He did no such thing. Here is the transcript segment:
O’REILLY: All right. Well, what I’m tellin’ you, [caller], is I think you’re takin’ it too seriously. You have a predominantly Christian nation. You have a federal holiday based on the philosopher Jesus. And you don’t wanna hear about it? Come on, [caller] – if you are really offended, you gotta go to Israel then. I mean because we live in a country founded on Judeo – and that’s your guys’ – Christian, that’s my guys’ philosophy. But overwhelmingly, America is Christian. And the holiday is a federal holiday honoring the philosopher Jesus. So, you don’t wanna hear about it? Impossible.
First of all, he specifically refers to the U.S. as a Judeo-Christian nation. That specifically includes Jews. Secondly, he is only talking about the caller going to Israel because the caller cannot seem to tolerate encountering anything about Christianity in his daily life. O’Reilly points out the obvious fact that it is impossible to avoid it completely and that the caller will have to go to Israel if it is that big an issue for him alone.
What did the caller say that was “loony?” That he didn’t like being harrassed by Christians? That he didn’t like being steamrolled by Christians when he was a kid?
And no matter what the caller said, it’s completely out of line to tell Jews to go back to Israel.
If the black person called in saying that he just couldn’t stand talking to white people about white things, seeing white people’s celebrations (President’s Day), and claiming that white people were always trying to get him to come over to their side then O’Reilly might be justified in suggesting a move to a remote part of Africa for the caller’s own sake.
I would liken this to telling a rabit anti-smoker to never leave their house, because that’s the only way they can be assured that they’ll never encounter cigarette smoke. Someone who says that to a rabid anti-smoker isn’t saying it to all anti-smokers, since most are able to cope with the fact that yeah, people smoke. It’s a fact of life.
There is no such religion or philosophy as “Judeo-Christian.” That is an utterly meaningless construction. It’s just another word for “Christian.” As soon as you add the “Christian” part you eliminate the “Judeo” part.
More to the point, the US was NOT FOUNDED ON ANY RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLES. that assertion by O’Reilly was a lie. This is not a Christian country. Aviding it completely is not the issue. Avoiding a governement sponsorship of christianity in public schools is the issue. Using tax payer money to pay for religious celebrations in those schools is the issue.
And telling Jews to go to Israel is just inexcusable dickheadery.
Well, assuming that gift exchanges would be enough to set kids up for conversion was one thing . . . That means that if you participate in Christmas gift exchanges, you’re also really helping set up kids to be converted to Christianity. That’s a bit loony, no?
Tag! You are it. Where is this harrassment and steamrolling that he claimed. Use transcript segments.
I could be as paranoid and loony as that caller and claim that Jews tried to convert me. I went to a heavily Jewish university and you should have seen some of the things that I went through. Menorahs on the quad, overheard discussions about Jewish law, and an invitation to a Jewish wedding. I still shudder when I think about it.
If he had said that, sure. But he was just telling this guy to do that, since apparently the exposure to people exchanging gifts and so forth was too much for his delicate psyche.
Honestly. I don’t think that this is your finest Bill O’Reilly bashing hour. He’s a blowhard and often a dickhead. But even dickheads occasionally do things that are not as bad as some might think.
That isn’t what the caller said. He said he didn’t like being proselytized by Christians when he was attending a public school.
And I don’t believe that O’Reilly was just talking to that one caller. He was saying that Jews are second class citizens who have lesser rights than Christians.
Oh…and you’re wrong in your hypothetical. If O’Reilly told even one black caller to go back to Africa he would be a racist piece of shit.
Let me say again, he did not tell JEWS to go back to Israel. I doubt he has ever thought such a thing and certainly didn’t say it. He told this particular person who happens to be Jewish a place where he might find safe-haven from his paranoia.
Sponsoring gift exchanges in a public school amounts to a government endorsement of a religious ritual. It’s forcing non-Christians to participate in a Christian tradition.
I don’t care what happens at colleges I’m talking about public schools, but Judaism is not an evangelical religion. They do not try to convert people. They actually discourage gentiles who want to convert. There is no comparison. Jews do not harass non-Jews the way that they are harrassed by some Christians.
O’Reilly: And you don’t wanna hear about it? Come on, [caller] – if you are really offended, you gotta go to Israel then.
He specifically refers the caller by name (blanked out) and tells him that he should go to Israel if he is that offended. It says, and does not imply, anything about any other person or group.
Is giving someone a candy cane “proselytizing”? Is witnessing people exchange colorfully-wrapped boxes with candy or games (or sweaters) inside “proselytizing”? Come on.
People do Christmasy stuff because they enjoy it. They aren’t trying to “convert” other people. They just like singing the carols, and dressing up in red and green, and giving each other gifts. Now, if this person said that they felt left out that is one thing, but he said he felt like they were trying to “convert,” or that such activities are “setting up” kids to be converted. But converted to what? The fact that Christmas is fun? Well, hell, a lot of atheists are converted to that notion, aren’t they?
That may be technically true, but do you seriously think that it is “converting” kids to Christianity? Do the atheist kids who enjoy a secular Christmas feel “left out” or worse yet, “converted”? No, because they are exchanging gifts too. Do you seriously think that the atheist parents mind if their kids exchange gifts, if indeed the family celebrates Christmas? Do you seriously believe that atheist parents worry that exchanging gifts is going to “convert” their kids?
That’s odd because most of the caller’s complaints were based at his experiences at college.
CALLER: Yeah, when I got to college I found out – that’s true. A lot of people were. I found that millions of dollars were spent trying to convert –
O’REILLY: I mean that you really believe that people were trying to convert – you personally – were trying to make you change from being Jewish to Christian?
CALLER: Absolutely.
O’REILLY: How do they do that?
CALLER: Well, for example, there are various organizations in the colleges that go to people – try to invite you to Bible study groups –
Hate to say it, but the only thing O’Reily is wrong about in THIS particular quote is that Christians can also prosletyze you in Israel (as far as I know). As long as private citizens are the ones doing it, which is what seems to bother the caller, no harm, no foul as long as they aren’t breaking laws like harrasment or blackmail or whatever.
Now, O’Reily does seem to support some forms of STATE sponsorship of religion, which is wrong, but that doesn’t seem to be the issue here. This caller is just a whiny bitch who apparently wants to restrict the freedoms of others.
How? If I tell a rabid anti-smoker that they might be happier never leaving their house (because they can’t bear to see anyone smoke, or see any evidence of smoking), am I insulting all anti-smokers? Hardly. Most anti-smokers are able to cope with the concept of smoking, so there is no need to suggest that they never leave their house.