I Agree with Bill O’Reilly. But Here’s What’s Missing

My three favorite national commentators on American and world affairs are probably Victor Davis Hanson, Rod Martin, and Bill O’Reilly. I read and watch all three of them weekly.

They share wisdom from a Judeo-Christian perspective with slightly different strengths:

• VDH – intellectual historian with a mainline church background.
• Rod Martin – Futurist and positive entrepreneur who is Southern Baptist.
• Bill O’Reilly – a practicing Catholic who supports traditional values and fact-based reporting.

According to the list above, I guess I’m ecumenical in gathering my weekly news roundup.

A column by Bill O’Reilly caught my eye this week. But something was missing from it.

I hope you have some good “sources of truth” in your weekly news consumption. It starts and ends with daily time with God in His Word, prayer, worship, and meditation. Then there are spouses and close friends you trust for good advice and perspective on world events.

In today’s world of diverse and global media (with propaganda) you also need trusted voices like the ones I follow to help you pray intelligently, navigate life’s choices, vote wisely, impact your world for Jesus, and just to stay sane.

I have watched Bill O’Reilly for years. Especially during the Covid fiasco, he helped me stay grounded in the facts about about the outbreak. He often says that “people believe what they want to believe.” But he helps openminded people discover the truth about many issues of the day.

Here’s a recent perspective that I agree with, except for what’s missing. See if you can spot it. 

All That’s Left

By Bill O’Reilly

Recently, the ACLU honored Bruce Springsteen and Colin Kaepernick. Why? Bruce is a Trump hater, and Colin dishonored the national anthem. So, how do those things elevate the men in the eyes of the ACLU? So, how do those things elevate the men in the eyes of the AC?

The answer is easy. While the free speech group is supposed to protect the rights of all Americans, it has morphed into a progressive advocacy group. Last year the ACLU took in $439 million in private donations while spreading far-left philosophy across the land.

Then there’s Human Rights Watch. Last year, $85 million in private donations. Its website touts the following:

• Reparations for the “enslavement of black people.”
• Immigrants’ “rights.” 
• Open borders. 
• Transform the criminal legal system (no bail).
• Boycotting Israel.
• Global “wealth tax.”

The other far left group receiving millions is the Southern Poverty Law Center. It has been charged with secretly paying right-wing extremists to cause racial disruption. The case is being tried in federal court (Middle District of Alabama).

The Law Center is pleading innocent of money laundering and bank fraud. According to the government, the group paid eight individuals working for the Ku Klux Klan and other far-right groups to cause trouble so the SPLC could raise funds in opposition. The racists allegedly received more than $3 million from the Law Center.

And then there’s Neville Roy Singham, a communist living in Shanghai who is pumping hundreds of millions into far-left groups, as well as old reliable George Soros, who allegedly is doing the same.

With that kind of financial firepower along with a compliant media, the progressive message is overwhelming the traditional point of view. That’s what is causing the rise of communist/socialist activity.

This is a major concern. Money can’t buy you love, but it can brainwash soft thinkers. When we see an unqualified person like Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez being primed for higher office, everyone should pay attention.

But many citizens refuse to do that. They live in a bubble world where Americans, especially younger ones, don’t know very much and are embracing political apathy.

This whole communist thing happened very quickly. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani broke through and the progressive movement followed in unlikely places like Colorado and Maine.

It is my belief that millions of Americans no longer want to compete in our capitalistic system. They are happy to collect entitlements and bow before a controlling central government. This crew has now been captured by social media and misleading propaganda put out by corrupt TV analysts as well as liberal newspapers, college professors, and the militant younger people themselves.

This departure away from America’s legacy will be a fierce fight. And it is about to begin.

**

Can’t argue with those facts about some groups and individuals who are funding evil causes, the Democratic Party and legacy media cheering them on, and that socialism/communism is rising.

However, something paramount is left out of the narrative.

But God.

Let me explain these two simple words from a personal acquaintance and experience.

I have a friend named Ed Madden who worked for Group Health for years and is now retired in South Carolina. We met in 2001 when Youth With a Mission formed a partnership with Discovery Bay Camp Foundation (DBCF). They asked us to help restore their naturally-beautiful-but-extremely-run-down 13 acre property near Port Townsend, Washington, into a vital retreat and missions center.

When we said yes 25 years ago, here’s how I described the property in my autobiography One Small Life:

We found dilapidated structures, the grass was three feet high, and most buildings didn’t have gutters but contained mold that stunk to high heaven…[It looked like] a dump. But I saw God’s vision for this special place.

Ed Madden was the treasurer of DBCF when we met. Their board had just gone through a $40,000 embezzlement fiasco  and the campus had gone to pot. Within a year, the property was cleaned up, beautified, and up and running. Five years later, DBCF donated the two million dollar campus to Youth With A Mission. And for the following 20 years, thousands of people enjoyed camps and retreats at Discovery Bay Camp and hundreds were sent out into missions.

But God. 

During the “rebirth and fruitful” years of Discovery Bay Camp, Ed Madden was asked to continue serving on the YWAM DB board. We went through all the highs and lows that individuals and groups experience in a quarter century. But often in our board meetings, when a recent miracle had taken place, Ed would turn to the other board members and exclaim:

“But God.”

He didn’t want us to leave God and his miracle-working power out of the equation.

Bill O’Reilly is right that evil forces are gaining ground in America. Let’s liken them to encroaching darkness at evening time. What he doesn’t say is that this growth of wickedness (darkness) in America is a constant battle in history and is primarily caused by the light of the Church dimming.

Believers in Jesus are at fault for not evangelizing and discipling their fellow Americans over the past generation. If we had “preserved the nation” by sharing God’s light, evil would not be growing in strength.

Darkness only flourishes in the absence of light. It’s our fault. 

But God.

What is also left out of the above commentary is what God is doing in the USA in 2026. Thousands are being baptized on college campuses and in the oceans. Gen Z is turning to Jesus in encouraging numbers. The current administration is pointing us the right direction (Rededicate America, Freedom 250, etc.) and many policy changes are briniging the USA back to biblical solutions can bring blessing once again to our nation.

Most newscasts should include both the “light” and the “darkness” in combat around us. 

Ed Madden is right. (You may want to go to CBN News each day for confirmation.)

But God–is on the move.