Our Own Opinions, Not Our Own Facts

I believe that I heard it said on Countdown by Keith Olbermann, so I'll go with that credit. If I'm mistaken, I apologize to the wonderful person who did say it. It was, plain and simple, a response to one of those mindless statements that we live in America and everyone is entitled to their opinion. That is certainly true. But the brilliance was thus: everyone may be entitled to their own opinion, but no one is entitled to their own facts. Or words very close to that. It's a great statement. It acknowledges that every American is guaranteed the right to be as stupid as we want to be. But it also points out that if we choose to live in an alternate reality, we just aren't free to reinvent the facts any way that we want them to be. Sort of like the day that Frazier asked Cliff, "What color is the sky in your world?"
Relevance? Here goes. I wrote my monthly newsletter article last midweek, and it was distributed yesterday morning by the two generous ladies who volunteer and put the thing together for us. I began the piece by sharing that I am not among the "War on Christmas" crowd, and expressing my disdain for the work of those who know that they are lying when they use the notion (one more made up piece of crap that these evil actors use) to distract the portion of the populace who can be so easily manipulated to look away from the latest malfeasance, incompetence, or just plain evil perpetrated by George II and his cabal. I called by name the first person I ever heard propound the preposterous theory, Bill O'Reilly. If anything, I was far too mild in my description of what he and his compatriots are up to.
I was stunned during the shaking hands after the service portion of the day when I was approached by one of my favorite people in the congregation. A strong leader, and just really fine person. "When" I was asked, "do we get time for a rebuttal?" I am one of those people who gets so locked into what I've got in front of me at any given moment that I can't think about anything else, and that is never more the case than right before or right after a worship service. I had no idea what the reference was, as I was still in preaching mode. I asked; my question was answered: "To defend Bill O'Reilly!" I thought it was a joke at first. I was wrong.
I knew that my friend is conservative. I'm ok with that. I recognize very well that well-intentioned people can see the world in differing ways, and I respect those differences. But there are lines.
Bill O'Reilly crossed a line a long time ago. The man lies about his upbringing. He lies about his military service. He lies about his professional accomplishments. And he bullies. I have sat through the hilariously name No Spin Zone on enough occasions to have a working knowledge of his act. He screams at people he disagrees with to "Shut Up!" He threatens. The inevitable prank caller is told that they can expect a visit from Fox Security because "We have your telephone number." Can't imagine the horror of Rupert's jack-booted thugs showing up at the door to...what? Rip out the phone line? Might be time to recall G. Gordon Liddy's renowned instructions for answering the door? O'Reilly attacked the 9-11 widows, for crying out loud. Yeah, if there is any hotbed of insurrectionist thought and action, it's the 9-11 widows! Not unlike blaming the Jewish people for the Holocaust, or African-Americans for slavery.
How dare you women-folk have opinions on the War On Terror, and the Assault On The Other Country That Had Nothing To Do With 9-11 And A Dictator No Worse Than 30 Other Countries. Where do you get off asking questions and taking positions? Your husbands were murdered? Oh, surely you can do better than that!
Friends, Bill O'Reilly just isn't the place to make your stand.
My church's policy is that unless I violate the teachings of the church (and, so far, we're still against lying and bullying and threatening people-radical, ain't we?) what I say in my pulpit is between God and me. No one, not even my appointing bishop, can tell me what to preach or not preach. And the church's publications are part of my pulpit. There will be no rebuttal to defend Mr. O'Reilly's honor, and not just because he doesn't have any. My friend won't be happy with me about that. OK. Most of us clergy types don't have the anatomy these days to take the risks of being prophetic. We tend to like our middle-class (or what passes for it) lives too much. But this one's a no-brainer, to borrow Mr. Cheney's term.
So here's the big risk-taking prophetic proclamation of the day: Bill O'Reilly behaves badly, and should stop it! Ooh, I feel just like Amos or Hosea!