Shock jock Howard Stern sees the FCC’s crackdown on “offensive” material as the probable end to his over the air radio career and he’s not happy about it – he’s been ranting non-stop for a couple of days now. Interesting that he has laid most of the blame on president Bush, who, according to Stern, has unfortunately allowed his religious beliefs to infiltrate his politics. Stern believe Bush should keep his religious beliefs in the closet.
Stern is almost to the heart of the issue but not quite. Religion cannot be kept in the closet – it provides the foundational beliefs for all we do. Stern certainly doesn’t keep his religious beliefs in the closet – they are wide open for all to see. This is not a battle between the religious Bush and the non-religious Stern, this is a battle between two religions – Christianity (at least a form of it) and the naturalism (I assume) of Stern.
Instead of insinuating that he should be able to say whatever he wants because the public airwaves should be a place unencumberred by religious belief, he should have come clean. Stern should have said plainly, “My religion is true and Bush’s is not. I don’t believe Bush’s God exists. I think that god is just the figment of his imagination and the imagination of all the quacks he hangs out with. Since Christianity is not true, all the quaint social customs that were based on it are not valid. I can do whatever the heck I want and say whatever the heck I want and no one has any basis for saying I can’t.” At least that would have framed the issue properly.