Good News / Bad News About Hannity & Colmes

Well, a few minutes ago I was watching TV and decided to check in with that beloved American propoganda machine FNC (Fox News Channel, or Fucking Nut Cases as I lovingly refer to them). The program was "Hannity & Colmes", and their guest was Betty Phelps-Schurle, wife of the Rev. Fred Phelps, who first made names for themselves by picketing the funeral of Matthew Shephard.
They've since moved on to picketing the funerals of American soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Basically they feel that whatever tragedy befalls America these days is because God is punishing the U.S. for allowing homosexuality to "flourish". (Tell that to the gay-marriage supporters.)

When asked if the Amish schoolgirls killed this week deserved to die, this rhymes-with-witch actually answered "yes". Not because they were homosexual, but because they refused to "obey God". Quite frankly, if I had to point to an example of a God-fearing American, it would be hard to top the Amish, but whatever......

My point about the good news / bad news angle in this affair is as follows. I think it is GOOD that H & C allowed this woman to spew her hatred and insanity on national television. The more that people see this, the better warned they are. Certain types of horrible ideas need exposure in the same manner that vampires need sunlight - so they can wither and die.

However, I think it is bad because they only attacked her on her own terms. Their questions were along the lines of "Are you not a sinner, too?" That is, they took the position that her version of Christianity was harmful and hateful. I would have taken a different approach. At her first mention of "God", I would have asked : Which god are you talking about ? The one who shoots 6 year-old Amish girls, the one who flies airplanes into skyscrapers, or the one who stood by while six million of his followers went to the gas chambers in WWII ?

I know that according to the traditional rules of debate and deliberation, I just flew off the rails right there with those questions. But these are extrordinarily dangerous times and most of it is due to religious fanaticism. It's time that people get a grip on their beliefs and realize that their faith is basically an un-testable hypothesis. And I don't say this as an atheist, either. I'm not sure what to believe, but I also find it hard to believe we are a cosmic accident. One thing I am sure of is that it is now 3:00 A.M. and I may not have made perfect sense here. Maybe I'll come back and refine this tomorrow. Maybe not. In any case, I know that I will continue through life discovering some things to be true, some to be false, and some an eternal mystery. But I won't accept ancient writings from the desert to be THE TRUE WORD just because my parents, church, teacher or president told me to.

To paraphrase W.C. Fields, I may be drunk, but the world is insane. And tomorrow I'll be sober.

:>)