"It is a fact of American life that the far left despises organized religion. They see churches, synagogues, and mosques as oppressive, standing in the way of things like abortion and a libertine lifestyle. After the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage last week, the far left was delirious with joy because the decision has anti-church ramifications. The court as comprised now would never order clerics to marry gays. However, the four liberal justices might very well go for that, and if Hillary Clinton is elected president, there may be a fifth uber-liberal judge. And the issue of adoption is certainly going to change. Some Catholic Charity agencies allow gays to adopt, but some do not and they will now have to go out of the adoption business. It is just a matter of time before lawsuits are filed against churches and religious organizations, trying to strip them of their tax-exempt status if they don't toe the line on gay marriage and other progressive causes. The churches really can't afford these lawsuits and certainly can't afford to lose their tax-exempt status, so you will see religious concerns back down. Religious leadership in America is generally weak; that's one of the reasons the gay marriage lobby was successful. The Catholic Church would provide no national cardinal or archbishop to speak to the matter. The church is frightened coming off the terrible battering it took in the priest pedophilia scandal. The ACLU and other anti-religious organizations know this and they sense weakness. Believe me, they are going to move against people of faith. Again, as the court stands now, people of faith are somewhat protected. But one more liberal judge and those protections might vanish."

Conservative Andrea Tantaros and liberal Julie Roginsky reacted to the Talking Points Memo. "The next step is that you will see gay couples asking pastors to conduct gay weddings," Tantaros warned, "or perhaps to have their receptions at a church. The Catholic Church is really in the crosshairs, they're going to after the church in a major way. They won't stop until they strip the church of its tax-exempt status." But Roginsky contended that progressives deserve far more credit. "I don't think any reasonable liberal would ever advocate forcing a church to do something that goes against its religious convictions. No one is forcing the Catholic Church to have women priests, no one is forcing the church to marry people who are not Catholic."

The Factor continued on the theme of religious liberty with Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who sparked a war with the ACLU by issuing an executive order enabling religious state workers to opt out of issuing same-sex marriage licenses. "We issued this order," Jindal said, "in anticipation of the Supreme Court's awful ruling. I think the ACLU wants to get to a point where we no longer have First Amendment religious freedom rights, and I think the left wants to take God out of the public square. They want to redefine America." The Factor put forth a fair compromise that would protect both gays and religious Americans: "If you're denying gays services simply because they're gay, I think you have a problem. But if you don't want to participate in gay nuptials, you should have the freedom to opt out."

Opponents of ObamaCare claim it has led to much higher health insurance premiums, while the law's supporters argue just the opposite. Fox News anchor Eric Shawn injected some truth serum into the debate. "If you have a job," he reported, "you're doing okay. Companies have leverage and can negotiate a bigger deal, but individual policies have gone up by as much as 45% for women and 78% for some men." Shannon Bream turned to Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, who claims that there have been 126 school shootings since Sandy Hook, an average of one per week. "These numbers come from a gun control group, and the statistics include incidents where a gun went off anywhere near a school or college campus. 25 of these were suicides, and there were also guns that misfired or weren't aimed at anybody. Of those 126, maybe 10 involved a person showing up with a gun and an intent to harm."

As The Factor reported previously, some school districts are paying big money to left-wing consultants who instruct teachers about "white privilege." One Oregon district actually hired a group whose manual says this: "All white people are racist." Dan Chriestenson, a former school board member in that district, elaborated on the craziness. "This is a week-long seminar," he groused, "and it's heavy indoctrination time. Teachers are taught that that all white people are racists and that students of color are victims of a white supremacist culture and there's no hope for them to achieve their dreams. I fought this for six years because it's very divisive - they want teachers to frame every issue in the classroom in terms of race, class, and gender." The Factor urged parents to be vigilant, saying, "I'm stunned that this kind of stuff is going on under the radar, and I would think that the parents would be going nuts over this."

Dennis Miller gave his take on the ever-expanding Republican field. "We have fourteen people," he said, "but it's a moot point because Hillary Clinton will be the next president. She's a perfect representative of America as it is currently constituted." Miller focused on a few of the GOP hopefuls. "Chris Christie might have a chance if he drops the 'Chris' and starts wearing women's clothing and calling himself 'Christie.' I would vote for Rick Perry's glasses, but I wouldn't vote for Rick Perry. Ted Cruz is an agile intellect but they're going to try to destroy him. And are we supposed to think that Donald Trump believes all Mexicans are racists? He's not everybody's cup of tea, but he doesn't hate Mexican people." The Factor disagreed with Miller's contention that Hillary Clinton will return to the White House. "The American people are going to take a deep breath and finally take a look at what's happening in the country."

FNC's Martha MacCallum screened some disturbing footage from Turkey, where a gay pride parade was attacked by police. "Turkey has always been the most progressive Muslim nation," she explained, "and it's a democracy. But Turkey's president is under a lot of political pressure and he's trying fiercely to hold onto power. So he's aligning himself with the hard-liners - even the more 'progressive' sections of the Muslim world are becoming more hard-line. There are more hate crimes against gays in Turkey than in any other country in Europe."

Stan DeVoir, Clinton, MI: "I'm a conservative who would never vote for Donald Trump. He is not a legitimate candidate. No one can be elected president without garnering a large number of Hispanic-American votes."

Patrick Schroeder, Grand Junction, CO: "O'Reilly, of course the liberal media apologized for misstating your opinion of the Confederate flag. They know you are a center-left commentator and don't want to eat their own."

Robert Hunter, Milford, OH: "Bill, I am surprised you don't know the real reason for all those shark attacks on the east coast. It's Great White privilege."

There is a new sale here on BillOReilly.com - 30 ties worn by Bill on the air will be sold for $300 apiece, which will raise $9,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which tries mightily to fulfill the dreams and wishes of severely ill children.