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Bill O'Reilly battles Laura Ingraham: Is 'thump the Bible' a slur?

O'Reilly says that civil rights is a 'compelling' argument for gay marriage, and conservatives won't win if they just reference ('thump') the Bible. Ingraham says conservatives can do better but that, yes, 'thump,' is an insult.

Fox News host Bill O鈥橰eilly ripped into radio talker Laura Ingraham , and Ms. Ingraham responded in kind. The subject was gay marriage 鈥� specifically, whether it鈥檚 offensive for Mr. O鈥橰eilly to say that those on the right who simply 鈥渢hump the Bible鈥� in opposing same will lose.

It was great TV but it was also an actual interesting debate on an important aspect of a hot national issue. That鈥檚 something you don鈥檛 always get on cable news shout shows.

We鈥檒l start with the background because it鈥檚 kind of convoluted. It begins with O鈥橰eilly in a late March show saying that gay marriage proponents have successfully defined it as a civil rights issue, which he called a 鈥渃ompelling鈥� argument that social conservatives have yet to counter.

鈥淭he other side hasn鈥檛 been able to do anything but thump the Bible,鈥� he said.

Rush Limbaugh took umbrage at this. , he took out after O鈥橰eilly, calling him 鈥淭ed Baxter," after the pompous anchor from the old Mary Tyler Moore show.

O鈥橰eilly had 鈥渕arginalized鈥� many religious Fox News viewers with his statement, said Mr. Limbaugh.

Got that? So the stage is now set for last night.

O鈥橰eilly began with a segment downplaying any feud between him and Limbaugh. He said the left was trying to create an argument where none existed. Then he repeated his 鈥渢hump鈥� assertion.

鈥淶ealots picked up on my statement that opponents must do more than thump the Bible if they want to win the civil debate. That鈥檚 absolutely true,鈥� he said.

Then he turned to guest Ingraham, who sometimes sits in for him and with whom he seems to have a good relationship. He appeared to think she would agree with him on Bible thumping. She didn鈥檛.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think you really needed to say that,鈥� she said.

Things went downhill quickly from there. O鈥橰eilly quickly shouted her down and had his say, then let her have two minutes to respond, then jumped in and overwhelmed her with volume while she sat back and looked disgusted.

Her basic point was that opponents of gay marriage have been surprised by the quick turnaround in the national debate and haven鈥檛 had time to really articulate their beliefs. But to dismiss the beliefs of social conservatives as somehow irrelevant is insulting, she implied.

鈥淎 lot of them do have a very deeply held religious belief about what traditional marriage is,鈥� said Ingraham.

O鈥橰eilly countered that he was not insulting people鈥檚 religious belief.

鈥淲hy did you use the word 鈥榯hump?鈥� 鈥� asked Ingraham.

鈥淏ecause that鈥檚 the way you get it across,鈥� said O鈥橰eilly.

By the end, they were pretty much just shouting past each other, though no furniture got thrown. Ingraham insisted that social conservatives would rally and come up with better arguments, and O鈥橰eilly said he was just explaining the political facts of life.

鈥淵ou and Rush should do a tour,鈥� sighed Ingraham at the end.

Wow! If that happens, perhaps the furniture will need to be bolted down.