funny catholic

There are times when I wish I had cable tv – I gave it up years ago in my effort to simplify and get out of debt. I would love to be able to watch certain things regularly though, like Stephen Colbert.

DotCommonweal & Mark Mossa have links to a disturbingly funny clip of Stephen Colbert doing a liturgical dance to “King of Glory.” If you want a giggle, check it out. If you’re likely to be offended by satire, I’d suggest staying far away from Stephen Colbert.

Which is why I was utterly mystified to learn that he’d been invited to speak at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner. My brother (who not only has cable but has TIVO to watch cable for him!) first told me about this little shindig. I later downloaded it and laughed my you know what off. Colbert was his brilliant satirical self. The audience laughed for a bit, then laughed politely, then stopped laughing entirely. It was just too close to reality I guess. "And reality has a well-known liberal bias," as Colbert says.

Colbert: "And though I am a committed Christian, I believe that everyone has the right to their own religion, be you Hindu, Jewish or Muslim. I believe there are infinite paths to accepting Jesus Christ as your personal savior."

He delivered this perfectly, pausing just before the bit about accepting JC. I don’t know about you, but in my experience God has a sense of humor. And sometimes things are so crazy you just need to laugh. Like the Onion article after 9/11 … “God Angrily Clarifies Don’t Kill Rule.”

Anyway, back to Stephen Colbert. It turns out that he is in fact a "committed Christian." He's a praticing Catholic. He talked a bit about his Catholicism on “Fresh Air” with Terry Gross:

"I still go to church and my children are being raised in the Catholic Church. I was actually my daughter's catechist last year for First Communion, which was a great opportunity to speak very simply and plainly about your faith without anybody saying, 'Yeah, but do you believe that stuff?' which happens a lot in what I do."

An in an interview with Time Out New York:

TONY: You created The Daily Show religious-satire segment, "This Week in God." How do you square your Catholicism with comedy?
SC: I love my Church, and I'm a Catholic who was raised by intellectuals, who were very devout. I was raised to believe that you could question the Church and still be a Catholic. What is worthy of satire is the misuse of religion for destructive or political gains. That's totally different from the Word, the blood, the body and the Christ. His kingdom is not of this earth.

Amen brother.