WISDOM FROM ROSIE O’DONNELL
Posted by John Sexton under Theocracy at 2:09 pm.Radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like America.
That was Rosie O’Donnell on ABC’s “The View” just this morning. According to Mary Katherine Ham, who watched the show, this line received applause from the studio audience. [HT: Hot Air]
Granted, I don’t expect much from the audience for “The View”, but WOW! One day after the anniversary of 9/11. Just wow. These people are clueless.
Update: Here’s a rundown that includes video of Rosie’s statement. Her full comment seems to be making an equivalence between Christians in this country and radical Islamists abroad. Given her outspoken liberal views, I think we can reasonably assume she’s referring to evangelicals, most of whom are conservative.
Several commenters below have already agreed this is an appropriate comparison. Sorry, I don’t see it. For all the dumb things he has said recently, Pat Robertson is no Osama bin Laden. Rick Warren is no Zawahiri. On his worst day, D. James Kennedy is no Zarquawi. And George Bush is no Saddam.
September 12th, 2006 at 2:27 pm
Extremists of all faiths, creeds, politics and views can be dangers to democracy. Not sure if that’s what Rosie meant, though.
One thing you need to realize about Rosie’s popularity: she is beloved by many millions because, in her plain-spoken, inarticulate, unpretentious ways, she speaks for them. Rosie shops at WalMart and Target, eats McDonalds and loves kids. She feels to the millions like one of them.
So watch what she says, whether it’s accurate or inaccurate. She is a bellweather of opinion for a certain segement of the public, one that is not necessariy defined by red or blue, but by wealth.
September 12th, 2006 at 2:52 pm
If I had said it, rather than Rosie, would it be as provocative? I think not, because I’m a happily married Christian heterosexual.
I think Rosie is right. I think where Rosie is different is we have contrasting views on what accounts for “extreme” Christianity. The people at scare me. On the other hand, my views on Biblical inerrancy and Biblical morality, fairly standard for traditional Christianity, probably scare Rosie. Her group is about 10,000 times bigger than mine.
September 12th, 2006 at 3:05 pm
What complete, blithering idiots. Christianity has done just a little bit more to liberate women than Islam. Perhaps Rosie should take her lifestyle to Saudi Arabia and see how the Islamists treat her as compared to how Christians treat her here.
September 12th, 2006 at 3:27 pm
Umm…I’m one of the clueless apparently. I’m not sure I understand what you think is wrong with her statement. Would you please provide a little more detail?
September 12th, 2006 at 4:29 pm
I hate to say it but I agree with Rosie O’Donnell (Man, I doubt I’ll say that again haha) Now I don’t know the context Rosie said it in, but I think that radical right wing christians (whom i imagine Rosie is referring to) have done a lot of damage to this country.
While Radical Christians usually don’t go around killing people physically they do a lot of damage. They kill people in other ways: emotionally and spiritually -with their dogmatic laws that have nothing to do with what’s in the bible. And worst of all they turn people away from the true gospel message by turning it into a watered down political doctrine that supports American Empire around the world. Look at the support radical christians have given to the illegal and immoral war the president has started in iraq. Christianity like that is dangerous and a threat to American society.
Of course as Americans they have the right to free speach but shouldn’t the real church be standing up and saying that this is not the gospel? The church has lost its prophetic voice and has instead become the mouthpiece of Republican politics. How did that happen?
Have fun ripping me apart!
September 12th, 2006 at 6:27 pm
Andrew P.
Are you running for the office of RedBlueChristian’s Designated Martyr?!
You say that you agree with Rosie. To understand why, read the entire book I referred to before. You will understand American Politics as never before, all with peace and a knowing smile. And without any accompanying martyr syndrome!
September 12th, 2006 at 10:05 pm
Andrew,
Care to specify that? Which dogmatic laws are you referring to? And could you please identify the “emotional and spiritual” mass graves caused by conservative Christians? I’d like to be able to weigh these against the ones discovered in Saddam’s Iraq.
First of all, thanks for clarifying that when Rosie says “radical Christians” you read that as “conservative Christians.” I’m quite certain that’s exactly what she meant, but it’s nice that you’re not bothering to deny it. Basically we’re talking about red Christians and comparing them to disciples of Osama.
Well, speaking as a “radical Christian”, I think we can argue about the morality of the Iraq war, but illegal? You’ll have to show me how the votes in the UN and congress render this an illegal war.
Again, thanks for implicity excommunicating me and the majority of evangelicals from “the real church.” It’s certainly comforting to know you (and Rosie!) are keepers of the true faith.
September 13th, 2006 at 12:06 am
Would someone please define what is meant by radical? And while you are at it perhaps someone could then define “radical Christians.” So far we’ve covered the ground from all Christians to only Pat and Jerry kind of Christians.
I sense a great deal of knee-jerk reactionism in the posts and comments lately. Do we care that words have multiple meanings, and that it’s important to know which meaning we are addressing in our posts and comments?
And please tell me why we are letting the statement of a ditsy-nonbeliever moderate our service to the Lord Jesus Christ?
Come on, she’s not worth it. Throwing pearls before swine is just as offensive today as it was 20 centuries ago.
Let’s pray God puts someone with the “true” Good News alongside her so she will be worth it!
September 13th, 2006 at 10:48 am
John,
I think her comment leaves some wiggle room. See comment #7 for my definition of “radical.” Andrew, who is obviously a blue Christian, saw it the same way.
Given that Rosie is an outspoken liberal who has battled “the religious right” over adoption by gays, I’m confident she has in mind every believer to the right of Jimmy Carter. Something very close to that anyway.
As I think the comments above show, Rosie has put her finger on one of the hot button issues that represent a real split both among the public and among believers. There is a significant segment of America that sees no essential difference between conservative Christians and Jihadists.
It distrubs me that while Mel Gibson was publicly excoriated for his hateful comments about Jews (and they were hateful), Rosie can go on national TV and imply red Christians are the equivalent of the Taliban. My concern is not Rosie, per se, but the strain of thought her comment represents. I believe recent books like Kingdom Coming, Breaking the Spell and American Theocracy are examples of this same ideology. Recently I wrote about Jimmy Carter’s comments on RBC. It’s the same point of view.
I expect Rosie to say dumb things. And you’re right, she’s not worth it. What I don’t expect is the appluase she received. I think that’s something to be concerned about.
September 15th, 2006 at 7:26 am
There are a few ideological and perhaps theological similarities between radical Islamists and the doomsday Armageddon cult in far-right Christianity. Certainly both groups feel that they have discovered the “key” to righteous living. And both groups believe that their theology will save them when the world meets its fiery cataclysmic end.
But practical similarities? None that I can see, or that a reasonably objective person should be able to find. The last time I watched John Hagee on TBN, I didn’t see a throng of men in his audience, wearing white robes and pumping M-16’s into the air while shouting “Glory to God!”
Rosie’s lesbianism enables her hatred of Christianity; her Bush Derangement Syndrome allows her to believe that Pat Robertson has taken over our government, which in turn provides a rationale for comparing him to Osama bin Laden. And her attempt to lump together “every believer to the right of Jimmy Carter” is obviously a straw man, yet it seems to resonate with a lot of people, especialy liberals. You make a good point, John. The applause she got from her audience is worrysome.
“Mainstream” Islam deals with its radicals by ignoring them, thus giving license for Muslims to privately approve of at least some of what the radicals teach and do. How will Christianity deal with its far right?