It looks like Bill O'Reilly's "thump the Bible" comments are continuing to alienate conservatives. Latest case in point: Bryan Fischer, of the American Family Association. He called O'Reilly a "pompous, arrogant windbag" for having said that opponents of gay marriage have not made a compelling case and need to more than "thump the Bible."
It's unfortunate (for his sake) that O'Reilly used that phrase because its underlying substance is 100% correct. In fact, in O'Reilly's larger statement, he said that he is not for gay marriage but civil unions. However, he was noting the failure of gay-marriage opponents to effectively make their case. First, he noted the "compelling argument" of gay-marriage proponents, describing it as, "We’re Americans, we just want to be treated like everybody else.” Then O'Reilly said:
That’s a compelling argument, and to deny that you’ve got to have a very strong argument on the other side. And the other side hasn’t been able to do anything but thump the Bible.
The facts are on O'Reilly's side. The Los Angeles Times reported two days ago:
Attitudes on same-sex marriage have undergone a... rapid shift. Pew’s polls show that since 2013, Americans’ views on same-sex marriage have gone from widespread disapproval, 33% to 58%, to support, 49% to 41%.
On same-sex marriage, the shift among elected officials has been dramatic. In the Senate, for example, 50 members, including 46 Democrats, both independents and two Republicans, now say they support the right of same-sex couples to marry legally. Most of those senators have announced their positions in the last two years.
If the opponents of same-sex marriage had any kind of compelling argument, it's unlikely we'd see these kinds of results.
So I have some sympathy for O'Reilly here. But Fischer has a point, too. He said, "The implication is we’re a bunch of Neanderthal, redneck, hillbilly Bible bangers. That’s essentially what he’s saying we are… He’s insulting us to our face!”
But at the bottom, it's a question of two, old white guys unable to deal with the changing nature of American society.
Video below via Raw Story:
If nearly 60% of straight marriages end in divorce, is divorce considered to be one of the best environments to childrearing?
Living in your dreamland utopia is different than living in reality with the rest of us.
I hope this helps you, Jean.
“Here are two truths regarding marriage: (1) Creating a family with another man is not equal to creating a family with a woman, and (2) denying children parents of both genders at home is an objective evil. Kids need and yearn for both.”
See, Troll, you’re forgetting a little bit about your “two truths.” Number 1 is that you seem to have ignored the FACT that same-sex relationships are NOT limited to males. There’s a whole group known as Lesbians (those are women who like to have sex with other women). Your first “truth” doesn’t take lesbians into account. (Or, you’re actually admitting that a family of two lesbians—ie, two women—is, at the very least, equal to a family created by a man and a woman.) Number 2 is that your “truth” is nothing but a SUBJECTIVE OPINION with absolutely NO basis in reality. Heterosexual couples divorce on a fairly routine basis and it’s usually the mother who ends up raising the child(ren) at home (frequently, all alone since the father has decided to shack up with some young thing half his age). Meanwhile, lesbian couples have successfully raised children without having a man “at home” (in point of fact, most same-sex couple DO have a person or a set of people of “both genders” available to help IF needed—in many cases, the most common people are called “grandparents”; if the grandparents aren’t available—for whatever reason—most same-sex couples have a variety of opposite-gender friends or relatives who can be called upon IF needed).
Basically, JJ Troll, you’re ignorant and you revel in your ignorance. Like way too many so-called Christians. (And while I’m on the subject, you might want to recall that neither of Jesus’s two dads were full-time daddies while he was growing up. The big J was pretty absent once He knocked up Mary, and Joseph seems to have completely disappeared from the “Holy Family” narrative before Jesus became a teenager. Mary pretty much appears to have been a “single mom”—at least, until someone finds the story telling Jesus’s “missing years.”)
I mean, that’ll protect kids too- Right?
Unfortunately, consider the intellect of the average Fox News viewer. I give it about four more days before they start trying to pass off our skepticism of O’Reilly’s newfound “evolution” as “Oh, liberals will only accept it from the left!”
We all give it about four more days before they manage to hammer that into the heads of the conservatives that don’t bother with Bill. Dittoheads and Hannity fans usually take a few days longer to get in on O’Reilly themed memes.
