O’Reilly vs. Science

Several weeks ago in class we discussed “the church of the flying spaghetti monster” and whether the US is a Christian nation. As a nation, we are very Christian compared to other countries, but the fact that a majority of Americans are Christian should not compromise the opinions of those who aren’t. Although sometimes subtle, Christian ideals are often portrayed in the media, such as the clip we watched of Fox and Friends, which criticized President Obama for not going to church in 11 weeks. Sometimes Christian ideals are not portrayed so subtly however, in The O’Reilly Factor, Bill O’Reilly believes that atheism is a “bane to society,” and undoubtedly judges people who are atheist. I found a clip of O’Reilly arguing with scientist and atheist Richard Dawkins, and I could not believe how O’Reilly based his whole argument against Dawkins using Christianity. You could argue that Bill’s argument was justified since The O’Reilly Factor is an opinionated show, but for watchers who devote their television news consumption to Fox, The O’Reilly Factor can be misleading. Perhaps a majority of Americans are Christian, however, that should not mean that our nation must succumb to the beliefs of Christianity.