Dave Silverman vs. Megyn Kelly December 1, 2010

Dave Silverman vs. Megyn Kelly

By Guest Contributor
December 1, 2010

Dave Silverman was recently on Fox News to talk about the American Atheists billboard with host Megyn Kelly.

Here’s how that interview went down in a nutshell:

Nicely done, Internets 🙂

(via Reddit)

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What Are Your Thoughts?leave a comment

  • Why do they look like they’re flirting?

  • Beriaal

    OMG, this is hilarious.

  • connor

    she is the most ignorant christian….

  • HAA!! That’s good.

  • Nordog

    That is funny.

  • thrift

    am I the only one who doesn’t get it?
    not funny at all.

    but yeah, the host of this show is a clown (like all the fox news personalities). I really like the billboard. we DO know it’s a myth. time to start calling spades spades.

  • Ugh that interview hurt.

  • NotYou007

    I just posted the below text as my facebook status and of the 33 friends I have I don’t think of of them are atheist.

    Many people feel that us atheist are attacking Christmas. We are not attacking Christams. Christmas is real, the birth of Jesus is not.

  • Pony

    I’d like to opine that Dan Silverman looks great with a beard. It makes his grin look less smug. I guess PZ Myers was right about facial hair…

  • SlickNinja

    Internets FTW!

  • JSug

    What a joke. She asks a leading question, then redirects with a completely unrelated question without even allowing him to answer. This isn’t an interview, it’s a shouting match.

  • JulietEcho

    I can’t be the only one who’s bugged by the line, “New Atheist Billboard Calls Christmas A Myth.” I mean, no one is saying that Christmas itself is a myth – the implication is that the Christian Christmas story is a myth.

    And that’s not even taking into account the fact that “myth” (when used in academia anyway) places no judgement value on whether a story really happened or not – just that (roughly) it’s a popular story that has permeated culture over a period of time. Robin Hood, King Arthur, Johnny Appleseed, etc. – they’re all considered myths, and some might be originally based on real people (or amalgams of two or more people). Saying they’re myths isn’t equivalent to saying they were imaginary.

  • Aguz

    lol, wut?

    (Yes, I think this deserves an standard internet response)

  • Richard P.

    Aww, I think he made the pretty lady cry.

  • plublesnork

    Could someone describe/transcribe the images, please?

    Much appreciated.

  • «bønez_brigade»

    Almost makes you want to tell PZ make way for the new furry & huggable teddy bear of atheism.

  • GoldenSpider

    I interpreted this as:

    1. I’m concerned and furrowing my brow because your billboard scares Fox viewers.

    2. Rly?

    3. Well…yeah?

    4. Win.

  • Isn’t this the same host who caused Jon Stewart to say “You accuse liberals of class warfare… you’re waging war on people who went to class”?

  • cat

    @thrift, I don’t get it either, but then subtle facial expressions and body language generally go whizzing right by me.

  • He’s gotten pretty good at tolerating fools. Well played, Mr. Silverman, but all the same, I wish you’d gone with the BHA-style, less confrontational posters (be good for goodness’s sake!). But then it wouldn’t be American Atheists, would it?

  • captsam

    muggle, maybe they were flirting, looked like it to me. maybe she’s one of those closeted atheist as well.

  • How about this for a billboard suggestion:

    “Just like you, we believe in Jesus and Santa.”

    with a picture of David Silverman giving a knowing wink.

  • Don Rose

    Journalism isn’t what it used to be. It’s laughable that Fox calls itself “fair and balanced”, when it’s hosts are always opinionated and unbalanced.

    She’s an idiot. She’s always been more determined to preach, than discuss an issue. She should have been fired a long time ago.

  • Fox News is a joke and I would have refused to do an interview with anyone from that propaganda mill.
    I have to admit, however, that David did a better job of explaining the goal of the billboard in this interview than he did in past interviews.
    Overall, I still don’t think this billboard is the most effective way to get our message out, but what’s done is done. Better luck next year…

  • Wow, the chemistry. You could cut it with a knife.

    I didn’t watch the video last night and was being rather a smart ass based on their expressions in the stills but now that I watched it, damn, but there did seem to be some attraction of the opposites going on there. Are they both single? And did she really ask him if he was lonely? I did hear that right, didn’t I?

    Man, now that would be too funny for words. Just hope if either changes their mind, he brings her over to our side. Be even funnier if neither did. Hell, we have mixed couples here that make it work. Of course, don’t know if any of them work so adamantly for one side or the other.

  • Peter Mahoney

    I tip my hat to American Atheists for keeping this conversation alive: directly questioning whether the myth is true (and openly stating that it is NOT true), and pointing out that MANY even-so-called-believers really DO know that this myth is NOT true.

    Also, with all the free news coverage, seen by hundreds of thousands of people (maybe more) American Atheists has certainly gotten it’s money’s worth out of what they paid for this one billboard.

  • Fox News should rebrand itself to be the 700 Club. FSM that woman couldn’t have been more like Pat Robertson if she tried!

  • Slider33

    Watched the interview, couldn’t help notice that Ms. Kelly couldn’t keep a straight face on some of her questions and responses. She definitely didn’t seem serious, which makes me wonder what’s really going on in her head.

    I wonder if she actually believes the kinds of things FOX news wants her to say. Then again, I don’t watch FOX so I’m assuming all FOX “news” anchors behave in such a manner. I just wonder if they really believe the crap they spew.

  • Secular Stu

    muggle, maybe they were flirting, looked like it to me. maybe she’s one of those closeted atheist as well.

    Maybe she’s into the bad boys. “Yeah, I don’t believe in god. I’m a rebel who plays by my own rules…”

  • Secular Stu

    muggle, maybe they were flirting, looked like it to me. maybe she’s one of those closeted atheist as well.

    Maybe she just likes the bad boys. “Yeah, I don’t believe in god. I’m a rebel who plays by his own rules…”

  • Can I flirt with him? He’s… very cute. <3

  • BlueRidgeLady

    aw, look at those two.

    The actual audio makes it less heartwarming. She’s a sarcastic interrupter and I hate that. If you ask someone a question, you shouldn’t interrupt them or answer for them.

  • Matt

    Jesus was real. Weather or not he was God in human flesh is the debate. I believe he was, Christmas however is whatever you want it to be that’s what is great about America. Fox news is clearly propaganda for the right wing in America but neither of those organizations represent real Christian values. They just pretend to in order to gain the power of Christian churches to organize.

  • anonymous

    We don’t actually know that Jesus was real, in terms of historical evidence.

    Just saying. The fact is, almost any claims one could make to say he is real (so many people believe in him, he’s in the bible, blah blah) could be said for a large amount of mythological and religious figures. Who, you know, aren’t Christian.

  • the anti_supernaturalist

    “freedom of conscience” is necessary in a secular society

    In the US about 16 % of the adult population is uninterested in religion, agnostic, or atheistic. The proportion in Canada is surely higher; it certainly is in Britain and on the Continent. (The Pew Foundation tracks the data.)

    The anti-god(s) ads are of course a marketing device and more importantly an exercise in free speech.

    Many people do not know that there are voluntary associations through which non-theists and anti-supernaturalists can get their views seen and heard.

    Freedom of conscience includes these rights: not to believe in any god and to say so without fear of censorship or reprisal.

    Also, anti_supernatural ads are but a minor response compared with non-stop xian propaganda backed by government tax credits. They are constantly used by political opportunists on the far right who feed upon fundies’ hatred of “worldly wisdom” to win elections.

    Since its first agape feast, xianity has been an institutionalized ponzi scheme — may I see all clerics at the back of the unemployment line with their “houses of worship” turned into homeless shelters.

    Daring to defy the god-lobby takes courage — the xian Taliban in the US harass and kill people.

    the anti_supernaturalist

  • the anti_supernaturalist

    There are no supernatural phenomena; only supernatural interpretations of phenomena.

    the quest for the historical Jesus ends in historical fiction

    The quest for the historical Master Kung (Confucius) ends in historical fiction. The quest for the historical Mohamed ends in historical fiction. The quest for the historical Buddha ends in historical fiction.

    The fiction / history dichotomy obviously presents a false choice —

    The fictional enlargement of Siddharta Gautama from the Buddha of the Dhammapada into a much later transcendental Buddha figure of the Diamond Sutra took hundreds of years. His divinization should be a less difficult mental process for brainwashed westerners to cope with than the parallel divinization of Jesus, which also took hundreds of years to complete.

    Teachings and sayings attributed to Buddha in the Dhammapada are known to be early writings from the Pali canon and function as indicators of what the Enlightened One may have said.

    Neither Master Kung nor Buddha suffers from divinization in early texts — they are and remain human beings. (And their early views are completely non-theistic.)

    As for the xian religion, a Jesus figure may have left behind teachings or sayings which may be authentic — but Jesus cannot be separated from a context of divinization even in the earliest of so-called gospels, “Mark.”

    In addition, before there were any xians, or members of Jesus cults within Judaism — hellenistic Jewish writers constructed texts which were intentionally what we would call resistance propaganda.

    The Book of Daniel with its three resisters of royal oppression — and Judith, always shown cutting off the head of enemy general, Holofernes, are complete fiction.

    Putting a human face on an ideology is nothing new. We remember Daniel in the lions’ den and Judith with her sword dripping blood — not the historical roots of their creation.

    Like them the Jesus persona belongs on the level of a character in a cultural fable directed against an occupying army and a harsh puppet regime.

    the anti_supernaturalist

  • kevin

    someone said… “she is the most ignorant christian”………. ignorant christian is redundant.