O'Reilly Needs To Get His Facts Straight About Flyover Denial

Earlier this week, I wrote, on behalf of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), about the Air Force's decision to deny the request for a flyover at the Nampa, Idaho "God and County Festival." After two years of exposing the military's practice of providing support for blatantly sectarian events, MRFF saw the decision to deny this request as a signal that the military might finally be starting to follow its own existing regulations, and congratulated the Obama administration and the Air Force for making the right decision. Well, needless to say, FOX News didn't see this as the right decision, and, in typical FOX fashion, painted it as an egregious attack on religion by Obama.

First there was Gretchen Carlson's Fox and Friends segment with Rev. Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition lying through his teeth about the festival not being a promotion of Christianity (see video below).

Then came the use of the event by Bill O'Reilly in his little rant about Obama's secularism:

O'Reilly, who apparently did no more research than watching Gretchen Carlson's segment before shooting off his mouth, bloviated:

"...But to diminish spirituality by denying the folks in Idaho a flyover is simply stupid. There is no specific religion in play at that festival. ..."

No specific religion in play?!?!? Obviously, O'Reilly didn't bother to visit the event organizer's website and actually read the mission statement of the festival.

The Mission of the God and Country Festival

Our mission is primarily about spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. We believe this Festival, started in 1967, is an incredible tool to share this Good News by strengthening the fabric of our society through our connection to family and country.

We want to encourage believers everywhere to get out in their communities, not just to strengthen each other, but to encourage family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers to learn more about who Jesus Christ is and what He's done for each and every one of us.

To borrow a phrase from Michael Boerner of Mission Media,

In order to witness to people, you have to do the following:

• Bless people
• Fellowship with them
• Meet their needs
• Present the Truth

This, in a nutshell, is what the Treasure Valley God and Country Festival attempts to do. The stated purpose of the Festival is to meet the following goals:

1. Develop a sense of community spirit in a relaxed, social atmosphere, making all citizens of the Treasure Valley feel welcome in friendship.
2. Present a safe, pleasing, and inspiring fireworks display to commemorate our country's independence.
3. Dedicate a significant portion of the program to emphasizee, particularly to young people, the precepts on which our country was founded: Individual rights, belief in God, a representative form of government guided by an assemblage of laws created by elected individuals, sanctity of human life, and all other rights outlined in the Constitution and its supporting documents.
4. Present the Good News of Jesus Christ in a clear and concise manner.
5. Avoid any pretense or appearance of a political rally.
6. Remind those who attend of their good fortune to live in a free society and also their responsibilities to maintain the freedoms which they enjoy.

We are attempting to meet steps one and two, to bless people and fellowship with them, through music, kids' activities, and teens' activities.

After we have done that, we attempt to accomplish step three, to meet their needs, by promoting community activities such as "Communities in Action," and other organizations whose goal is to meet peoples' needs with a Christian heart.

At the end of the evening, we move to step four, presenting the Truth. Each year, we ensure that the message of the Gospel is presented, and information is provided for those who have heard and want to know more about Jesus Christ.

Right, Mr. O'Reilly, an event whose mission statement begins with "Our mission is primarily about spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ" doesn't have any "specific religion in play."

Event director Patti Syme was also very clear in her statement to the Idaho Press-Tribune that this was a Christian event.

"Yes, it's about as Christian as you can get -- we believe in promoting Christianity," Syme said. "And we have no plans to change that."

Here's the Fox and Friends segment with Rev. Patrick Mahoney. (When Mahoney refers to the Daily Kos praising the Obama administration for the decision, he's talking about my post from earlier this week, linked to above, which was cross-posted at Kos and stayed on the rec list all day.)

 

 

Comments

[liz]

How much do these flyovers cost the American taxpayers. I say save the gasoline for a necessary mission -- military mission, not religious mission.

[CanisLatrans]

Well, I for one am glad that they did not get the flyover. I am a, Idaho resident, a US Army veteran of Iraqi Freedom, and Jewish... and it is always annoying how manty times people get "Christian" and "America" confused-- or hear people like Billo prattle about "wars on Christmas" or "wars on Christianity" all the time. People don't realize how prevelant Christianity is our culture unless you one of the ones on the 'outside' looking in.

My tax dollars are better spent elsewhere.

[fedupinfla]

Yeah sure and can you IMAGINE Faux's outrage if a flyby had been approved over a primarily Muslim festival??

[KHAAANNN]

Happens all the time in Afghanistan, although they tend to drop bombs on people at the festival and kill them all.
FOX seems to be alright with that, as long as the dead are all Brown and Muslim, they don't care (in fact FOX seems to enjoy it.)

[Abd-ul-Latif]

"People"?? Muslims are people?? What you talkin' bout, Willis?

[Bluedog12]

This was another Faux oversight. After all its easy to confuse GOP with God.

[larry278]

The USAF isn't going to send a drone over the "God & Country whatever". If you're there & see a drone circling the site-it's the FBI checking on the copulating Christian's gathering. The CIA isn't monitoring gatherings in the USA--for now; but they can restart domestic spying in a NY minute. Maybe US spy sattelites are monitoring fundie gatherings. You never know.

[sammyscout]

The Christian Right is neither

[DesertRat09]

Ms. Rodda, I read your entire article waiting to see the name of the specific church appear as one would expect from your headline. I must have missed it. What is it again? Since when is "Christianity" a singular religion? I fail to see your point and have to go with O'Reilly on this one.

So, while it apparently is not OK to fly over a "God and Country" festival, I bet it is perfectly acceptable to do a flyover prior to a football game at Notre Dame, a school sponsored by one of the specific religions your article failed to name.

[jimthefireman]

I would have thought "Christianity" was by definition a singular religion. It requires an acceptance of Jesus Christ as a personal saviour who took the sins of the world on his shoulders to create a new covenant. It has spawned many subsets with Catholics historically at odds with Protestants for many years but now rather reconciled, Jehovah's wittnesses rejecting mainstream christian churches and the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter day saints bringing a version rather strange to most Christians. Islam with its Sunnis, Shias and Wahabis has similar issues and the Jewish faith certainly also has its groupings within the group. If desert rat only accepts "Catholic" as a religion because the Pope still has differences with the Queen of England for example, it doesn't take away from the fact that Christianity takes its very name from the one and only one Jesus Christ, belief in who's teachings and crucifiction, and acceptance of his sacrifice on their behalf, defines all members of this "singular religion".

[swift goat pet for truth]

" I bet it is perfectly acceptable to do a flyover prior to a football game at Notre Dame,"

You need a link to prove your statement.

Otherwise people (me) will think you are just making things up.

Of course, the world recognizes that Christians are a fact-free group.

[yellowdoggie]

Christianity is a religion. Specific churches, such as "Boston Avenue Methodist Church" are members of denominations of the religion of Christianity.

[sisterdebmac]

Really? That's the tack you want to take? Because there are numerous CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS you're going to posit that Billo was using that as a rationale to claim that this Jesus festival wasn't about Christianity? Are you serious? Come on... Really?

You do realize that not everyone belives in Jesus, right?

[Abd-ul-Latif]

Since when is Christianity a singular religion? Well, ever since it stopped being a plural religion. No, but seriously.

All Christians, including Catholic Christians (note: Catholic is an *adjective* modifying the noun Christian) believe in the Nicene Creed, which is an incredibly specific and very, very long statement of doctrine. I think that that fact alone qualifies Christianity as a single religion, with a number of denominations that have split from each other over mostly very silly differences (see "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift).

[MajorKong]

Having participated in many an Air Force flyover, we would get requests for these all the time.

They're fun to do, but the training value is minimal and we would only get so many flight hours allotted per year so we'd have to pick and choose which ones to do.

[Mike Barden]

Yep, their mission statement: bringin' ya the message of Jesus through bombs.

[Ergon]

Preferential treatment given to Evangelical Christians at Air Force Academy, Lutheran chaplain says:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/12/AR2005051201740.html

[MajorKong]

The evangelicals have pretty much taken over the chaplain corps.

[Ergon]

Remember when reports came out about evangelical Christians having too much influence at the Air Force Academy, pressuring Jews and other Christians, and a pastor was fired for complaining about this too? http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4676698

[NickConrad]

Republicans don't believe in getting their facts straight. Like Reagan.

[Geoffreys]

Jesus needs a military flyover?

[yellowdoggie]

I don't think he requested one.

[janx]

He was petitioning through prayer.

[weatherwaxx]

O'Reilly needs to get his facts straight on ANYTHING. Don't hold your breath.

[BlackJAC]

There was also no guarantee they would've gotten a "good" flyby with F-15s or something equally glamorous and sierra-hotel. It could've just as easily have been one of the Cessnas they use for initial flight training. Billo should be glad they were spared that potential embarassment.