Bill O’Reilly has always been a notorious opponent of secular government, spending years ridiculing the notion of secularism. I mean, just the other day he posted a column blasting secularism by name.
Just so we’re clear, here’s the definition of the word “secular:”
1
a : of or relating to the worldly or temporal
b : not overtly or specifically religious
c : not ecclesiastical or clerical
2
: not bound by monastic vows or rules; specifically : of, relating to, or forming clergy not belonging to a religious order or congregation
Our government is secular insofar as there’s a separation of church and state, but O’Reilly’s always been opposed to the idea. That is until the other night when he miraculously said the following to Laura Ingraham regarding same-sex marriage opponents:
“If you’re going to stand up for heterosexual marriage, and exclude gay marriage, if you’re going to do that, you’ve got to do it outside the Bible. You can’t cite the Bible because you’ll lose if you do. [...] We’re talking a policy deal here. Don’t you understand the difference between private beliefs and public policy?”
Oh! Oh! I do! Public policy is secular and private beliefs are religious and, as O’Reilly just said, you can’t use religious beliefs to justify public, secular laws. BLAM! Thanks, Bill. You just gave us all a big fat quote to use in a variety of different policy areas.
(Timecode 2:58)