While recently discussing how President Obama’s relationship to Islam is undermining U.S. security, Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly offered up some strange analogies:
Barack Obama has deep emotional ties to Islam. Now to some extent I can identify with Barack Obama on the religious issue. As a Roman Catholic I was appalled when the priest pedophilia scandal broke. There’s absolutely no excuse for the Catholic Church covering up many horrendous crimes…. However, like Barack Obama I do make the distinction between the faith and the people who abuse it. But here’s where I depart from the president. I went after the American Catholic leaders of the church with a vengeance…. President Obama should do what I did. Aggressively call out those who abuse the Muslim faith, who commit atrocities under a religious banner.
O’Reilly’s claim that “I do make the distinction between the faith and the people who abuse it” presumably means that he distinguishes between Catholicism—which does not promote the molestation of children—and those who “abuse” it for such ends.
Yet how exactly did pedophilic priests “abuse” the teachings of Catholicism? Is there some biblical scripture or church mandate that is ambiguously worded enough for them to twist in a way that justifies the molestation of boys, the way intolerant and violent Muslims are supposedly always “twisting” the Koran?
No. Such priests were not “abusing” their religion. They were directly violating it in both spirit and letter. That’s why they did it in secret and hiding, in the dark, and not “under a religious banner.” That’s why, unlike the jihadis, they were unable to write and issue lengthy treatises (fatwas) littered with scriptural references justifying their behavior. And that’s why O’Reilly—and many other Catholics—were rightly “appalled” and vociferously condemned it.
From O’Reilly’s false premise, the errors naturally morph and multiply: “President Obama should do what I did. Aggressively call out those who abuse the Muslim faith, who commit atrocities under a religious banner.”
Unlike the Catholic example—where there is no biblical or ecclesiastical reference that can be “abused” to support the priestly rape of boys—armed violent jihad is a clear mandate of Islam, one that manifests itself repeatedly and vociferously in both the history and doctrinal teachings of Islam.
According to the authoritative Encyclopaedia of Islam, which was published between 1913-1936—before the great age of political correctness set into the West—the “spread of Islam by arms is a religious duty upon Muslims in general … Jihad must continue to be done until the whole world is under the rule of Islam … Islam must completely be made over before the doctrine of jihad [warfare to spread Islam] can be eliminated.”
Even the atrocities that groups like ISIS engage in—beheadings, crucifixions, church bombings, sexual enslavements—are supported by the doctrines and historical practice of Islam. Indeed, even that one ISIS atrocity that the West is convinced has nothing to do with Islam—burning people alive—stretches all the way back to the example of prophet Muhammad and is taught in the curriculum of Egypt’s Al Azhar University, widely regarded as the world’s most prestigious seat of Islamic learning.
This is why, Mr. O’Reilly, most Muslims are not aggressively condemning ISIS, the way you condemned the pedophilic priests. Neither ISIS nor the pedophilic priests “abuse” their religion: Catholicism offers nothing that can be “abused” to justify the rape of children—hence why Catholics denounced the priests—while ISIS’ behavior falls squarely within the pale of Islam—hence why poll after poll shows widespread support for ISIS among Muslims.
In reality, and to use O’Reilly’s own words in describing his response to pedophilic priests, Muslims are indeed often “appalled,” and do “aggressively” chase down—“with a vengeance”—those who besmirch or contradict the teachings of Islam. When non-Muslims mock or “blaspheme” Muhammad, Muslims riot and kill all around the world (in Pakistan, a Christian man and his pregnant wife were slowly roasted alive by an irate mob on the accusation that they had insulted Muhammad last year). When non-Muslims try to build churches in Muslim majority lands, or merely meet in private homes to worship, Muslims riot and rage (recently in Egypt, burning 80 Christian homes).
But when groups like ISIS wage jihad in order to create a caliphate that enforces Sharia—a requirement of Islam—why expect Muslims to condemn it?
This is why people like Bill O’Reilly are forever taking one step forward followed by one step back. On the same segment he said, “The jihad is solely based on theology [correct], perverted as it may be [false].” As discussed here, such people apparently cannot accept that their Western values are historically singular—not universal—and that Islam has its own antithetical worldview.
Either that or they’re too scared of the ramifications of acknowledging that reality.

JawsV says
“As a Roman Catholic I was appalled when the priest pedophilia scandal broke.” – Bill O’Reilly
Why don’t we ever hear about imam pedophilia? Of course it happens. Oh, excuse me, I momentarily forgot that the Moslems are superior to us so the imams must be pure as the driven snow. Tsk, silly infidel!
JOHN SPIELMAN says
that’s because pedophilia is NOT a crime in islam because muhammed” the perfect man” was a pedoplhile pervert ! (and demon posessed liar thief misogynist and false prophet!)
billybob says
Why don’t we ever hear about imam pedophilia? Because goats don’t talk.
linnte says
Eeeeww! hahahahahahaha!
Dacritic says
Well, before imam paedophilia, there was “nabi paedophilia”, but since no Muslim seems to have any problem with it, we can’t expect them to say anything.
maddog20-20 says
Aprox 95%+ of sexual abuse cases with priests were with teenage boys and young men. Since they were POST pubescence it would not be pedophilia. It was a homosexual issue.
vivienne Leijonhufvu (@goldaleijonhufv) says
Islam was manufactured by a Madman probably suffering from schizophrenia, when the world wouldn’t bow to him he forced them and has been ever since.
Champ says
Indeed; and makes for a good argument that islam is a disease, like cancer.
Nigel GFF says
“…I went after the American Catholic leaders of the church with a vengeance….”
So, why Mr. O’Reilly haven’t you gone after the ‘leaders’ of Islam?
linnte says
Leaders like Barack Hussein Obama! Why doesn’t Mr. O’Reilly dig into Obama’s Islamic roots AND Islam to see once a Muslim always a Muslim?
Jack Diamond says
O’Reilly is hopeless. He is a proud Know Nothing on the subject of Islam and nothing resembling the truth, such as Raymond Ibrahim’s bullseye corrective, will ever be allowed into that big blockhead of his.
That’s clear after years of similar “no spin” nonsense from him about Islam. He is making a fortune rewriting all of Jim Bishop’s books, though.
Jay Boo says
—Bible (I Corinthians 13:4-7, 13) “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres… And now these three remain: faith hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
Quran (8:12) – “I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them”
Mark DeFord Eletion says
“(O’Reilly) distinguishes between Catholicism—which does not promote the molestation of children—and those who “abuse” it for such ends.”
Public catholicism does not encourage child molestation, but the catholic priesthood seems to practice its own private version of the religion. The priesthood is a cult unto itself, which apparently does include molestation of young boys. In many areas, that is the primary means of recruiting new priests.
Ever wonder why so many priests appear to be gay and so many nuns appear to be lesbian, even though they claim to be celibate? My guess is nearly all of them are practicing homosexuals.
CogitoErgoSum says
And still the Catholic church teaches that homosexual acts are wrong. Go figure.
Jay Boo says
@Mark DeFord Eletion
Muhammad raped a six year old girl.
For three long years he managed to control his lust enough to use her thighs until she turned nine out of respect for her age or so Muslims claim.
What a nice guy.
Muslims call this lecherous beast their prophet.
Go figure.
CogitoErgoSum says
I figure Mark is not very good at playing guessing games.
Angemon says
Mark DeFord Eletion posted:
“The priesthood is a cult unto itself, which apparently does include molestation of young boys. In many areas, that is the primary means of recruiting new priests.”
Citation needed.
Jay Boo says
Mark DeFord Eletion has tried to spin his (all religions the same meme) false equivalence before, but what I notice in particular in some of his previous comments is a cool detachment when criticizing Islam. I fail to find the open mockery and the easy derision that he eagerly shows here.
Here is one such comment:
https://www.jihadwatch.org/2016/06/obamas-post-orlando-tirade-islam-is-sacred-and-beyond-reproach#comment-1459198
Nigel GFF says
“My guess is nearly all of them are practicing homosexuals.”
My guess is that your guess ain’t worth spit, a little like your spelling.
gravenimage says
Mark DeFord Eletion wrote:
My guess is nearly all of them are practicing homosexuals.
……………………..
Uh huh…
Western Canadian says
If you can find a copy at a good price, get ‘Good Bye Good Men’. It will answer you questions. The church didn’t seek them out,k they sought to corrupt the church.
mortimer says
COMPARING APPLES AND ORANGES ENDS UP WITH PINEAPPLES!
There is NO DOCTRINE in Roman Catholicism or in any other Christian Church that permits pedophilia. However, Islam definitely DOES PERMIT pedophilia in the guise of child marriage and is permissive about the sexual abuse of prepubescent boys.
However, Islam as a FULLY DEVELOPED DOCTRINE OF JIHAD…sacralized warfare against disbelievers to deprive them of their human rights and civil liberties. Jihad leads directly to the thinks that ISIS practices: subjugation, plunder, rape, slavery, cruel punishments, inequality, conquest, constant warfare. The preceding list is not an ABUSE of Islam, but the standard and CANONICAL PRACTICE of Islam.
Reilly, like other unread Western elites, present themselves preposterously as experts on Islam, when they have not done even the basic reading list of Islamic foundational texts: Koran, Sira, hadiths, canonical commentaries and manuals of Sharia law.
Ed Lee says
Mr. Ibrahim & Mr. Spencer: Have you sent this rebuttal to Bill O’Reilly? If so, do you think he will acknowledge it and respond?
Tommy says
I am a proud Catholic and do not believe my religion advocates child rape. All these catholic haters can go rot in hell!
Kay says
Don’t worry, Tommy. They’re just trying to figure it out. Read Ibrahim’s post again. Ignore the comments. Robert Spencer is Catholic too.
Jay Boo says
“All these catholic haters can go rot in hell!”
———————————————————-
They will be so busy kiss Muslim butts with burnt lips in hell, they won’t have time to hate anyone else.
A little to the left
…. their hot lips ablaze in smoke and sizzle …
Pong says
In view of the facts that the Catholic Church is one of the leading apologist for islam and moslem immigration, it takes a very twisted mind to be a “proud catholic”.
hmmm says
yeah, totally ignore the fact that the catholic church aligned itself with fascism and Mussolini, the effects of which the world may never recover, but of course, catholics are beyond reproach! (and now as the last guest suggested, you have a pope who is an advocate of islam–you must be so proud!)
Western Canadian says
Ignore the fact that hate filled lies about the RC church abound, and you seem happy about them.
hmmm says
The pope and his Council of Catholic Bishops has 79 million reasons to continue obfuscating the truth so they continue to get rich off the tax payers who are coerced into funding their resettlement of mostly Muslim “refugees” into the U.S. : http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/catholic-church-paid-79-million-by-obama-administration-to-force-migrant-invasion/ and that was in 2014. Of course the catholic church does have some debt issues: the $3 billion it owes to it’s child abuse victims: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church_sexual_abuse_cases
and isn’t pride “sin” by the way?
Western Canadian says
Yes, we know you hate the RC church. Pity you do so for fabricated reasons.
gravenimage says
Tommy, the point Robert Spencer–a devout Catholic himself, incidentally–Is making is that Catholicism *doesn’t* condone or teach pedophilia. Priests who molest children are *abusing* their faith.
This is *not* true for Muslims–pedophila and violent Jihad are core parts of their foul creed. Those who engage in these horrors are not abusing their faith; they are fulfilling it.
Tommy says
As for homosexuality, all of the REFUSE to be virgins or remain faithful they all sleep around with multipl sex partners….
History will NEVER have to virgin homosexuals marrying and staying faithful to one another. That why my church call it a sin!
Tommy says
For the record I love homosexuals, they’re fun people.
As for pedophylia, one should blame Hollywood, the music industry and public schools. These people are dangerous for children. Beonce, Miley Cyrus, Britany Spears, do what they do because they know children are watching. Public schools hand out condoms like candy and wonder why teenage pregnacy and STDs are on the rise. Hollywood is the worst of them all when it comes to child stalking(or maybe the music industry)
Kepha says
I’m not a Roman Catholic, but I’m with you on this one, Tommy–and I’m a professional swindler of young America (oops! Public High School Social Studies teacher).
Further, if the perv revolution had any 外卵 or courage of conviction, it would cheer and defend those queer priests. On the one hand, it encourages youthful sexual experimentation and initiation, calls all churches instruments of oppression that deserve whatever subversion they get, and tells the world that sodomy is beautiful; but on the other it can’t bring itself to state that, in terms of its own beliefs, what those queer priests did was probably no more than a botched initiation. After all, those jerks were “pedophiles” only because American law calls everyone under 18 a “child”. Maybe they don’t defend the abusive priests because, in their hearts of hearts, they know that the whole sexual revolution is radically wrong.
As for the schools, they’ll bend over backwards to avoid lawsuit by some organized pressure group, whether it will be good for the kids or no.
Folks, we’re going to have confused boys and men going into girls’ bathrooms mandated by courts or law. When your sister, daughter, or whoever is violated, bring a lawsuit against the legislators and advocacy groups for both civil and criminal damages.
gravenimage says
Actually, I know some gay couples who have been faithful to each other for many, many years. One of my mother-in-law’s best friends in Atlanta is a gay man who has been in a committed relationship for 32 years now–longer than I have been with my husband. He has also visited my mom-in-law through illnesses and hospital stays–all in all, he is one of the most faithful people I know.
KrazyKafir says
O’Reilly proves the old adage that, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
Jay Boo says
I wonder if O’Reilly knows he is making a false analogy but is afraid to push further.
Unlike some of the others in MSM who are obviously clueless, he appears have the ability to scrutinize Islam — (if he chooses).
Kay says
Maybe. Maybe he needs a little more information on the teachings and the history of Islam to put current exploits into context. It sounds like he presumes a shared belief of what is good. While we bicker over things in the west, we largely have that shared understanding and we have a hard time seeing Islamic atrocities as other than aberrations or mistakes. Once you see the preponderance of those aberrations and mistakes and compare them to history and teachings, you realize it’s something you could never have conceived.
WorkingClassPost says
Yes, he probably feels that he’s being quite bold, by saying even vaguely negative things about ‘bama and/or islam.
Be interesting to see if he comes down harder In the future, or if that’s as far as it goes.
Jack Diamond says
O’Reilly knows what he knows and he doesn’t need to read or learn anything else.
O’Reilly “jihad, okay, which is a perversion of Islam, we all know that” 2015
O’Reilly, on Trump calling for a ban of Muslims, (summarized, as heard): the vast majority of Muslims do not believe in jihad…the few who do can be kept out. We NEED the (majority) moderate Muslims against the few (perverts of Islam) jihadists.
This is the same guy who denied any threat from stealth jihad or shari’a a few years back:
O’Reilly, “the Muslim Brotherhood is making no inroads in the U.S.” O’Reilly, offering to wield
a hammer on behalf of the Ground Zero Mosque, blithely ignorant or unconcerned of Imam Feisal Rauf’s clearly professed sharia supremacist ideology and seditious goals.
Andrew Bostom appropriated a term from Robert Conquest for the likes of Bill O’Reilly
and his see-no-Sharia: “mindslaughter”. Bill O’Reilly is guilty of Mindslaughter.
Mark Swan says
Well Jack, Him saying all that, say He is wearing the same blinders most of the P.C. do.
CogitoErgoSum says
People such as O’Reilly think all religions must teach the Golden Rule and a love for one’s fellow man. It’s unimaginable to them that a religion can be based upon a god who hates and demands the death of those who do not submit to accepting hate as a form of worship. It is too scary for them to imagine what might happen if 1.6 billion followers of such a religion all acted upon fulfilling the demands of a god who hates. So people like O’Reilly try to convince themselves and everyone else that no such religion exists. The problem is that there will always be some people who will actually read and study a religion’s scriptures and then act upon what those scriptures actually say. In O’Reilly’s world people should not bother to read any religion’s scriptures. It should all simply be “common knowledge” that “religion” equals “love” … and if you say that often enough it really will be true.
Kepha says
Bill O’Reilly is not the man to speak for or defend traditional beliefs and values. Years ago, I watched him with Bill Maher on his show, and Maher made an ass of him (and rightly so). Maher showed masterfully that he had the half-ejjikated secularist innaleckchool’s 2d hand knowledge of some of the Bible; O’Reilly’s answers showed he had very little knowledge except perhaps a few moral precepts and Gospel stories.
Cogito, I think you’re absolutely right that in O’Reilly’s world, nobody would bother to read any religion’s Scriptures and major books. I have come to the unhappy conclusion that the world of the modern media and even the educational field in which I work is nothing but a vast, rotting mass of organized ignorance that feeds our public on misinformation and platitude.
Mark Swan says
Yes Kepha, and that is a seriously dangerous way to live.
Gary says
Jesus (Circa 33 A.D.)……..
“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
….two thousand years, and nothing has changed regarding the Fathers desire.
Can a muslim proclaim “Abba Father”
Naaaa They’re far more comfortable screaming “Allahu Akbar”
Oh Muslim. You are put on notice:
“Your sins will find you out.”
Ralph Statum says
All Muslim’s Are Alike; They Worship SATAN And Follow Muhammad, Who was a pedophile, a narcissist, a mass murderer, an assassin, a looter, a lecher, a torturer, a terrorist, a cult-leader, a misogynist, and a rapist
“… Muhammad was a great leader. He fought many offensive battles, tortured, looted and killed innocent people and raped their women, assassinated his critics, ordered mass murder, addicted to pedophilia and reduced thousands of others into slavery in the name of God. His conduct was ungodly. But he also successfully twisted the sense of morality of his followers, distorted their sense of Humanness and linked doing good and a service to God to all ungodly things …”
“… If you think Islamic terrorism is a new phenomenon, think again. Islam owes its success to terrorism. The prophet of Islam boasted, “I have been made victorious with terror”. [Bukhari: 4.52. 220] Since the day Muhammad set foot in Medina, he started his campaign of terror. His followers have been doing the same ever since …” Definition, Symptoms & Cause of the Narcissistic Personality Disorder
“ISLAM: EVIL IN THE NAME OF GOD” Death Punishment for Apostasy in Islam
“Allah Allows Sex With Pre-Puberty Kids!”
Islam is the biggest pedophilia ring & the biggest mad house on earth. The better a Muslim follow & imitating the model “par-excellence” & (page 61) Khayru-l-Khalq (the Best of Creation, Q33:21) the better is it for him!
Kepha says
More like 28-29 A.D. Around 33 A.D., they were probably instituting the Diaconate to ensure that nobody’s widows were being neglected (Ac. 7).
Otherwise, you’re spot on about how Islam cannot present God as a Father (not least of all, perhaps, because Muhammad had only a warped idea of what that entailed). It’s interesting that whereas Deuteronomy tells us that God is the Father that has bought us (32:6) and John tells us that as many as received the Word (Jesus), to them he gave power to be children of God, born not of blood, the will of man, nor the will of the flesh, but of God (Jn. 1:12), Islam can offer no more than making us ‘Abdallah–slaves of God.
Kay says
Yes, and when I heard about M declaring adoption invalid (so he could marry his adopted son’s wife),
it seemed a direct attack on our sonship. Downright demonic.
linnte says
Good article Mr. Ibrahim. Thank you!
Gerald Mucci says
O’Reilly, the moron ignorant of Islam. And people still latch onto his every word.
Wellington says
O’Reilly is an interesting media figure. Often he gets things exactly correct (e.g., the idiocy of allowing illegal aliens who commit crimes in the US back into the US time and time again), but other times, as evidenced by this article (and, btw, I just happened to be watching Fox News when this segment by O’Reilly came on), he is as oblivious of the truth as one can be.
How completely indefensible of O’Reilly to compare the Catholic priest sexual scandals with what ISIS is doing, yet this is exactly what he did. The former is unreservedly representative of the betrayal of Catholic doctrine while the latter is crystal clear evidence of the fulfillment of Islamic doctrine. A huger difference would be hard to find and yet O’Reilly, in full willful ignorance mode, equated the two. I was so disgusted watching O’Reilly when he did this, but I also knew the man’s arrogance and ignorance would be more than enough for him to almost certainly never realize the massive error he was engaging in. He’s so consumed with being “fair and balanced” that he descends consistently into unfairness and imbalance, all the while he thinks he’s doing the former——as exammpled here.
If the best this country can do respecting the media is Bill O’Reilly, America is in big trouble. And here’s the worst of it: O’Reilly is smarter, more informed and better in general than some 90% of the MSM in America. Oh yeah, see the problem?
gravenimage says
Yeah–Bill O’Reilly is a mixed bag. He is generally quite ignorant; but he does get some things right. At least he is consistently against violent Jihad, which is more than I can say for some pundits. The problem is that he appears–even after all this time–to have no idea whatsoever what Jihad is based on, or what Islam’s actual aims are.
Jack Holan says
The “everyone Worldwide is on the same wavelength” belief system that they are just like us and will respond in kind will certainly never comprehend EU ‘Leaders” Bilderberg set making grandiose World Plans, the Pope and Followers Cardinals
Robert Half says
Satan has been unleashed, particularly since Roe v. Wade began the holocaust of 58 million innocent children ripped from their mothers’ wombs. The homosexual depravity of some alleged “priests” was yet another manifestation of satan entering the Church as Pope Paul Vi aptly described in his “smoke of satan” homily.
The Blessed Mother also stated in Akita Japan the following:
“As I told you, if men do not repent and better themselves, the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity. It will be a punishment greater than the deluge, such as one will never seen before. Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity, the good as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful. The survivors will find themselves so desolate that they will envy the dead. The only arms which will remain for you will be the Rosary and the Sign left by My Son. Each day recite the prayers of the Rosary. With the Rosary, pray for the Pope, the bishops and priests.”
“The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against bishops. The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by their confreres…churches and altars sacked; the Church will be full of those who accept compromises and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord.
“The demon will be especially implacable against souls consecrated to God. The thought of the loss of so many souls is the cause of my sadness. If sins increase in number and gravity, there will be no longer pardon for them”
“With courage, speak to your superior. He will know how to encourage each one of you to pray and to accomplish works of reparation.”
“It is Bishop Ito, who directs your community.”
So whenever we see disruption in the Catholic Church, exactly as we see incalculable divisions between the PROTESTant sects, know that it is the work of satan.
Padre Pio, the Capuchin monk with the stigmata who died in 1968, said that if the demons inhabiting the world had corporeal bodies, they would blot out the sun! And this was before Roe v. Wade.
Matthieu Baudin says
“… such people apparently cannot accept that their Western values are historically singular—not universal—and that Islam has its own antithetical worldview… Either that or they’re too scared of the ramifications of acknowledging that reality.”
Very well put Mr Ibrahim, we need to repeat this message again and again so that it slowly sinks into the awareness of our citizens and our civil and political leadership. Our survival as a universal civilisation depends on a renewed recognition of our values which have represented a radical departure from the ‘might is right’ ethos that exists at the core of past and present tyrannies, including the march of Islam.
Mark A says
Excellent article Raymond.
Marietta says
O’Reilley was trying to be diplomatic with his “moderate Muslim” friends, but it does not work. Nice spin, though.
gravenimage says
Excellent article. Thank you, Mr. Ibrahim.