Bill O’Reilly: “Christianity is NOT a Religion”

Hmmmmm...well, this is where I received a definition of Christianity, from Professor Emeritis of Philosophy, Dr. Laurance Lampert:

DB: What about religion appealed to you intellectually?

LL: Well, I guess it was because it had had such a grip on me. I had once been religious, and I wanted to investigate the hold that Christianity had. I was particularly interested in apologetics, the way that religion explained and defended itself in an intellectual setting, to the Greeks, to those who weren’t Christians. That’s how I got interested in philosophy. The history of Christian apologetics tracks the history of philosophy, and I came to see that Christianity as an intellectual enterprise is derivative from philosophy. So I moved away from the derivative to the original.

Also Nietzsche called Christianity:  Plato for the People.

http://www.nietzschecircle.com/interview.html

While I agree that Christianity is a religion, PERHAPS what Bill is trying to tell us is that he's becoming an Atheist.. GASP..

But,  after seeing this episode of anger against my childhood beliefs of all the disgusting organized religions of this world that rule and make our most important desicions in our life for us,  regardless of what we the hard working high tax payers think.... and never giving a fair chance for Mr. Silverman to even explain himself and the opinions of the members he represents in a respectfull manor which was very obvious he was trying to do!  So I've glady joined this organization with my $120.00 yearly membership, and hope to help thin out the surrounding ignorance we all face on a daily basis!

Philosophy? Really? Therefore Sunni's and Shi'ites are also now united by a common philosophy?  And since Muslims and Christians share Abraham they are now united by an Uber-Philosophy and we can all take off on Ramadan? Better alert Wikipedia to rewrite hundreds of pages -- Bill has rewritten the classification of current religions -- philosophically speaking of course :)

So then by defination

3.A set of strongly held beliefs, values, and attitudes that somebody lives by.

4.An object, practice, cause, or activity that somebody is completely devoted to or obsessed by.

So is atheism.  Down with religion.

Bill is trying to make this a theocracy by saying Christianity does not apply to the 1st amendment of the US constitution because he wants to claim Christianity is not a religion, its a theocracy. It's an attempt to deny reality so he can get his agenda pushed Into US law. He wants to force his religion on everyone else, but you won't here that directly from him, you will just hear some propaganda talk like, "America was always a Christian nation, and when they were talking about religion in the 1st amendment they were not talking about Christianity, blah blah blah..."

Just found out about this interview with Mr. Silverman and Bill O'Reilly.  I feel so strongly about this that I had to register on your site to post a comment.  Perhaps I will be preaching to the choir, but here goes.

I am a cradle Catholic.  I am a practicing Catholic and have baptized my children in the Catholic faith.  We are very active in our parish and my children attend parochial schools.  I am not here to explain or justify why I believe in God or why I practice Catholicism (a Christian religion).  I am here because I am disgusted by people like Bill O'Reilly and those that every holiday, bring up the same tired complaint about the so-called attacks on Christmas.

There is a reason we have a Constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion.  My children know about my passion for the separation of Church and State.  They know that Christmas belongs in their school, but not in the Capitol building; Christmas belongs in our home, but not at the park.  If a merchant wants to put up a Christmas tree, they have that right (that's the beauty of this country, that you CAN if you want to, or DON'T have to if you don't want to).  I have taught them that their world of Catholicism is very small, compared to other faiths, and that (gasp!) there are people who do not believe that (a) God exists.  In their black and white logic, people should feel free to think and believe as they wish. 

I guess I'm just here to say that I agree that there is no place for religion in government or on or in government buildings.  Bill O'Reilly and people like him will never stop at trying to influence lawmakers into forcing prayer in schools, nativity scenes at a park or a Christmas tree lighting ceremony at a municipal building.  I hope (and pray--pun intended) that a law mandating religion in the public sphere never comes to pass. 

O'Reilly's rants are tiresome, but we cannot ignore him.  It is best to know what the enemy is up to.

I had no idea you guys even existed...

Thank you, Bill O'Reilly for being such an A-hole...even though I might consider myself more agnostic than atheist, I will support this group just to spite you.

As for the "Christianity is a philosopy" thing....ok, yes, there's a LOT of philosophy at the root of Christianity.  They had to steal quite a lot of it to argue how their idea of reality was right. It's so illogical as to need to steal from atheist logicians to make any sense.  But beside that, you would be hard pressed to define religion without including Christianity.  Religion being how we engage with what we consider Ultimate Reality.  If that's not Christianity, and in particular, Catholic Christianity (hello O'Reilly) I don't know what is.

"Jesus Christ is religion, oh no wait, he's a man, but Christianity is philosophy."  Okay.  Someone get him his meds, please.

Christianity can only be considered philosophical insofar as it can claim 'Results of Necessity' as Aristotle would put it. Never, being an ex-catholic (Atheist) since I was 9 years old, have I heard, read, or even had a christian friend or family member make an attempt at a syllogism to substantiate any basis of truth in Catholicism or Christianity. It is, on the contrary, a system of faith.

And the last time I checked, there is no epistemological validity for FAITH, which, by Wikipedia's definition: "Depending on the religion, faith is belief in a god or gods or in the doctrines or teachings of the religion. Informal usage of faith can be quite broad, including trust or belief without proof,[1] and "faith" is often used as a substitute for "hope", "trust" or "belief". Some[who?] critics of faith have argued that faith is opposed to reason. In contrast, some[who?] advocates of faith argue that the proper domain of faith concerns questions which cannot be settled by evidence. This is exemplified by attitudes about the future, which (by definition) has not yet occurred." 

I bolderized and italicized fragments I considered very relevant to this particular thread concerning Bill 'O Reilly's claim against Christianity being a Religion.

It's quite obvious that Bill 'O Reilly has no clue what he's talking about, and there's no excuse for it since typing 'Religion' into Google search is all one would have to do to find its meaning.

Subject: THE MEANING OF GOD AND ITS EXISTENCE

 

AGAIN ,WE ARE ONE OF THE WEAKEST SPECIES IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM AND HAVE BEEN EXISTING IN THIS WORLD WITH FIVE SENSORY ORGANS PRIMARILY TO KNOW OUR SURROUNDINGS WHICH ARE FAR INFERIOR/LESS THAN OTHER LIVING CREATURES.

LET US NOT PRO-CLAIM OUR-SELF WITH THE SUPERIORITY OF KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM, SINCE WE HAVE BEEN ONLY CREATED WITH ONLY AN EXTRA INTELLIGENCE(SIXTH SENSE) TO OVERCOME/ADAPT ADVERSE CONDITIONS OF OUR SURVIVAL IN THIS WORLD .

WHERE AS, ALL OTHER LIVING CREATURES/THINGS HAVE PHYSICALLY ADAPTED BETTER THAN US TO SURVIVE EVEN AT ALL ODD EXTREME ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS WITH OUT THE SAME.

 

THE HUMAN FAITH/BELIEF ON NATURE/HAPPENINGS IN ANCIENT/PAST TIMES LEAD TO THE CREATION OF RELIGION, WHERE AS THE REASONING OF EVERYTHING AROUND HIM IN LAST FEW CENTURIES LEAD TO SCIENTIFIC INVENTIONS AND HAD RESULTED IN MOST COMFORDABLE ADVANCE MODERN LIFE AS AVAILABLE TO-DAY.

LET US NOT NOW DEBATE ON THE EXISTENCE OF GOD AS AGAINST THEIR RESPECTIVE RELIGIOUS FAITH AND TRY TO DIVIDE/DISINTEGRATE THE HUMAN RACE BASED ON OUR FRACTIONAL KNOWLEDGE AS ACQUIRED DURING OUR INVISIBLE PERIOD LIVING IN THIS EARTH.

INSTEAD, CREATE A VISION OF SENSE OF ONENESS TO OUR HUMAN RACE SO THAT ALL OF US AS A UNIT OF LIVING CREATURES IN THIS WORLD CAN SURVIVE HARMONIOUSLY WITH NATURE/OTHER LIVING CREATURES TILL THE END OF THE FRACTIONAL SECOND OF UNIVERSAL CLOAK .

 

ORIGIN OF OUR LIFE

 

THE EACH ONE OF US HAS BEGAN OUR ORIGIN OUT OF A SINGLE CELL FROM OUR MOTHER"S WOMB OUT OF FUSION OF SPERM WITH OVUM AND HAS BEING CARRIED/NURSED BY MILLIONS OF OUR ANCESTORS/FORE PARENTS SINCE THE ORIGIN OF LIFE IN THIS WORLD .

 

THERFORE , ALL LIVING CREATURES OF PRESENT/PAST IN THIS WORLD HAVE DESCENDED FROM A UNICELLULAR LIFE WHO IS OUR ORIGIN OF EXISTENCE SO CALLED BRAHMA / CREATOR / GOD.

WITH BEST WISHES FOR SURVIVAL OF ALL MANKIND TILL THE END OF THE LAST FRACTIONAL SECOND OF UNIVERSE CLOACK,

 

 

G.MOHAN ,
A HUMAN BEING

CHENNAI

Atheism is such as sad religion. Their religion is that they believe there is no god as strongly as Christians believe there is a god. They have no holidays, no celebrations, and no traditions. They believe in only themselves, and hate, and work. They are born, they work, and they die and that is it. And they want us all to be like them?

If atheists believe in freedom OF religion then why do atheists believe no one should be a Christian? In saying this, they are saying there should not be freedom of religion.

Likewise, if they say they believe there should be NO religion, then they are saying there can be no atheism.

Likewise, if atheists believe they should have freedom FROM religion, then does that not mean that everyone should also have freedom from Atheism?

Atheists are doomed by their lack of reasoning and logic.