He’s at it again. This time he’s insulted not only atheists but TV news producers (that aren’t his own). On Tuesday Beck was raving on The Blaze about how terrible atheists are, sparked by Wolf Blitzer’s interview with tornado survivor, Rebecca Vitsmun. That’s the woman who told Blitzer that she was an atheist when he asked her if she thanked God for her survival. Blitzer was a bit flustered but, no big deal, right?

Not to Beck. He is convinced that the forces of “spiritual darkness” are at work here. And those forces are working through… TV news producers! Beck has claimed that the whole interview was a set-up. He says that the producers hand-picked Ms. Vitsmun:

“Some producer, who is sympathetic to the atheist plight or just doesn’t like Christians or whatever it is, thought it was important to point out that, in the middle of the heartland in American where most people are God-fearing, there are atheists there too.”

Well, of course there are atheists in the heartland: there are atheists everywhere in America. A recent study by The Pew Forum for Religion and Public Life found that the percentage of Americans who are non-religious or unaffiliated with any religion is now at almost 20 percent. Most of the growth is in the 18-29 age group. That amount has grown steadily since 1972 while the percentage of those who are affiliated with Protestant religions has declined by 11 percent in that same time period. Those who describe themselves as born-again or evangelical has gone from 21 to 19 percent between 2007 and 2012, while the “nones” increased from 15% to just under 20. Pew notes that that these findings are a continuation of long-term trends. In other words, Americans – mostly young ones – are sick of religion being used as an excuse to be mean. The study found that keeping religion out of the government/politics is a big concern with those “nones:” 67% of them said that the separation of church and state is a major concern.

As for the producers who supposedly set this whole thing up fueled by the forces of darkness… My husband is in the TV business. He has been for almost 35 years, both commercial and PBS. Let me tell you a secret: news producers in a situation like those CNN producers were look for one thing in interviewees: some semblance of intelligence. That and no fear or over-awareness of the camera. That’s it. In a situation like a tornado aftermath, news producers are just happy to get someone who can speak to the reporter articulately and not play to the camera. Searching someone out based on their faith, or lack thereof, is above their pay grade.

So Beck’s hypothesis that Ms. Vitsmun’s interview was some kind of atheist propaganda is, unsurprisingly, rubbish. His claim that he likes atheists is disingenuous, especially when he adds that Christians are better. What is he, six? That’s a playground taunt: Christians are better than atheists. I expect him to stick out his tongue and add “Nyah!”

This attitude, this self-righteous superiority, is what drives people away from Beck and his ilk. When he insists that his religion is better, it sounds to many people like that same schoolyard taunting that they had to put up with and it turns them off. But there are actually Christians that aren’t like that, left-wing and liberal Christians who actually walk the talk. Those examples get overshadowed by Beck, Robertson, Huckabee and others like them.

On the same show in which Beck spouted anti-atheistic rhetoric, he admonished Christians to ask themselves:

“Have I done anything this week, have you done anything that would make anyone say, ‘Wow, what is it about them? I want to be like that. I want to be able to provide hope to others in dark times. If you haven’t done anything different than what an atheist can do this week then your light is not shining very bright at all.”

And you know what? He’s right (dear me, I just agreed with Glenn Beck!) insofar as what a Christian should be doing. But he’s looking in the wrong place. I see those lights quite often. I just don’t see them on the right.

Here’s the video:

T. Steelman is a life-long Liberal. She has been writing online about politics since 2007. She lives in Western Washington with her husband, daughter, 2 cats and a small herd of alpacas. How can anybody be enlightened? Truth is, after all, so poorly lit…