and i think most everybody would have understood early on that by law, the nation was secular, but bychoice, the nation was -- in otr words, its people were christians and there's always been that dynamic, people have always understood there's a tension there between a population that's largely christian but uses its freedom to choose christiity and the laws that say go ahead and be whatever religion you want to be. >> this is what i understand from your text. one of five of the founding fathers had any religious stressed denomination or affiliation and that was when it existed calvinist and that was prett9 much of a god almost independent of jesus, correct, a watch maker god who starts the earth and tn he leaves it on its own, a deistic god? >> well, no, in terms of the population there's the calvinists and the deists. >> way back then? >> right. the calvinists totally predominated among the population. the founding fathers were much more elites and yes, many of them were deists but in terms of the vast majority of deistshey they thought about it in terms of calvinists where god, did

that's why i wrote the book to point it out. >> i don't think we're saying we're a totally secular nationt a larger group of people are saying not for me. i don't understand. this doesn't have any reference to me. relevance to me. i wonder, do you find people saying, religion is still answering their problems and solving their questions as they once said? i feel like my grandparents or parents' generation, more turned to the church and church leaders to make them feel better about life and fewer and fewer to almost no people of my age who i know do that. >> well, that's an interesting question, the people of your age don't. there are people of your age that do around the country, although religion is more important to it people as they get older. yes, we still have a significant percent of americans who say religion can answer problems and pray. as you mentioned at the outset, quite a few go to church. if you add in those that say you go to church seldom, you're up to 77% of americans who go to church occasionally he. they say they do still turn to religion, and we know religion has a pol

britain's financial times not the deal would also include a stake in the economist which is a secular nation grow during the past few rollercoaster years and to national finance expert mugs for a while so long for new york but this and it's a possible ramifications much evening bluebooks apparent avid reader of the financial times about the be pleased but given that newspaper's a struggling everywhere why would he want to poyet what's the plan if you think the savings. well i mean to some extent the bloomberg constellation of companies has done a pretty good job snapping up print assets with excellent names and prestigious think businessweek a recent acquisition among many that they've made the price that we're sort of hearing bandied about would be very well within the range of an institution as wealthy as bloomberg their bloomberg news and it would be another distribution channel another way for them to sell those terminals and what he's doing is using all these other assets to keep people inside the incredibly lucrative world of buying an operating his terminal the cost of the early two t

indeed there was very of a national secular what's happening on the markets we start with currencies where as you can see the russian ruble is still gaining against both the dollar and the euro many reasons for that actually and this is on the back of companies still requiring funds in rubles in order to pay of taxes and also the fact that the central bank in russia has been trying to keep the ruble strong in the last weeks of december in order to keep a leash on on inflation to move over to the u.s. markets over there we have the dow jones and nasdaq in very thin trade both losing right now with no basically deal in sight on avoiding the fiscal cliff and of course because of christmas we have volumes around seventy five percent lower than usual all right a short christmas eve session in london and the markets were actually shut in frankfurt the footsie as you can see is slightly up around a quarter of a percentage point and it's driven by minor stocks like the down to resources which is gaining around two percent and in moscow there was also very little activity on the markets which

under mubarak it was a secular nation, and now it's not. >> so if you are one of egypt's neighbors and you look and see what's going on inside, are you worried? are you concerned here? does it look like an arab spring that would actually spill over to the region, or is this something that egypt has to hand on its own and it will sort out? >> the latter. it's going to be the latter wrrn other nations aren't worried. the west is probably looking at how egypt is going in terms of the constitution, and a bit worried about the new egypt they will be dealing with when it comes to international relations. my sense is here a lot of people have sort of written off the muslim brotherhood in other countries as well at veers times. invariably, they've been wrong. these guys are organized and they have strong support, and, unfortunately, the guys on the street said not so organized, not as much support, and there's the cairo factor. it's want the same outside of cairo. >> thanks. appreciate it. >> i want to bring in our barbara star. she's at the pentagon here. she's got more on the situation that

nations. heiler secular was happening on the markets we start with the united states back from christmas traders are and this is the first consecutive session of losses the dow jones and the nasdaq losing within one percent president barack obama and congress are expected to come back to the table on the fiscal cliff version although we have heard that basically there will be no immediate implementation of this of this tax hikes because employers have not changed payroll tax withholding rates for january payrolls and federal budget cuts would slowly be phasing in also we are seeing retailers losing very much this year hasn't been that good basically for for sales all right let's move over to what is it we have currencies the. oh you know this week it's going up and down with the pretty much same amplitude day after day when they station so the russian ruble currency gain around half a percent against both currencies both the dollar and the euro right crude is up on a geopolitical factors appears to be a route between iraq and turkey so there's some kind of supply halt there and this is causing b

in article two, sharia principles are the basis of national legislation, so secular law will be permeated by religious principles and norms, and this is a real weakness. >> in whose interest is this constitution? do you believe morsi is using this constitution to create a kind of legal means of pushing through the muslim brotherhood agenda? >> i do not think so. on the other hand, one should not ignore the good elements. there is a large section on human rights. they embrace the rule of law. there are very good elements, and it very much will depend on factual circumstances how seriously this all will be taken. the guarantees on paper -- will they become reality? law in action -- is it really what is in the constitution? black or white -- will add to be relative? >> it seems to be somewhat disturbing right now as it is. professor, thank you very much for coming in to talk with us. >> you are welcome. >> all right, you may remember this name -- anna politkovskaya. she has become an icon for journalistic freedom. until now, no one has been punished for her death, but today, a russian court

the national salvation front, which is a grouping of several secular and liberal opposition groups.e saying this constitution falls short of international standards. it does not represent all of egyptians, and more importantly, it will pave the way for an islamist takeover of the government that will essentially cut off the rights of minorities, women, and other political forces that may not be islamists. it's a really polarized time in the country, and that's why it is so charged very, very dangerous. as you mentioned, the military now has been given authority to maintain and preserve security. essentially they've been given the authority to function like a police force up until the time of the referendum, which is next saturday. the underlying question in all of this, though, is whether or not logistically this constitutional referendum can take place. the judges, which are plenty to supervise the ballot box and the polling stations, some of them are boycotting. you have diplomats at embassies around the world saying they will not supervise the ex-pat yoit voting that's scheduled

for example, the six-day war really spelt a death nell for the movement of arab nationalism which was a secular movement in its most sublime form under gamal abdul nasser of egypt. that war was debunked in 1967. it opened the door to the entry of a new ideology into the middle east. that was an islamic ideology. that has had profound ramifications for everybody, both in the middle east and in the united states as well. the six-day war also ended the period when the arab-israeli conflict was a state to state conflict, a conflict between israel and jordan, israel and syria and israel and egypt. this became a new conflict that emerged, one between israel and the palestinians. before 1967, you really didn't hear about the palestinians. it's not by accident a year after the war ended in 1968, the p.l.o., under yasser arafat, emerges as this powerful force in the arab world. we have been living with that as well. 1967 war was also inaugurated the strategic relationship between the united states and israel. people forget that israel fought the 1967 war not with american arms but with french weaponry.

it was a very difficult decision on the part of the national salvation front which is a broad spectrum of various secular political parties from both the liberal tendencies as well as the more last organizations and parties inside the country it's a situation where if they did maintain the call for the boycott. of the plea i would go in favor of the freedom and justice party government of president morsi. today the expatriates who are around the world who are gyptian citizens nearly six hundred thousand of them are going to start voting over the next three days on this controversial draft constitution the opposition forces are not uniform group and therefore they have to decide what their position is going to be if they in fact lose the vote that is scheduled on december the fifteenth now there's a question about the role of the judiciary with that within this whole process one of the leaders of the judicial also. so she is out of egypt is saying that many people i will not participate but president morsi is administration is saying that there will be adequate to distil supervision of these opposition gr

secularism in government, which are for. a country which invites everyone into it, all religions and nationalities, must by definition be secular. any religious direction we choose is going to favor somebody, and i thought that is what we were trying to avoid. at least i thought that is what jefferson meant when he talked about religious freedoms. host: ok. caller: freedom from religion. host: when you go to vote in a presidential election or congressional election, what are the big factors in your decision? caller: usually economic. i did not consider -- i don't consider religion unless it interferes with some legislation. it plays a very little role in my life. host: would you call yourself unaffiliated religiously? caller: relatively i am an atheist. so, yes, i am unaffiliated. host: here is the "christian science monitor," their cover. the new face of faith. what is happening in new england, the countries most secular region, may have a future of american religion. traditional religions are seeing their ranks thinned out while alternative churches are becoming more popular. the arc is symbolic of a transforming religious la

territories the move provoked a quick response from the united nations which said this would be a fatal blow to any future peace efforts. the secular general has made clear that. as we've repeatedly said settlements are illegal under international law and he has repeated his call on all concerned to resume negotiations and intensify efforts towards a comprehensive just and lasting peace and also in the interests of peace he said that any plans specifically for the. envelope must be rescinded. the decision to authorize more settler homes came after last week's vote upgrading the diplomatic status of the palestinians bringing them a step closer to achieving full statehood israel responded saying the west bank government was trying to avoid their work be stopped by seeking when the recognition of british m.p. jeremy corbyn israel's risking losing international support. netanyahu seems simply to have not cottoned onto the fact that the vast majority of the rest of the world support the right of palestine we just support the right of palestinian working and therefore not of occupation of the west bank two state solution is something tha

that's why the major umbrella organization that represents the secular liberal operation known as the national salvation front rejected the declaration last night. they are calling for more street protest. there's a great deal of turmoil here in egypt. thomas? >> thank you. >>> hugo chavez says his cancer returned as he arrives in cuba for a new round of treatment. he discussed the seriousness of his condition. he's named a vice president. he acknowledged he may not be able to continue on as president. doctors found a return of malignant cells. >>> we turn to other news for you now. in the northern plains, the upper midwest, they are facing a massive winter storm. north dakota posted blizzard and travel warnings. parts of the state as temperatures and snow began to fall. we have more on the forecast. good morning. good afternoon, excuse me. >> it is afternoon, isn't it? >> it is for us, morning for people somewhere else. >> you were right on some level. we are actually talking about some nasty weather across the northern plains. we have blizzard warnings, winter storm warnings through the dako

territories the move provoked a quick response from the united nations which said this would be a failed blow to any future peace efforts. the secular general has made clear that. as we've repeatedly said settlements are illegal under international law and he has repeated his call on all concerned to resume negotiations and intensify efforts towards a comprehensive just and lasting peace and also in the interests of peace he said that any plans specifically for the. envelope must be rescinded. last week's un voted to upgrade a palestinian minister ations diplomatic status bringing it a step closer to achieving full in the pants meanwhile thousands of people in gaza joint operations marking the twenty fifth anniversary of hamas the leader of the. vowed to liberate palestine inch by inch call for arab countries to keep on defining israel national affairs expert. says the israeli government trying to score political points before next month's parliamentary elections. netanyahu is scoring domestic points and he's definitely positioning this. as a bid for victory in january was risking the loss of even those kinds of views you know kept

nation, stossel. that's enormous. every american child is being affected by secularism. all of these people saying you know what? there is no right or wrong. you do what you want. >> seq. not saying right or wrong. >> bill: no judgments on behavior. none. >> nothing to do with secularism. >> bill: sure it is. secular progressivism doesn't make judgments and that's the core of it that's why they don't like religious people because religious people do make judgments. last word, stossel, do you have anything else you have to say? >> i'm secular and i make judgments. >> bill: you are not a secular progressive. >> secular libertarian. >> bill: watch stossel's program watch maybe he will be converted on air. is it legal on legalizing pot in washington state and colorado. how will that effect people driving there? then charles krauthammer on how much millionaires should pay in taxes. factor continues after these announunununun developing stories coming out of poverty land as well as north korea. >> thanks for staying with us. i'm bill o'reilly in the is it legal segment tonight. main now legal in colorado washington st

to israel plans to build three thousand more secular homes on disputed land in east jerusalem and in the west bank in an unprecedented move the two nations are also reportedly considering recalling their envoys from tel aviv. reports. in the immediate run up to that you wouldn't vote we did see the rhetoric from the israeli government in terms of the threat of sanctions being turned down the what we're hearing now is that for the first time ever britain and france are considering recording their ambassadors from tel aviv over israel's expansionist policies in the settlements now this comes after an announcement by the israeli prime minister netanyahu that he was approving the construction of some three thousand new housing units in the west bank and east jerusalem that's happening in an area known as the one man what effectively means is that the waste that will be cut off in streets of them this announcement is widely perceived as punishment against the palestinians for number one going to the u.n. was with this by the number two winning it essentially winning that sees the palestinian state being recognized within the one nine hundred

nation, stossel. that's enormous. every american child is being affected by secularism. all of these people saying you know what?ere is no right or wrong. you do what you want. >> seq. not saying right or wrong. >> bill: no judgments on behavior. none. >> nothing to do with secularism. >> bill: sure it is. secular progressivism doesn't make judgments and that's the core of it that's why they don't like religious people because religious people do make judgments. last word, stossel, do you have anything else you have to say? >> i'm secular and i make judgments. >> bill: you are not a secular progressive. >> secular libertarian. >> bill: watch stossel's program watch maybe he will be converted on air. is it legal on legalizing pot in washington state and colorado. how will that effect people driving there? then charles krauthammer on how much millionaires should pay in taxes. factor continues after these announunununununun developing stories coming out of poverty land as well as north korea. >> thanks for staying with us. i'm bill o'reilly in the is it legal segment tonight. main now legal in colorado washington s

nation where newtown is the norm. gary wills says america treats guns like a secular god. e.j.dion says depose the false diety. i say amen. we owe it to those 20 newtown babies. that does it for "the cycle." we're on break next week. michael eric dyson is now in for martin. michael eric dyson, what you got to say? >> i say that which you promote is just wonderful. >> happy holidays. >> happy holidays to all of you. thanks, guys, and good afternoon. i'm professor michael eric dyson in for martin bashir on this very busy friday, december the 21st. today speaker boehner lost his way. the president chose his man. and the nra, well, the nra turned tragedy into an opportunity of the worst kind. >> nra has blood on its hands. >> the media demonized lawful gun owners. vicious, violent video games. we have blood-soaked films out there, a thousand music videos, the media. the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. politicians have no business and no authority denying us the right, the ability, and the moral imperative to protect ourselves and our loved ones from harm. i call on congress tod

state or retains its secular traditions but journalist and middle east analyst argument fatty fears the voting is under representative ultimately at the end of the day dividing the nation. morsi is not showing any signs of flexibility he's not showing any signs of building consensus in years shown to be a very stubborn a person regardless of the outcome of the referendum the scene in egypt right now it's indicative there there is going to be a mass. playing with the results there is already the reports about money and sustenance is being given to poor people to encourage them to go out and vote favorably yes constitution and on the other side the egyptians are still divided into different groups and the more palais zeeshan of the voters are not going as it should have been going so it's not really representative of the nations when or of the consensus that should have been existed in. china sooner attentions out of syria where the rebels say they are making gains across the country and their push towards the capital damascus the opposition received another financial and political boost this week with the u.s. recognizing the coalition washington says it's meant to isol

secular protesters. they say they'll only leave if morsi leaves. his supporters are increasingly rallying behind the nation's first de democratically elected president. >> where is president morsi? >> no one knows for sure. he's in an undisclosed location, so to speak. >> as the sun rises in cairo, it will rise in a couple hours. what's the expectation? what's your prediction that will happen during the day? >> well, so far it seems like both sides want to avoid any large scale outbreaks of violence. they think it's going to make both of them look bad. however, the ra rank-and-file members of both organizations are very angry. one muslim brotherhood member, a teenage muslim brother hood member died earlier last week. he was beaten to death by a mob and two se seculars have been killed by police. there's a potential for large scale violence. >> jacob, thank you. in just a few minutes, we'll talk more about the increasingly volatile situation in egypt. first, who is now accusing the president of thinking he is the king? >> obama overplayed his hand. he thinks somebody made him king. >> right now all eyes are o

scares many of the seculars on the other hand also there is the civil military relations this constitution is a bit through military it gives them a veto over high politics that is the national defense council which is composed of a majority of military command that is which undermines this idea of civilian control over the the armed forces so these are the two elements but having said that this constitution compare to the one nine hundred seventy one nine hundred twenty one thousand nine hundred thirty nine hundred fifty six and throughout the sixty's the various. short constitutions or constitutions that egypt had all of these constitutions were much more authoritarian and much less democratic than the one thousand and twelve have this is the first time in the constitution that you have the president cannot resolve the wind and cannot. you have a prime minister who is actually empowered to take decisions without going back to the president so it empowers other centers as other elected civilian centers of power judgment what you say not great but could be worse my guess that's why more than half of the population seem to have again voted in favor of it and it does beg the q

tosherry, secularize it and to eliminatety the liberty crushing aspects the euro one you wrote that u.s.liby amba policymakers opposed by christopher stevens havelaw sacrificed u.s. lives, ourou as, nation is ignoring sharia lawy and practices. you assert that the islamic totalitarianism, you are saying that it has a tutorial at terry and winter.ave a sular >> we have those that we chosea, to undermine and replace. hosnib mubarak, even the odious qadhafi. yet what is their replacement?n the replacement from the get-goo we actually supported them of muslim brotherhood jihadist to have a supremacist outlook. and we are still, the late ambassador stevens unfortunateln chose to go intofo the jihadisti hotbed in libya, which dates back to our borders. they were fighting then. thank you so much for being witn us. lou: as the housing market really recovering? $17 trillion is riding on the answer. thes ceo of charles schwab joins us next the capital one cash rewards card gives you 1% cash back on all purchases, plus a 50% annual bonus. and everyone...but her likes 50% more cash. but i'm upping my game. do you want a candy cane? yes! do you want the puppy? yes! do you want a tricycle? yes! do yo

secular model. they resented the islamists. they forbid them from wearing veils on national television or institutions. they forbade them that.a model where islam can be a political islam. you can be in the government, but -- he advised morsi, actually, and his brotherhood. he told them, when you are on television, shave your beards and wear a suit. listen to your opponents. listen to the seculars. listen to the women. listen, especially, to the chris man minorities. this is the only way you can be included as partners and leaders that are credible on an international platform. >> sit tight here. stay with us. i'd like to turn our attention for just a moment to syria. nbc news chief correspondent richard engel was able to travel inside. a rare report. >> reporter: in parts of syria that are controlled by the rebels, there's no talk of the diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful solution. the trips and meetings of hillary clinton with the u.n. and her russian counterpart, there's no hope here for a diplomatic solution. instead, what people talk about is the suffering of the people. the people are showing tremendous resilience. t

secular factions, people came to tahrir square, women, children, people being marginalized by the muslim brotherhood saying we support you. we want you to have a say in the future of egypt as a nationhelp you. that is who we should be reaching out to. that is where the money should be spent on these more democratic and i hate to use that word in the sense of middle east becau for every country it means a different thing but to have a say what happens in the next chapter. melissa: lisa, that is an interesting point. thanks so much for coming on. >> myleasure. melissa: coming up a completely unexpected outcome of the greek debt crisis. their economic problems literally hitting the health of the country, putting its hospitals in ce red but just wait until you hear how. these are really stunning details coming up. at the end of the day it is all about money. ♪ ♪ . melissa: some shocking news out of greece now. uninnded consequence of its 2 dal billion euro health care debt is making it nearly impossible for hospitals touy basic supplies like gloves, syringes, letalone crucial medications. on top of that massive layoffs mean fewer doctors and nurses are treating more patients. the sever

successful nation that cannot be a modern nation and the only become a modern nation if it permits democracy and if it permits secularism, the quality and presents and until then if it is successful -- >> let me say three things. i want to follow on the admiral's comments about democracy, it is remarkable to many in the u.s. military that the united states has not ratified the convention. we had a pretty sincere effort to bring it forward to the senate. we were a couple votes short. i think senator mikulski for her encouragement. i hope we will be able to take that up again and get it done as a country. it is challenging to make the case we are making which is these potential conflicts over territory from reed bank and so on should be resolved on the basis of principles when the fundamental convention that governs this is one of the we haven't ratified. i would put -- >> don't have very much time but i want to push back on one point. i see you raising this with respect to barbara mikulski but george w. bush supported that tree, richard lugar supported that treaty. i asked harry reid a few years ago, your back in power,

secular factions, people came to tahrir square, women, children, people being marginalized by the muslim brotherhood saying we support you. we want you to have a say in the future of egypt as a nationing to help you. that is who we should be reaching out to. that is where the money should be spent on these more democratic and i hate to use that word in the sense of middle east because for every country it means a different thing but to have a say what happens in the next chapter. melissa: lisa, that is an interesting point. thanks so much for coming on. >> my pleasure. melissa: coming up a completely unexpected outcome of the greek debt crisis. their economic problems literally hitting the health of the country, putting its hospitals in code red but just wait until you hear how. these are really stunning details coming up. at the end of the day it is all about money. ♪ i love to eat. i love hanging out with my friends. i have a great fit with my dentures. i love kiwis. i've always had that issue th the seeds getting under denture. super poligrip free -- it creates a seal of the dentures in my mouth. even well-fitting dentures let in fd particles. super poligrip is zinc free. with j