Would God Bless Stephen Colbert?

[filkertom]

On Bill O'Reilly's character assassination of Jesus.

Comments

[kengr]

I love the bit about how O'Reilly is going to write a column taking Colbert to task for scriptural inaccuracy.

Only way he'll be able to pull that off is by either trying to say one particular translation (one of the odder fundie ones, no doubt) is "right" and the others are "wrong", or by quoting so selectively that anybody with even a passing familiarity with scripture can demolish him.

[dornbeast.livejournal.com]

One of his quotes in the original article wasn't even from scripture.

[caraig.livejournal.com]

Well, he'll pull it off because the Colbert Report isn't on again until next year -- granted that's only a couple of weeks, but that's an eternity in the news cycle. By the time Colbert responds on his show O'Reily's moopoopoo will have passed from the sphere of attention.

That being said, I'm so glad someone finally caled BillO on that blasphemy.

[smallship1.livejournal.com]

Well, I can't get the video in my country, and the Crooks And Liars link seems to point to a different O'Reilly column from the one quoted, so I really couldn't say for certain. But probably, yes.

Oh'Really is probably thinking of "the poor are always with you," which, if you're a conservative greedhead, can be construed to mean "you don't have to bother about them." Something in the Bible for everyone, as long as you carefully ignore all the rest of it.

As for "Jesus was not self-destructive," well, that's just pure comedy gold, isn't it?

[alverant.livejournal.com]

Jesus also passed up many business opportunities. He turned water into wine so his friends could get drunk and he DOESN'T open a bar or winery.

[dornbeast.livejournal.com]

"I'm sorry, sir, but your business model for selling wine simply isn't profitable. It's too dependent on this bottleneck in production, and divine favor isn't a reliable resource."

[mouser.livejournal.com]

http://www.billoreilly.com/column?pid=30748

[dornbeast.livejournal.com]

I've heard it said that people would be fools to pray for justice.

After this, I'm just about ready to be a fool.

[umbran.livejournal.com]

If O'Reilly is going to try to deal with this in terms of accuracy...

... well, it occurs to me that the research department at Faux is a tad bit out of practice at speaking about real accuracy.

[thistlethorn.livejournal.com]

Oh, that was awesome!

[mouser.livejournal.com]

Are followers of Bill'O "SPin-Heads"?

[alverant.livejournal.com]

Again, that quote from Ghandi bubbles up in my mind.

I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are not like your Christ.

If I were the type of person who put bumper stickers on their cars, that would be one of them.

[bayushisan.livejournal.com]

The thing I take the most issue with is the quote about God helping those who help themselves. That's not even a remotely Biblical idea. If I could do it myself what would I need God for? God helps those who rely on Him and those who can't help themselves. At least that's how I see things.

[mathmuffin.livejournal.com]

"The gods help those who help themselves." is originally from one of Aesop's Fables, Hercules and The Wagoner (http://tomsdomain.com/aesop/id24.htm). Benjamin Franklin quoted it with singular "God" in Poor Richard's Almanac in 1757, so people often attribute the modern version to him, as Colbert did.

[mathmuffin.livejournal.com]

Congressman Jim McDermott was especially right in matching Baby Jesus with the poor. The Gospel of Luke has the strongest message of the four Gospels about helping the poor and gives the most detailed Christmas story. Luke points out how Mary and Joseph were traveling and could not find lodging in the inn, so they had to take shelter in a stable, like the poor. And the angels announced the birth of Jesus first not to kings or even the wise men but to shepherds working at night to watch their sheep. The Christmas carol The First Noel (http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh245.sht) calls them "certain poor shepherds" to emphasize that the news was not given to the rich or powerful.

[violinsontv.livejournal.com]

Bayushisan, I think that's because it *isn't* Biblical at all. IIRC, Aesop had a fable about a farmer whose oxcart was stuck in the mud who prayed loudly for help getting it out without making a physical effort. Hercules happens along the road, listens to him whine for a bit and says, "*The gods* help those who help themselves."

Until I came across that, I most frequently heard the proverb as "The Lord helps those....etc."

Here's a link from FreeLibrary.com:

http://aesop.thefreelibrary.com/Fables/2-7