Colbert takes on the Creed and the Cross!
Last night the comedian got his audience--a bunch of liberal young adults, I presume--to cheer for the Creed while quite nobly "defending the faith."
As his conservative character, he took on Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's line of argument in the case about a cross displayed as a war memorial in a national park. In doing so he showed how tearing down a small piece of the wall between church and state will destroy religion--exactly the point made in this U.S. Catholic essay (survey is now inactive-results will appear in December issue).
Here's the key part of "The Word," symbol-minded (better heard than read):
"The cross represents everybody--Christians and people who are going to hell. And since it represents everybody, shouldn't we use it to symbolize every religion. Or symbolize no religion. Atheists can have crosses too!
"If Scalia is right, that means that the Cross no longer signifies the only son of God...eternally begotten by the Father..." From there he launches into a recitation of the Creed!
"Scalia knows that it's just two pieces of wood nailed at a 90-degree angle," Colbert says of the Catholic justice.
Now if only we could get Stephen Colbert to come talk more about being a Catholic comedian with us! Bryan and I were just in New York interviewing some scholars (including Karen Armstrong!), and we tried to get a few minutes with him, to no avail. But don't worry Catholic Colbert fans, we won't give up!
Comments (5)
Externals
By Ralph Ranieri (not verified) on Friday, October 23, 2009It is not the cross in a public cemetery or the Ten Commandments carved on the court house wall that matter. It is the cross and the Law that is in our hearts that matter. Jesus never cared much for externals. Matters of the heart were his main concern. He lived in a world where the externals were governed by pagans, and this never seemed to bother him.
Keep trying, Megan! I LOVE
By Anonymous (not verified) on Wednesday, October 21, 2009Keep trying, Megan! I LOVE Stephen Colbert and would really enjoy reading an interview with him. (And maybe it would give US Catholic the "Colbert Bump", haha)
Cobert's point is
By Greg Pierce (not verified) on Tuesday, October 20, 2009Stephen Colbert's point in his hilarious and courageous diatribe is that precisely BECAUSE the cross DOES mean something, we Christians cannot force it upon others. Scalia and others argue that the cross can remain in public places because it DOESN'T really mean anything to Christians anymore.
We followers of Jesus need to say two things: 1) the cross means a lot to us and to the world, but 2) we are not interested in forcing others to believe what we do. It is by our actions in our workplaces, with our families, and in our communities and civic affairs that people will know whether or not we are real followers of the Christ. Not by forcing Christian symbols into the public arena.
Let's remove the cross from the pubic square and put it on our shoulders where it belongs.
The Cross
By Al (not verified) on Wednesday, October 21, 2009Greg seems to forget that this country is founded on Judeo-Christian principles and it is not unusual for this society to use the cross in a show of respect regardless of one's religion. Futhermore, there is no wall of separation between Church and State in the constitution but a limit on government to prevent a "Government Religion" to be imposed. Our Founding Fathers realized that a democratic republic could not function without a diciplined citizenry and realized that men of faith provide that dicipline. Fighting the use of the cross is the ruse of the anti-religious secular progressives that wish to rid this country of it's faith so as to impose a secular progressive/marxist government.
Brilliance, Wisdom & Colbert
By Jerry on Thursday, October 15, 2009Occasionally my bright nine year old son likes to smart-off to my wife or me by parsing words. I then have a discussion with him about the difference between wisdom and intelligence and how you can be both smart and a fool.
People can make cute points about the cross, but those who erected the cross to honor and give solace to WW I veterans who settled in the desert to heal from the mental shock of the war did not want to exclude non-Christian veterans.
The ACLU attorney disingenuous claimed that this case would not require tearing down the Argonne Cross and Canadian Cross of Sacrifice at Arlington because there are other religious symbols. However, other symbols are only at individual grave sites. The ACLU will be back to tear down the Argonne Cross and try to destroy our entire religious heritage, and use this case as judicial precedence.
There are brilliant people who give see no value in America's religious heritage and deny it exists, but they are fools.
