Colbert takes the Christ out of Christmas…!
December 17, 2010, 12:03 pm
Posted by David Gibson
…and takes the mickey out of a few Christian conservatives who seem to misread the Bible. Or love Ben Franklin. Must-see TV for your holiday:
| The Colbert Report | Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Jesus Is a Liberal Democrat | ||||
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David, it stymies me how conservatives walk right into this kind of lampoon. It seems to me the only politic response to from conservatives is: “Yes, Jesus Christ underscored our obligation to the poor, but he didn’t say we had to do it through government.”
I’m only sorry Dad wasn’t alive to see this one. He loved Steward and Colbert (and reminding him that Colbert was a Catholic was probably one of the things that kept him from cutting us out of the family when we “turned”).
I wish more people would call O’Reilly out on his not implicit claim that those receiving long term unemployment benefits are slackers who have become dependent on government handouts. No doubt some of those receiving benefits fit this description, but the point remains that lower-income households have overwhelmingly suffered the consequences of reckless and greedy choices made by the very rich. Moreover, the federal govenment did not act to prevent the meltdown, in many ways they enabled it, and one way or the other, it happened on their watch. Assuming that the employment environment is not even close to what it was before the meltdown, we may safely assume that there remain countless households that have been placed in the most dire and devasting conditions directly as result of the economic downturn. THE LEAST the federal govenment can do is maintain a safety net for these households. Will there be those who take advantage of this situation? You bet. But DAMN if the real pros of taking advantage of government money are not the very millionaires who broke all in the first place.
The thing that bothers me the most about Obama’s compromise is that he did not make the Republicans own a refusal to fund a continuation of benefits. He seems to have passed on a real rhetorical gift that would have kept on giving, and I think the Republicans would have ultimately caved.
We all have a tendency to create a God in our image and for our comfort, and such tendencies are always worthy of lampoon.
There is so much hypocrisy about Christmas this year when so many are suffering.
I cannot fathom how our Congressinal folks blather on about the Christmas season and not doing the work needed to move us forward and help the poor.
And they talk about “values.”
“He was not self-destructive.” You can’t make this stuff up.
Or: “We have to admit that he was just as selfish as we are.” Recently a woman who spent much time with an animal species (Chimpanzees I think) noted that they are just like us. Very greedy and self centered. So the tax collector beating his breast comes out justified.
It is the irony of ironies that Jesus championed the poor and the downtrodden while too many Christians cater to the privileged. This is the reason so many poor Central and South Americans became Pentecostals as the church ignored them or refused to advocate for them. Same thing happened when they came to the US. The Catholic churches did not welcome them so they went where they were welcome to the Pentecostals and other churches. The radical departure from the essential message of Jesus began with the church’s glorification by the Empire. While the Empire declined the church became the Empire. Even today Christians talk of the poor as if they were outsiders, forgetting that the poor who are always with us are our path to salvation.
Colbert once said that he has a great percentage of viewers who think he is really a conservative and what he says he really means. They don’t get the joke. And it’s on them. That’s why the GOP had him speak at their dinner. What fools. Of course he took the opportunity to call them out. He is the royal court jester.
And he does it with this segment on Christmas. He is a genius. If you watch this and don’t get the idea that Jesus’ real mission was social justice, then you are blind and unable to read between the very clear lines Colbert has drawn.
His last jab at the end of this segment is perfect.
I love how he uses his Catholic faith and his education and intelligence to call out the hypocrites.
Spot on, Stephen!
Colbert fulfills the teaching of Vatican II that says we all share in the prophetic office of Christ. He brightly exemplifies how we are 21st century, American expressions of Christ, who are called, within our own vocations, to take active, spiritual responsibility for our society and culture. Unhappily, he’s in the minority.
Today in the din of self-serving spin, I long for a strong, clear united Catholic voice that says, for example, that for the sake of the common good, with a preferential option for the poor, sick and vulnerable, we must reject all manipulative fears of socialism and accept full responsibility to provide unemployment insurance for as long as corporate leaders refuse to provide jobs for those they rendered unemployed, and that they shall be proportionately taxed for this money. And also, for as long as the bankers and financiers take exorbitant bonuses while engaging in the same practices that almost destroyed our economy. And they too shall be proporionately taxed. And for as long as our government fails to stimulate the economy intelligently and hold all citizens proportionately responsible to contribute to our recovery. Then, and only then, can we consider blaming the unemployed themselves. We believe that this fulfills the values of the Kingdom of God on Earth. We welcome confirmation, and rebuttal if we are wrong.
I’m working in my parish and diocese to help create such a voice, but everyone agrees, we have a long way to go.