MSNBC host Chris Hayes slammed Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly on Wednesday for describing the conflict with the Islamic State terrorist group as a “holy war.”
“That sort of rhetoric is, of course, exactly what ISIS wants,” Hayes said on “All In With Chris Hayes.”
“If this is a holy war, they aren’t some murderous cult or some fringe Sunni militia,” he continued. “No, if it’s a holy war, then they are the representatives of Islam, which is why the President at today’s summit on violent extremism was so careful not to cast the fight on those terms.”
Hayes added that the Islamic State has “had success in framing the fight on their terms not just on Fox News but also to some extent on the battlefield,” noting the rise of a Christian militia in Iraq that has attracted Western fighters, including Americans.
“Can you imagine anything ISIS wants more than a Christian-identified army lining up from Christendom against them?” Hayes asked. “It only feeds their claim that they represent Islam and a holy war against the rest, a narrative that helps recruitment and radicalization, and gives oxygen to the very fire we are trying to snuff out.”
O’Reilly framed the conflict as “holy war” for a second day in a row Wednesday, calling for “Judeo-Christian” clergy to come together and “eliminate the threat from the Earth.”
Watch below:
h/t Mediaite
IMHO O’Reilly has never met a fight he didn’t like, as long as he dosen’t have to do the fighting.
The Crusades…and after that, shall we have an Inquisition?
I say that, if the Christian and Catholic end timers want to fight a holy war against ISIL we arm them with basic weapons, drop them in the Iraqi desert and let them fight it out. And I propose that the first person we arm and drop into the desert be Bill O’Reilly.
O’Reilly cares way more about ratings for his show than doing the right thing. What Chris Hayes is saying is too nuanced for the people who watch O’Reilly’s show. Bill knows that, and could help those people understand the nuances, but he doesn’t care. Much easier to yell out sayings that could go on bumper stickers.
What gets me is the DANGER this is putting Americans in all over the world. If people in countries like Jordan, Egypt and Indonesia really think we Americans are fighting a holy war against their religion we might have bigger problems than we do today.
But Bill O will then get bigger ratings, won’t he? He’ll have more to rail against.
As an agnostic, although I was baptized as an Episcopalian, I find it unusual that Catholics no longer appear to categorized by many, as you imply, as “Christians”. Especially so, since the RC’s have been at it for so much longer. How did this happen? When? How did “Christian” come to be co-opted by right wing reactionary evangelicals? What will it take for the “mainliners” to get pissed off enough to take it back?
I knew an Episcopal priest with a good sense of humor who used to tell evangelical proselytizers who wanted to “save him”: “I’m not a Christian, I’m an Episcopalian.” So even he was getting into the act.
By the way, I have no quarrel with religion. As an agnostic, I really don’t fucking know. What I do know is that people filled with religious hubris, whatever faith they adhere to are personally exhausting. So I understand your wanting these folks to “take it outside to the desert and fight it out.” Unfortunately, they won’t do that without involving the rest of us.