# Under Bill O'Reilly's logic should I be able to rape woman? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 17, 2006, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/under-bill-oreillys-logic-should-i-be-able-to-rape-woman/384548 "2006-12-17T22:20:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ammonius\_Saccus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3bc359/32.png) [@Ammonius\_Saccus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ammonius_Saccus)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/under-bill-oreillys-logic-should-i-be-able-to-rape-woman/384548/1 "2006-12-17T22:20:31Z")
I can’t find a transcript of the show, but Bill O’Reilly stated that when looking a moral issues especially in regard to pregnancy we should look to nature. He used this to argue that maybe Mary Cheney should not have choosen to have a baby because nature had decided ( :rolleyes: ) that parents should be female _and_ male and you don’t do against Mother Nature. OK, if we are going to look to nature, does that mean I can rape females to get them pregnant? That is something that happens all the time in nature so I guess it must be the right thing to do according to O’Reilly. Is it just permissible for me to rape females or do I have a moral obligation to do it? Should I also commit batteries against my rivals for these females? - I don’t think I should be able to rape anyone. [http://mediamatters.org/items/200612150001](http://mediamatters.org/items/200612150001) ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/under-bill-oreillys-logic-should-i-be-able-to-rape-woman/384548/2 "2006-12-17T22:24:29Z")
[QUOTE=Ammonius Saccus] OK, if we are going to look to nature, does that mean I can rape females to get them pregnant? That is something that happens all the time in nature so I guess it must be the right thing to do according to O’Reilly. [/QUOTE] I’m under the impression, possibly incorrect, that rates of rape are highest in urban areas. During my summers working in the national parks, I can’t recall hearing about a single rape case. With that said, asking what happens “under Bill O’Reilly’s logic” is somewhat like asking what happens under a cow’s wings. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/under-bill-oreillys-logic-should-i-be-able-to-rape-woman/384548/3 "2006-12-17T22:44:48Z")
[QUOTE=ITR champion] I’m under the impression, possibly incorrect, that rates of rape are highest in urban areas. During my summers working in the national parks, I can’t recall hearing about a single rape case. [/QUOTE] I suspect he was referring to animals; he said “in nature” not “in the countryside”. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/under-bill-oreillys-logic-should-i-be-able-to-rape-woman/384548/4 "2006-12-17T22:46:26Z")
Only if it involves lots and lots of falafel. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/under-bill-oreillys-logic-should-i-be-able-to-rape-woman/384548/5 "2006-12-17T23:06:36Z")
Social conservatives like to cite nature to validate their beliefs - until nature is shown to act in the opposite way. I recall when I was a child in church in the 70’s the pastor railing against homosexuals, saying that that stuff never happened in nature. Nobody told him that it’s practically like freaking Fire Island out there in nature. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/under-bill-oreillys-logic-should-i-be-able-to-rape-woman/384548/6 "2006-12-17T23:08:07Z")
(then, the activity in question becomes “acting like animals”) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/under-bill-oreillys-logic-should-i-be-able-to-rape-woman/384548/7 "2006-12-18T04:37:16Z")
[QUOTE=Ammonius Saccus] - I don’t think I should be able to rape anyone. [/QUOTE] Of course you should be **able.** You should not be **allowed.** ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/under-bill-oreillys-logic-should-i-be-able-to-rape-woman/384548/8 "2006-12-18T05:02:48Z")
[QUOTE=ITR champion] With that said, asking what happens “under Bill O’Reilly’s logic” is somewhat like asking what happens under a cow’s wings. [/QUOTE] What he said; Bill O’Reilly is to logic what cheddar cheese is to pre-Cambrian geology. ---
**Author:** ![PBear42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PBear42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PBear42)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/under-bill-oreillys-logic-should-i-be-able-to-rape-woman/384548/9 "2006-12-18T07:40:43Z")
Bill is absolutely right (so to speak). Two women having a child is _unnatural_. So are sewers, antibiotics, dentistry, polio vaccines and heavier-than-air flying machines. Let’s get back to the good ol’ days. No more of this liberal thwarting of God’s will! ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/under-bill-oreillys-logic-should-i-be-able-to-rape-woman/384548/10 "2006-12-18T13:51:39Z")
Personally, I’d like to hear the prescient Mr. O’Reilly explain 1) just how he can look forward with such laser-like accuracy into the somehow inadequate future life of Ms. Cheney’s child and 2) what specific factors will cause its life to be so inferior to that of other children that _it never should have been born_. Or rather, I’d like someone who actually watches his show hear him explain this and maybe post it here, since I can’t be bothered to waste my time with his sanctimonious ranting. What’s his attitude on abortion, by the way? Does he feel so strongly about this issue that he advocates that would-be lesbian mothers get abortions? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/under-bill-oreillys-logic-should-i-be-able-to-rape-woman/384548/11 "2006-12-18T14:36:14Z")
[QUOTE=PBear42] Bill is absolutely right (so to speak). Two women having a child is _unnatural_. So are sewers, antibiotics, dentistry, polio vaccines and heavier-than-air flying machines. Let’s get back to the good ol’ days. No more of this liberal thwarting of God’s will! [/QUOTE] It’s those knapped-flint spearheads that did it. Hubris, nothing but. The world’s been in a downward spiral ever since. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/under-bill-oreillys-logic-should-i-be-able-to-rape-woman/384548/12 "2006-12-18T14:43:16Z")
[QUOTE=El\_Kabong] What’s his attitude on abortion, by the way? Does he feel so strongly about this issue that he advocates that would-be lesbian mothers get abortions? [/QUOTE] Er, I imagine it would be for them not to get pregnant in the first place, it being relatively hard for a lesbian couple to accidentally become pregnant. Not that i’m defending O’Reilly. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/under-bill-oreillys-logic-should-i-be-able-to-rape-woman/384548/13 "2006-12-18T14:50:31Z")
[QUOTE=Revenant Threshold] Er, I imagine it would be for them not to get pregnant in the first place, it being relatively hard for a lesbian couple to accidentally become pregnant. [/QUOTE] No, it would be for them not to be **lesbians** in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/under-bill-oreillys-logic-should-i-be-able-to-rape-woman/384548/14 "2006-12-18T14:57:09Z")
No, it would be for them to be… Yeah, I got nothin’. Good point. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/under-bill-oreillys-logic-should-i-be-able-to-rape-woman/384548/15 "2006-12-18T15:22:44Z")
[Quote=Revenent Threshold] Er, I imagine it would be for them not to get pregnant in the first place, it being relatively hard for a lesbian couple to accidentally become pregnant. Not that i’m defending O’Reilly. [/Quote] Actually, I was just wondering how far Mr. O’Reilly would take his concern for the disadvantaged state of a child of gay parents. My parents gave me the talk on the birds and bees last week, however ('bout damn time, considering I turned 52 in Septmeber), so I’m up to speed on the other stuff you kindly explained for me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/under-bill-oreillys-logic-should-i-be-able-to-rape-woman/384548/16 "2006-12-18T19:09:37Z")
[QUOTE=Ammonius Saccus] I can’t find a transcript of the show, but Bill O’Reilly stated that when looking a moral issues especially in regard to pregnancy we should look to nature… OK, if we are going to look to nature, does that mean I can rape females to get them pregnant? That is something that happens all the time in nature so I guess it must be the right thing to do according to O’Reilly. Is it just permissible for me to rape females or do I have a moral obligation to do it? Should I also commit batteries against my rivals for these females? … [/QUOTE] If nature should be your guide, consider the female praying mantis, who kills the male after mating, or several kinds of fish, who eat their own children. Then there’s the sea turtle mother, who buries her progeny in the sand, walks away, and never sees them again. That sort of “natural” behavior would bring a lot of trouble for any human who tried those things. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/under-bill-oreillys-logic-should-i-be-able-to-rape-woman/384548/17 "2006-12-18T19:42:44Z")
Wait wait, I got one! Saying “under Bill O’Reilly’s logic” is like saying “under Nicole Ritchie’s tits”! ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/under-bill-oreillys-logic-should-i-be-able-to-rape-woman/384548/18 "2006-12-18T19:55:12Z")
Arguments from “nature” are about as vacant as it gets. The word doesn’t mean anything and even if it did, it would still have to be shown that going “against nature” has to be “wrong.” Is it “natural” to wear clothes? Drive cars? Host talk shows? Get married? The idea that there can be “natural” or “unnatural” cultural norms for child rearing (and that’s what child rearing is. O’Reilly is confusing child rearing with sexual reproduction) is fallacious from the start. Incidentally, I wonder how Billo feels about fertility treatments, _in vitro_ fertilization, sperm banks and the like when they are used by heterosexual couples. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/under-bill-oreillys-logic-should-i-be-able-to-rape-woman/384548/19 "2006-12-18T20:04:53Z")
[QUOTE=Apos] Wait wait, I got one! Saying “under Bill O’Reilly’s logic” is like saying “under Nicole Ritchie’s tits”! [/QUOTE] Now that’s not fair. Nicole Ritchie used to have tits.