The Most
Ridiculous Man on Television?
:: An Open Letter to Bill O'Reilly ::
by Mohamed
Khodr
Dear Mr. O'Reilly:
Your current television ethos as contrasted from
your earlier tabloid reporting on "Inside Edition" is that you
defend "the little guy" against big government, corporations,
media, injustice, racism, and denigration of the
"Judeo-Christian" faith. This "fair and balanced"; "objective",
"fair and balanced" reporting in your program and in FOX
(Fraternal Order of Xenophobes) seems only to be FAIR to white,
rich, Conservative Republicans, Religious Bigots (Falwell,
Robertson, Graham: all by the way Christ's disciples with
multi-million dollar empires such as yourself), Pro-Gun,
Anti-Immigration, prima donnas of Pro-Israel as manifested by your
boss Rupert Murdoch---which means pro-oppression, pro-occupation,
pro-assassination, pro-land confiscation, pro-house demolitions,
pro-bombing civilians, hospitals, schools, orphanages, ambulances,
curfews, imprisonment and torture even of American citizens, and
proud Anti-United Nations and all its Resolutions unless the
victims are Muslims, pro-military-industrial complex, pro-bombing
nations we simply don't like, Anti-Minorities while giving tax
breaks to your rich republican friends who avoid paying taxes and
steal corporate funds and retirement funds, Anti-elderly
Prescription drugs, against removing land mines, anti-gay and
pro-AIDS as it's a curse on irresponsible behavior,
anti-Environment, and ANTI-you're favorite new addition to your
conscience of HATE: ANTI-ISLAM.
It's hard to understand what
you and your ilk of Neo-conservatives, Christian Evangelists, and
Pro-Israelites in this country stand for, like, or approve other
than getting richer screw the planet and the poor.
As is customary on your program you're more interested in being
rabidly pro-ratings than in any meaningful discussion. Your
ratings depend on your followers of hate and warmongers. I
have seen your show, read your books, saw your talks at
Harvard's JFK SOG and elsewhere and your message is simplistic,
un-intellectual, divisive, and in most instances in very poor
taste. You've found the secret to your audience: GIVE
THEM THE SIMPLE IDEAS THAT DON'T REQUIRE MUCH THINKING EXCEPT A
DICHOTOMOUS CHOICE AND THEY'LL LOVE ME.
Now, you're in the rating "RAGE DU
JOUR" of expressing your wonderment and outrage why the University
of North Carolina would God forbid hold an 'Islamic Awareness
Week." Never mind that academic institutions are places of
open minded, questioning curiosity, analytical thought, and
knowledge. Never mind that Academic Freedom is a
foundational rock of our society and the main intellectual engine
for discovery and progress. Never mind that YOU HAVE NO CLUE
OR ANY UNDERSTANDING OF ISLAM or for that matter from listening to
you, not even of the JEWISH faith you lump as the Judeo-Christian
tradition while simultaneously contradicting yourself that this is
a CHRISTIAN nation, for I seriously doubt you've read original
translations of the Talmud. (not the ones circulating in the U.S.
which have deliberately omitted controversial sections on Jesus,
Mary, Christianity, and Gentiles)
YOUR slamming of Muslim students' celebration of ONE WEEK at UNC
of "Islam" to better enlighten their faculty, fellow students, and
community given the world's current situation is nothing short of
a bigoted short sighted celebration of your desire for a "Clash of
Civilizations"---an Armageddon as prayed for by your Evangelist
racists----I'm sure you're aware of their anti-civil rights
stands, their Anti-Semitism (do you even know the origin of the
word Semitism), or their support of the Confederate flag.
What did you do or learn at
Harvard? Did you just close your mind, eyes, and ears to all
this is not a White Anglo-Saxon Christian world? If that's
so than Harvard failed you and failed this nation and the world.
I am a Muslim, married to a
Catholic, and was supported financially, nurtured, cared for, and
loved by Baptists in Louisiana, members of the Southern Baptist
Convention before they discovered Israel in 1967 as a pawn toward
Armageddon. Would your Catholic parents and priest approved
of your marrying a Jewish woman, or God forbid a Baptist?
Is this the Islam you understand?
A faith that requires belief in all of God's messages, all His
Prophets, from Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Job, Moses,
David, Solomon, and of course in the Virgin Birth of Jesus from
his blessed and pure mother, Mary: peace be upon all of
them.
Are you aware of how
and when the Old Testament was put together, do you know what TNK stands for, are you familiar with the Babylonian and
Jerusalem Talmuds, do you know what the Mishnah is or who was
Maimonedes and his influential writings, did you know that after
your Catholics massacred the Jews in 1492 that the Jews found
peace, security, and important jobs in Muslims lands? Did you
know that the eminent theologian Maimonedes was the personal
physician and counsel to Saladin in Egypt? Do you know much
about the New Testament? Are you aware of the life of
St. Francis of Assisi and of his meeting with the Muslim Sultan
and what he said of his treatment by Christians versus Muslims?
You've conveniently forgotten what
Catholics have been doing to Protestants in N. Ireland (of course
vice versa), you've forgotten the Catholic Crusades (do you know
how many were there in addition to today's), the Inquisition and
so much more. If Galileo was alive today you'd probably
crucify him on your program.
Open your mind and hear Mr. O'Reilly and come out of your
television soap box and join humanity with respect,
understanding, and a sense of what's right and just. I as an
American Muslim will join you in prosecuting any Muslim
committing any act of terrorism against civilians for that is
against Islam and humanity. What you're stupidly doing is
creating more hatred, terrorists, and animosity. Is that WWJD?
By your practice of your trade, your blind conscience, your greed
for money regardless of the humanity you step upon, your lack of
humility, your lack of understanding of Jesus', peace be upon him,
teachings: "do not judge, lest you be judged"; "he without
sin cast the first sin", and of course the metaphor of the access
of the rich to heaven. PRACTICE YOUR OWN FAITH, IF YOU ARE A
BELIEVER, BEFORE YOU DESTROY THE FAITHS OF OTHERS. Just
maybe, maybe, you could be wrong. I doubt if you're fat ego
will ever accept your erroneous ways. Let's pray your
children grow up with a kinder and gentler heart as Bush Sr. said.
Until you understand, study, and gain intellectual insight into
issues that you manufacture for its shock and ratings value, I
and many millions of Americans of all faiths, including Jews,
Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Mormons, Jehovah's
Witnesses, Wiccans, Native Americans whom your ancestors
massacred, and atheists ask you to stop being
THE MOST
RIDICULOUS MAN ON TELEVISION.
As Falwell Says: "I don't mean any disrespect.."
Mohamed Khodr
Mr. Mohamed Khodr is an American Muslim physician and a
native from the Middle East. He has worked in Academic Medicine
and Public health with national and international health
experience. He is a freelance writer who often writes columns on
the Palestinian cause, Islam and on America's Foreign Policy in
the Middle East.