Bill O’Reilly: The Only Way To Stop Mass Shootings Is If We All Embrace Christianity
Whenever there is a horrific mass shooting in this country, and it happens quite a bit, you can always rely on the good folks at Fox News to comfort you and let you know the deaths had absolutely nothing to do with guns or America’s complete obsession with firearms. While the message may vary from pundit to pundit, the idea is generally the same — don’t politicize the deaths and please don’t bring up gun control. Usually, the one leading this charge is Papa Bear himself, Bill O’Reilly.
During Thursday’s broadcast of The O’Reilly Factor, the humble correspondent made sure to tell his audience that there are absolutely no laws or policy that America can pass that would stop shootings like we witnessed in Oregon, where 26-year-old Chris Harper Mercer killed 10 people at a community college and injured seven others. While information was still coming in regarding the tragic event, O’Reilly used his ‘Talking Points’ segment to definitively state that nothing can really be done about these things from a policy standpoint. In fact, according to Bill-O, it is our very freedom that allows this to happen.
Below is from the transcript of the show, via Media Matters:
“At this hour there are 10 reported dead, seven others wounded. The gunman, a 20-year-old who is now unidentified was shot dead by police as you heard. This is another black mark for all Americans. People around the world must wonder what’s going on in the land of the free. And it is our freedom that allows insane individuals to kill so many people. Guns are legal in America under the Second Amendment. Tonight, President Obama delivered an impassioned anti-gun remark speech, which we’ll discuss later.
But, the mass murder today could not have been prevented by any legislation in my opinion. Roseburg, Oregon is about as normal as it gets. A rural area that enjoys the stunning nature Oregon provides, and a relatively simple lifestyle centered on family and community. I worked in Oregon, I visited Roseburg. It’s a calm place. But it’s also gun country, as hunting is big in the area and the rural setting means folks must protect themselves with firearms, as police protection is far away for many people.
Now as a journalist, it pains me to report stories like this because I know how much personal damage is caused to the people and families affected by murder. The country itself takes a massive hit whenever this kind of thing happens. Thirty-two people killed at Virginia Tech, 27 slain at Sandy Hook. Thirteen murdered at Ft. Hood, 13 dead in Binghamton, New York, 12 murdered in Aurora, Colorado, the same number at the Navy Yard in Washington. Charleston, South Carolina just last June, nine shot dead in a church. There is no rational explanation for all the carnage, none. And no public policy will stop it.”
Below is video of the segment, courtesy of Fox News:
This is pretty standard for Bill and other flag-waving ‘patriots’ who embrace the Second Amendment. Essentially, because we have all of this FREEDOM, we just have to accept lots of preventable death as a consequence. However, by the end of his broadcast, he goes full circle by basically telling Americans that while this is the land of the free in terms of toting around guns, the entire country would be better off if everyone were forced to believe in Christianity.
Rehashing a point he has brought up before during other heinous killings, O’Reilly ended the show by claiming that every murderer he’s ever covered as a journalist does not believe in Judeo-Christian values. Essentially, they are all pure evil and reject the notion of a reward after death based on their actions on earth. Therefore, it would be best if everyone in this country — hell, the world — just embraced Christianity, then all of our problems would be solved.
“So, finally tonight, over the past 19 years I have covered dozens of mass murder situations, including the 9/11 attack, where people in my neighborhood lost loved ones. Now, all of these stories have one thing in common, one thing. Evil. If you are a believer in Judeo-Christian philosophy, you know that life is a struggle between good and evil. And human beings are compelled to choose good if they want to be rewarded after death. That is the crux of Judeo-Christian philosophy.
But for those who do not believe in anything, there is no struggle. There is only impulse. Most non-believers can control themselves, but a few cannot. And if you believe in nothing, anything goes, if you are an out-of-control-person. Sounds trite but it’s true. There have been great agnostic and atheistic people in this world, kind souls who treated others well. But the majority of atrocities the world has experience are committed by individuals or societies that reject the greater good and embrace only the selfish moment. You can track them, you can look at them. There are millions of mentally ill people in this world. Millions. There is violence all over the place, as we know. It is part of the human condition. But, by rejecting standards of good and accepting harmful behavior as normal, the world is becoming a much more dangerous place. When life means nothing, atrocities will occur. And they are.”
Below is video of his comments, courtesy of Media Matters:
So, according to Bill O’Reilly, true freedom is unlimited access to firepower combined with mandatory practice of Judeo-Christian beliefs. Got it.
The Christian Dilemma:
The greatest threat to America, and indeed to the rest of world, at this point in history, comes from the staunch advocates of right wing ideology, and I must submit this warning to you: There is a grave problem with the right wing movement, in that; they seem to possess a distorted sense of entitlement. They’ve set themselves apart, and seem to think that their faith gives them the right to view the world from a platitude of conceit, through condescending eyes, and with a false sense of superiority. They actually believe themselves to be superior beings, with a manifest destiny and some strange notion that God is on their side. A people with a desire to conquer, under the false guise of Christianity, seeking to dominate in the name of Christ, their view of humanity being reduced to nothing more than a matter of “us” and “them”.
What they fail to realize is; if the Christ you believe in leads you to view other humans as lesser beings, then you are a follower of the anti-Christ. The plain truth is; God doesn’t have a religion and God doesn’t discriminate. Any religion that professes to be the only true religion, or that they‘re special in the eyes of God preaches false doctrine. If the Spirit of God is truly with you, it will only be known by acts of “unconditional” love and charity. No religion can claim exclusive rights to God. He belongs to all that He has created, and to foster a belief in “us” and “them” is to divide humanity, not unite it.
And so it will be, in The End, that those who have set themselves apart from their fellow man will find that they have set themselves apart from God. The worth of a soul will only be measured by how much it has loved, nothing more, nothing less. Woe to those who have taken the widow’s mite and built castles and empires in His name. They have incurred a great accountability, their suffering will be unending.
Even Jesus will not claim to be Christian, but will only proclaim the glory of the Father. And when He returns they will shout: “Here we are Lord!” And He will respond: “I never knew you”. They have forsaken the Word and have become prisoners of the Numbers.
Those who have put themselves first will be last.
Bill O’Reilly can go kill himself