An Insensitive Remark

September 24, 2006

By: Sellers S. Crain, Jr.

    The View is an ABC morning program which caters to a mostly female audience.  After almost 10 years on the air, they recently had some changes in their four person female panel when Meredith Veara left the show to become co-host of the NBC Today Show.  Then Star Jones abruptly left the show in a firestorm that resulted in back to back explanations of why she was leaving.  One of the people chosen to become part of the new panel was Rosie O'Donnell, former comedian, actress and talk show host.  She is more noted for her talking than anything else.  She often makes ridiculous statements, so what is new?

    Rosie O'Donnell had a very successful daytime talk show until she outed herself and became a Gay Rights activist.  She acknowledged that she was herself a lesbian and in a long-term relationship with another woman.  The couple took advantage of a Massachusetts law which permitted homosexuals to have a marriage ceremony.  The two are now raising adopted children.

    Ms. O'Donnell, who has often shown her disdain for Christianity and Christian values, recently made her most outrageous statement about Christianity.  She said that those she calls "radical Christians" are the same as the radical Muslims who piloted those jet airliners into the World Trade Center twin towers, those who beheaded innocent victims on video while hiding behind masks to conceal their identity, and those who blow themselves up taking with them innocent men, women and children.  While I do not know for sure who O'Donnell considers "radical Christians", my guess would be that it is anyone who really believes in Jesus Christ and who endeavors to follow His teaching found in the New Testament.

    O'Donnell's actual statement was "Radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like America where we have separation of church and state."  She had just remarked that America was not attacked "by a nation", but by Muslim extremists.  She continued saying "And as a result of the attack and the killing of 3,000 innocent people, we invaded two countries and killed innocent people."

    One of he co-hosts on The View, Joy Behar, protested saying that Christians are not trying to impose mass murder while the "radical Muslims" are "threatening to kill us."  To that remark O'Donnell responded saying, "No, but we are bombing innocent people in other countries.  True or false?"

    So far neither O'Donnell or ABC have apologized for her comments.  If she had made similar comments about Judaism, other minorities, and even homosexuals, there would have been immediate outrage.  It would have resulted in an apology, or in O'Donnell being fired.  This sends a clear message from the network and the program's producers that it is acceptable to attack Christianity and Christians, even if that assault is an outright lie comparing Christians to cold-blooded murderers who take innocent lives in the name of Allah.

Brotherly,

Sellers