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Fox New Channel's War on Atheism

UnrepentantSinner

A post by Alan Smithee
Joined
Aug 26, 2001
Messages
26,984
Location
Dallas, Texas
I don't watch Fox News, but I had seen a promo for their "War on Christianity" segment they've been running this week. I like my local Fox affiliate and watch the 5:30pm news. Today they ran (I assume) part of the Fox News story.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,106455,00.html

The bias and the propaganda value was not surprising. First off the reporter gave the standard accomdationist arguments against seperation. This was in addition to the pro-accomodation talking heads. Just typical for the "We decide and report what we've decided" news channel.

What was more obvious (at least to me who knows better) was the effort to show how the Evil Atheist Conspiracy was responsible for waging war on America. Now here's where it gets so sneaky I have to give them credit. The primary gist of the story was about the Constitutional basis or lack thereof for seperation and the efforts in the courts of pro-seperationists. Yet they were showing all these atheist protestors waving signs throught the piece.

That's odd because Michael Newdow's case is the only major Church/State case to make it to the Supreme Court that I'm aware of. Every other (again, that I'm aware of) case going back to 1947 and Cantwell v. Connecticut up to the Doe vs. Santa Fe ISD case have been brought by theists who were in the minority (JWs, Mormons and Catholics for ex.) Even the infamous Madalyn Murray O'Hair case was actually consolidated in the a case by Unitarian Edward Schempp.

With this being the facts.. why is Fox deciding to report on all these atheists protesting?

The segment ended on my local channel with, again, atheist protesters, one carrying a "Atheism is American as Apple Pie" sign. I'm sure the fundies that Fox was catering to want ape poo poo when they saw that.
 
War against atheists? You can take my atheism out of my cold dead hand.

kimber.jpg
 
For a room full of athiests, this place has no problem clearing out around christmas time. Where is everyone?
 
American said:
For a room full of athiests, this place has no problem clearing out around christmas time. Where is everyone?
Silly Boy - somebody has to support all the strip clubs and seedy bars now that the god-botherers have retired to the sanctity of their churches.
 
Christmas is a secular holiday - unless you consider an enormous inflatable illuminated Homer Simpson Santa Claus in someone's yard 'religious'.

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American said:
For a room full of athiests, this place has no problem clearing out around christmas time. Where is everyone?

I'm still at work, though most of my students aren't.... funny that considering they're all Muslims.
 
American said:
For a room full of athiests, this place has no problem clearing out around christmas time. Where is everyone?

Probably all off celebrating the commercial holiday. You know... santa elves etc... Someone told me once it has something to do with religion but that was clearly a joke.
 
Hmm

"Jesus loves little children"

I bet Jesus has deep pockets, who here wants to colloborate my story that he sexually harrased me? I mean we have the pencil with the above phrase on it(which is a clear piece of evidence) and the Roman Catholics can't deny that Jesus can transubstantiate.
 
shemp said:
I just want to say that there is no relation.

We all know that you're a Thereveda Buddhist plus the spelling is all wrong unless you and the dococet transcriber shared a few shots of Everclear before signing in.

On a serious note. I looked back at the Faux News link and some of the other search engine results and it appears that this "special report" by Faux is nothing more than a transparent attempt to schill David Limbaugh's book The War against Christianity. If it wasn't clear from the obvious Bartonesque (sorry for no link, I'm referring to David Barton) tactics at inflaming the righteous anger of hard right religious conservatives this whole story is nothing more than the most blatent attempt at "we decide then report journalism" I have ever seen.

To be honest I'm surprised that more of our atheist right wingers aren't more outraged by this slander. "God forbid" anyone should object to the wholly objective Fox News Channel. :rolleyes:
 
Dorian Gray said:
Christmas is a secular holiday - unless you consider an enormous inflatable illuminated Homer Simpson Santa Claus in someone's yard 'religious'.

product.gsp
Well, I'm pretty serious about putting it up, but I wouldn't call it 'religious'...;)
 
What I think is funny is that Christians, on a national holiday for their mythology, would drive past a million symbols of their faith on their way home; will drive past at least a couple of churches in this part of the country, and past yard after yard decorated for their holy day...all of that, get home, get online, and complain about how atheists are getting rid of Christmas.
 
Fox News' fair and balanced objectivity poster boy, Bill O'Reilly, has been complaining about the "secularists" and the "secular agenda" for months now. I suppose that it's not that surprising that Fox News is now following suit.

But it does make me ask a "chicken or the egg" question. Is BO'Re starting his campaign against the "secularists" because of Fox News or is Fox News starting a campaign against the "secularists" because of BO'Re?

When did the fringe Religious Right become mainstream Right, anyway?
 
Upchurch said:
But it does make me ask a "chicken or the egg" question. Is BO'Re starting his campaign against the "secularists" because of Fox News or is Fox News starting a campaign against the "secularists" because of BO'Re?

It's all about "Fair and balanced" shilling of David Limbaugh's book apparently.

When I do similar checks on CNN.com I don't find similar "supported advertisements" for any books from American's United. Fox has clearly chosen which banner it will march under - those of the accomodationists. It might as well call itself the 700 Club Jr. (or senior based on it's viewership).

Zero, I'm sure despite all this, the Rapture Ready fundy freaks are just looking for our government correcting previous accomodationist attitudes as an End Times Sign. You point out a salient aspect of this whole argument which is while individual churches and citizens practice their religion unmolested, the efforts to stop government prosteliztation is considered "persecution."

Feh...
 
UnrepentantSinner said:


Zero, I'm sure despite all this, the Rapture Ready fundy freaks are just looking for our government correcting previous accomodationist attitudes as an End Times Sign. You point out a salient aspect of this whole argument which is while individual churches and citizens practice their religion unmolested, the efforts to stop government prosteliztation is considered "persecution."

Feh...

It is a bit of a scam, isn't it? It certainly makes you wonder if people can be that misguided, or if it is intentional lying to convince the rubes that there is Christian persecution in America. Notice, if you will, that there is never a report on Christians being prevented from practicing their religion on their own property, or for wearing religious symbols on their own time. It is only when you try to express your religion in an official capacity that you run into trouble.
 

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