Roger Ailes doesn't like secularists whose "efforts to drive religion from the public square" are liked "a wall threatening to cut America off from its Judeo-Christian roots." So while his network claims that there is a "war on Christmas," his network wages a war on atheists, particularly those who have the audacity to put up signs which Fox and its right wing Christian audience find offensive. While the atheists have very sound reasons for their worldview, angry Fox talkers say that these non-believers are "angry." A few years back, the Fox gang claimed that atheist signs, on the side of buses during the holiday season, were a "war on Jesus." They got verclempt about an atheist holiday sign near the Lincoln Tunnel. And this year, Fox News, which had no problem with anti-Islamic bus ads urging Muslims to leave Islam, is having a holiday hissy fit about an atheist billboard in Times Square. It just wouldn't be Christmas without some nice Fox holiday hate!
Last Friday, Martha MacCallum began with a standard Fox News propaganda technique; i.e. claiming that there is "outrage" and "controversy" when the only outrage and controversy is on Fox News: "There's a lot of outrage, atheists post a controversial billboard in the heart of Times Square..." She showed video of this billboard that has become a big f**king deal for Jesus very own network. She tossed to official Fox priest Fr. Jonathan Morris who, once again, did his sworn duty to God and Roger Ailes.
Morris said that "celebrating Christmas without Christ is saying that the winter solstice should be celebrated without winter." (Hey padre, they celebrate Christmas in Tokyo (and other non-Christian cities) without Jesus). He whined that it doesn't make sense and encouraged non-activist atheists "who are not trying to knock Christ out of Christmas" to "stand up and say, 'you know what, that's not us...' "
MacCallum, whose network pushes the angry politics of racism and exclusion claimed that there's "such anger in this." Of course, in the real world, the real anger is the bogus "war on Christmas" which expressed the anger of those who baselessly believe, thanks to Fox News, that evil forces of secularism are trying to destroy their country and their religion. Martha whined that this "never makes sense when they do these things." (Perhaps if MacCallum watched the other Fox segments, in which atheist spokespersons explained it, she would now that this sign is just as much of an affirmation for atheists as Jesus signs are for Christians.
Liberal Leslie Marshall noted that this is a way for the atheists to, albeit sensationally, get their feelings expressed. She added that they have a First Amendment right to do this. And unlike the Fox talkers who are just so outraged about this effrontery to Jesus, she spoke of how Christmas greed and commercialism also damage the spirit of Christmas. MacCallum grinned and said that "that wasn't the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw the billboard." ("mind?")
Right wing hate radio talker Lars Larson brayed about "the reason for the season" and claimed that the gift giving "goes back to the original birth story." (Actually it goes back to the Roman Saturnalia celebration which Christmas replaced.) He said that he doesn't understand the "antipathy" of atheists. (I guess Lars chooses to ignore the absolute hatred shown by "Christians" towards gays, Muslims, and atheists!) He is offended that atheists "want to reject our belief" because atheists "have no right to tell us what to think." (So a billboard is telling Lars what to think? And if that's the case, are Christians, who put up their own billboards, telling atheists what to think?)
In a truly extraordinary moment of irony, MacCallum asserted that "something we know is that the season is not about nastiness." ROFLMAO - the whole "war on Christmas is about the nastiness of forcing people to conform to Bill O'Reilly and the Christian right's standards which even include what is considered correct language - "happy holidays" is verbotin!) She continued to whine about the nastiness of the atheists. Fr. Morris added that a creationist group had put up a "sanctimonious" (oh, no you didn't) sign - a group that got some sweet validation from Elisabeth Hasselbeck.
One thing we do know is that Fox News is all about nastiness. But hey, it's Christmas so don we now our gay apparel - oh, wait, not on Fox News!!!
Watch then (with mild amusement) as the FoxNoise brigade are swiftly rounded up, denounced as “Papists,” and sent into exile or forced to renounce their “evil” ways. Bear in mind that “exile” was considered a “humane” way to execute wrongdoers by the Puritans—especially those who hadn’t been accused of witchcraft. Since the early English colonists depended on society (watch out there, that sounds a bit like “socialism”) for something as basic as survival, being physically cast out of the community—any attempt to return was punishable by death—was tantamount to a death sentence. (And given the smug superiority on display against non-whites among the FoxNoise brigade, I don’t really see any of them managing to develop enough of a friendship with the Natives to gain their help in surviving.)
But they do. sigh.
