheist agenda!
On December 4th, happy Christians Steve Doocy and Elisabeth Hasselbeck, spoke of past performances of, as the chyron informed us, "the first Christmas." Doocy couldn't contain his glee as he said that they are back. After Doocy noted that, on the previous day, they were at the Supreme Court, Hasselbeck added "with a strong message." She introduced Rev. Patrick Mahoney, head of the Christian Defense Coalition and Rev. David Hernquist who is with a NY Assembly of God church and on the Board of Trustees for Faith & Action headed by Robert Schenck who was asked, by Hasselbeck, about "the important message" sent to the Supreme Court.
Schenck and Mahoney have an interesting history in the radical and violent anti-choice movement. They palled around with anti-choice domestic terrorist Randall Terry when they were all part of the radical Operation Rescue and were present when Terry was arrested for throwing a fetus at President Clinton. In July of this year, Mahoney's claim, that a "botched abortion" was done in a Maryland clinic, was featured on Fox News. Schenck has a "long history of militant anti-abortion activism, fines, and arrests."
Schenck did the standard rhetoric about how the word Christmas derives from Christ who is "the reason for the season." He whined about how "our rights to exercise our free speech, our God given, constitutionally protected First Amendment rights are like muscles, if you don't use them you lose them." (But atheists shouldn't be allowed to exercise their First Amendment rights?) He asserted that if you can have a living Nativity outside the Supreme Court, "you can do it anywhere in America."
On cue, a spluttering Steve Doocy said that, "speaking of anywhere in America," Mahoney had "something that people don't realize but you were sharing this a moment ago." Mahoney whined about the removal of Nativity scenes from communities and how his group found "a creative way to address that." While the official permit for the Washington DC Nativity was waved in front of the camera, Mahoney explained when municipal Nativity scenes are removed, people can get permits to put on their own Nativity scenes. Hasselbeck murmured "I love it." Doocy agreed that "it is fantastic to look at." Doocy and the group gushed over photos of the group outside the Supreme Court. The claim was made that "people love this." Doocy agreed that "it is fantastic to look at."
First, the area outside the Supreme Court is a free speech zone which hosts a constant parade of people with causes. Second, Fox's double standard is breath taking. What Mahoney and Schenck are doing is perfectly legal. If people want to pay for and maintain a Nativity on public land, they can do so as long as other groups are accorded the same treatment. But when other folks want to put up Festivus poles or atheist displays, Fox News acts like this is an act of Satan. And third, Fox's embrace of the living Nativity, once again, shows us that America's Newsroom is really America's Christian newsroom. But if it weren't for Fox, the atheists would be taking over. Praise Jesus and Roger Ailes!
