Bill O'Reilly: God Causes Tides, Not Moon

[Sophus]

Keep your facepalm images handy.

url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/06/oreilly-god-causes-tides_n_805262.html?ref=tw]HuffPo[/url]"]David Silverman, president of the American Atheist Group, went on "The O'Reilly Factor" on Tuesday to defend the billboard ads his group has put up around the country calling religion a scam.

O'Reilly began by telling Silverman that his organization is insulting religious people, an accusation Silverman denied, insisting that his message was simply the truth so how could it be offensive. The conversation then took a strange turn as the host played what he believed to be his trump card of the why God exists debate.

O'REILLY: I'll tell you why [religion's] not a scam, in my opinion: tide goes in, tide goes out. Never a miscommunication. You can't explain that.
SILVERMAN: Tide goes in, tide goes out?
O'REILLY: See, the water, the tide comes in and it goes out, Mr. Silverman. It always comes in, and always goes out. You can't explain that.

In fact, science has a very good explanation for the tides occur on such a regular basis:

Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and the Sun and the rotation of the Earth.
Most places in the ocean usually experience two high tides and two low tides each day (semidiurnal tide), but some locations experience only one high and one low tide each day (diurnal tide). The times and amplitude of the tides at the coast are influenced by the alignment of the Sun and Moon, by the pattern of tides in the deep ocean (see figure 4) and by the shape of the coastline and near-shore bathymetry.

[youtube:28wu8oo5]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BCipg71LbI[/youtube:28wu8oo5]

[Davin]

I'm not the smartest guy in town.

What do you know, I agree with Bill O'Reilly.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Stay tuned for Bill's next episode, where he tackles these other tough questions:

-- What makes them apples fall to the ground, anyway?
-- Sunrise, sunset prove that the Sun orbits the Earth?
-- The reason why sirens drop in pitch as they recede: GOD IS SLOWING DOWN THE PLAYBACK SPEED!!!11!

[KDbeads]

[Tank]

The fact that one moron like Bill exists is a statistical certainty (I know that's an oxymoron but go with the flow) what gets me is the fact that millions(?) of other people watch him!  

[Cite134]

The fact that one moron like Bill exists is a statistical certainty (I know that's an oxymoron but go with the flow) what gets me is the fact that millions(?) of other people watch him!  :eek:

[Sophus]

Oh, I should've known Stephen Colbert or Keith Olbermann would respond to Bill...

[youtube:iqlwgq0k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTmQr5aWdU4[/youtube:iqlwgq0k]

.... and the religion pigeon!

Sunrise, sunset prove that the Sun orbits the Earth?

Actually, he really has said something similar before.  

[youtube:iqlwgq0k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q92duyCuZMM[/youtube:iqlwgq0k]

[joeactor]

Uh... Riiiiiight...
/end Cosby

(great vids Sophus!)

[Ultima22689]

I wish I was there when he said tide goes up, tide goes down so I could explain that to him. Wish Mr. Silvermen thought to do so, he would have made Bill look real stupid.

[Whitney]

Wish Mr. Silvermen thought to do so

I think it was Blair Scott (or some other well known atheist) who posted the interview on facebook, my comment on his post was something like how could Silverman not correct that?!  But those who are smarter than me as far as handling nuts like O'Reilly go said that in order to get your points across you can't follow rabbit trails (paraphrasing).

[The Magic Pudding]

That pigeon has an opinion on everything.
I see, god is circling the earth attracting the water towards him.
So if a place has a big tide god is paying it special attention.
Would it be advisable to plan your sinning to coincide with low tide, so god doesn't notice?

[Davin]

[elliebean]

So that's what they look like without their makeup. I always wanted not to know that.  

[Sophus]

This is still in the news. Bill is trying to redeem himself by asking "where did the moon come from?"

[youtube:1pg79k3q]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyHzhtARf8M[/youtube:1pg79k3q]

Okay, how did the Moon get there? How'd the Moon get there? Look, you pinheads who attacked me for this, you guys are just desperate. How'd the Moon get there? How'd the Sun get there? How'd it get there? Can you explain that to me? How come we have that and Mars doesn't have it? Venus doesn't have it. How come? Why not? How'd it get here?

And why does Saturn have sixty, Bill? "I don't understand the scientific reason why moons exist, so - erm... Godidit... you pinheads!"

[hismikeness]

This imbecile is going to interview the President during the Super Bowl telecast. I can't believe that he gets a voice on tv. I'm pretty sure that my wife's 8th grade class knows where the moon came from and why the tides go in and out.

The fact that so many people take what he says seriously is disturbing.