Michael Tolosa

[Here's the last half of Bill O'Reilly's current column "Beyond Belief." For the full version, click here.]

… Believing in God is not very stylish in mainstream media circles these days.

The question then becomes, is there anything wrong with that? After all, we have freedom from religion in America; the Constitution makes it clear that no power in this country has the right to impose religion on anyone.

So the atheists have clear sailing, and I say: Thank God.

That’s because people of faith should be challenged and think about their beliefs. Critical thinking in all areas makes the mind sharper, your philosophy stronger.

Thus, I was looking forward to debating the most successful of the atheist authors, Richard Dawkins, who wrote the bestseller The God Delusion. Dawkins basically says that science can explain everything on earth and no one has any direct evidence there is a God.

But I stopped him in the fourth round with this right hook: “[The earth] had to come from somewhere, and that is the leap of faith you guys (atheists) make—that it just somehow happened.”

Dawkins replied: “You’re the one who needs a leap of faith. The onus is on you to say why you believe in something … you believe in, presumably, the Christian God Jesus.”

“Jesus is a real guy,” I said. “I know what he did. I’m not positive that Jesus is God, but I’m throwing in with him rather than throwing in with you guys, because you guys can’t tell me how it all got here.”

“We’re working on it,” Dawkins said.

“When you get it,” I shot back, “maybe I’ll listen.”

But the atheists will never get it. The universe and the earth is so complex, so incredibly detailed, that to believe an accidental evolutionary occurrence could have exclusively led to the nature/mankind situation we have now, is some stretch of the imagination. I mean, call me crazy, but the sun always comes up, while man oversleeps all the time.

So bless you, Richard Dawkins, and all the other non-believers. As long as they don’t attack people of faith, I have no problem with them. As my eighth grade teacher Sister Martin once said, “Faith is a gift.”

But not everybody gets to open the box.

These are excerpts from one of Ann Coulter’s speeches featured on the new Is it True What They Say About Ann? DVD…

Clare Booth Luce Policy Institute
Woman of the Year and National Monitoring Lunch
01/04

“I regret not being more of a Christian sooner. I mean, I was always raised a Christian. I would go to church now and then. But I have become more Christian over the last few years, and it is a shield and a sword. There really is nothing anyone can do to me. It makes you laugh to see some of the things Liberals go through to try to hurt my feelings, or be mean to me, or sneer at me in Vanity Fair. Christ died for my sins, and I have eternal life—and I’m supposed to be concerned what Vanity Fair says about me? And I do think it drives them crazy that they know they can never get to a Christian—which is why they are so dismissive and demeaning towards Christians.”

“That is what Christianity gives you—you are operating with a net. In contradiction to what Ted Turner says about Christians being a bunch of losers, Christians ought to be the bravest, most determined risk-takers in any given situation. You have nothing to lose. You’re operating with a net all the time. You don’t seek the approval of a good obituary in the New York Times.”

“I think that is a problem with Conservatives—with religious people—that you feel like you can just withdraw from the world. Well, that isn’t what the Bible instructs. We, as Christians, are supposed to go out and engage the world and change it for the better.”

In the past few days, there has been much said about the statements Green Bay Packer Reggie White made to the Wisconsin assembly last Wednesday. He condemned homosexuality and commended several ethnic groups on their supposed “blessings” as a people. Though I, myself, am a Christian and share White’s determination to stand up for biblical teaching, I’m not here to endorse or refute White’s statements. Rather, what is concerning me is the apparent inconsistency the media covering this story have shown by their remarks.

I find it hard to believe that those who’ve been vehemently promoting the practice of tolerance in this country have not hesitated in blasting White for expressing his strongly-held beliefs. It’s nothing short of hypocrisy to say, on the one hand, “All views should be respected and treated equally well,” and on the other, “…well, all views except your Christianity, Reggie.”

Remember, Reggie White does not hold the view that “every opinion and preference is right.” He believes in a God that sets rules. Any deviation from these rules White believes to be a sin and is wrong. This is his view. He believes it, so he endorses it. Any logical human being will endorse what he believes to be true.

The tolerance-mongers in the media and in our society, instead of practicing their precious tolerance have said, “You can’t have those views!” For the sake of consistency, I thought their reaction would be, “Well, I don’t agree with you, but that’s OK. Both our views are equally valid.”

The bottom line is: Reggie White practices what he preaches, and the liberal media do not. To me, the only real villain in this story is the hypocrite.

I also wanted to remark specifically on his ethnic “commendations.” Reggie White expressed what he thought were blessings God has bestowed on particular races. He singled out specifics (i.e. Whites are good at organization, Blacks at worship and celebration, Hispanics at family life, Native Americans at spirituality, and Asians at innovation and creativity). When I was listening to this portion of his speech, I couldn’t help but be reminded of all the ethnic celebrations we hold here at GMU.

We have Black History Month, Asian Awareness Week, International Week, and many other celebrations designed to identify and celebrate particular accomplishments, beliefs, and lifestyles of the many different ethnic groups that make up our university. When we watch the International Fashion Show, for instance, we don’t object, “That’s stereotypical! Not all (fill in ethnic group here) dress like that!” Rather, we celebrate our differences and take pride in the fact that “our race” has its own history and list of accomplishments. Differences in abilities and cultures is a good thing. Otherwise, what’s the point in making ethnic distinctions? There are distinctions, so why ignore them? I, for one, would hate it if everybody was exactly like me (what a boring world that would be!).

But whether you take pride in your differences or wish everybody was exactly the same, or whether you think all views are equal or believe your view to be the only correct one, what our society should promote and commend is the consistency between your beliefs and your actions. If you believe one way, be consistent with your belief. If you don’t have integrity, you don’t even have an argument and no one will ever listen to you.

Regardless of my shared religion with Reggie White, I totally respect him for not compromising on what he believes to be true. Integrity is truly a great thing.