Colbert Nails Author of The Purpose Driven Life

Tsukasa Buddha

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Tsukasa Buddha
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So Colbert did a fairly friendly interview of the author. But he so got him. (Paraphrases follow)

Colbert: You do believe the literal truth of the Bible? The Bible is the inerant word of God?

Author: Yes.

Colbert: So should we stone gays?

A: ...

Colbert: Because it says that is what we should do in leviticus.

A: ... Who are your writers?

And then he just dodged.

And I liked when he said that he wasn't a fundamentalist.

A: A fundamentalist means that you are just shutting things out. There are fundamentalist Christian, fundamentalist Jews, fundamentalist Muslims, fundamentalist atheists, fundamentalist secularists...

No fundamentalist Buddhists, ha! But WTF is with the last one?

And then when asked what the purpose of life was, he totally copped out.

A: Your purpose is to live your own life, the life God wanted you to live.

:rolleyes:
 
Tsukasa Buddha said:
So Colbert did a fairly friendly interview of the author. But he so got him. (Paraphrases follow)

Colbert: You do believe the literal truth of the Bible? The Bible is the inerant word of God?

Author: Yes.

Colbert: So should we stone gays?

A: ...

Colbert: Because it says that is what we should do in leviticus.

A: ... Who are your writers?
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That was the answer that really took me off guard. The guy tried really hard to present the "christianity is cool man" message, but that response really didn't fit with the persona being presented.

What I want to know is how did be mean for it to come off?

Was it a joke? How was it supposed to be funny?
Was he accusing his writers of being gay or jews?
Did he think that such an obvious question wouldn't be asked?

Or was he truly thinking he was in for a snow job, and got caught on some candid camera thing?
 
The idea of that "Who are your writers?" comment, which was said in the tone of him laughing a little, seemed to be that his question was a "bad joke" and that it shouldn't be taken seriously. That is, he was saying his writers were bad.

Colbert's comeback that he had no writers tonight except the inerrant word of god was perfect if you ask me.

I actually muted my TV after listening to more of his rhetoric because it was bringing back some painful memories. Nothing of what he said was "new" at all. It was the same old garbage I listened to in the mid 1990's. The packaging wasn't even new. I recognized it all. The "I used to think this but then I realized that God" story, the "wow isn't God amazing that he made all this just to make us tiny insignificant things?" bit, the jab at atheists and "secularists" as being dogmatic (I guess a few of them are, but I've never met any that were dogmatic about their atheism and secularism itself). Finally the whole concept seemed to be "you can live your life just fine because god made you to like what you were meant to do" stuff, which is great except it still leaves him to come up to people and say "you must be unhappy because I don't think this is what god made you to do". It's all old, it's all garbage, and Steven at least managed to nail him on the point of how the faithful pick and choose what to take literally and what to take metaphorically.
 
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Dark Jaguar said:
The idea of that "Who are your writers?" comment, which was said in the tone of him laughing a little, seemed to be that his question was a "bad joke" and that it shouldn't be taken seriously. That is, he was saying his writers were bad.

Colbert's comeback that he had no writers tonight except the inerrant word of god was perfect if you ask me.
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I had it on in the background (i'm grading homeworks_. So I couldn't judge tone to much because I wasn't watching body language.

I do think that Colbert managed to keep the interview light, which is fully appropriate.
 
Don't think it's fair to soley pick on Judeao laws. What was the punishment for theft, incest, adultery, murder, homosexuality,...in the surrounding cultures of the Babylonians, Egyptians, Sumerians and Assyrians?
 
The guest wasn't talking about any other cultures/religions. He was talking specifically about the Bible.

I wish I saw it.


ETA: And I like the title of his book, as if only Christians can lead a purpose-driven life.
 
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Tumblehome said:
The guest wasn't talking about any other cultures/religions. He was talking specifically about the Bible.

I wish I saw it.


ETA: And I like the title of his book, as if only Christians can lead a purpose-driven life.
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Comedy Central re-runs the previous day's show about 5 times the following day, so I'm planning to look for it today. Not having yet seen the show, I take the "who are your writers?" question as a comment on the writers' strike -- Colbert is not supposed to be coming up with pre-scripted insights, he's just supposed to be simmering at the "Tell us about your book" level.

There is a book out called "The Reason-Driven Life," which is (obviously) a response to "The Purpose-Driven Life." It takes TP-DL chapter-by-chapter, and shines a light on the fundie foundation it teeters atop.
 
A lot, including that author apparently, are not aware Colbert is a Sunday School teacher.
 
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halofish2000 said:
Don't think it's fair to soley pick on Judeao laws. What was the punishment for theft, incest, adultery, murder, homosexuality,...in the surrounding cultures of the Babylonians, Egyptians, Sumerians and Assyrians?
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It might be callous but I don't care about the fairness of Babylonian, Egyptian, Sumerian and Assyrian law for the simple reason that no one is trying to impose these laws upon me.

LLH
 
halofish2000 said:
Don't think it's fair to soley pick on Judeao laws. What was the punishment for theft, incest, adultery, murder, homosexuality,...in the surrounding cultures of the Babylonians, Egyptians, Sumerians and Assyrians?
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Varied hugely - for example the Egyptians had no particular issue with homosexuality whereas the Hittites made the Israelites look like pussycats.
 
halofish2000 said:
Don't think it's fair to soley pick on Judeao laws. What was the punishment for theft, incest, adultery, murder, homosexuality,...in the surrounding cultures of the Babylonians, Egyptians, Sumerians and Assyrians?
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Tu Quoque.
 
Foster Zygote said:
Why do you say that? Of what relevance is Colbert's Sunday-school teaching to the discussion so far?
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Not presuming to speak for SirPhilip, but I think the point was that Colbert being a Sunday School teacher means he is more familiar with the bible than the average talk show host, a fact the author, a man touting the bible as the inerrant word of god, perhaps wasn't prepared for.
 
LordoftheLeftHand said:
It might be callous but I don't care about the fairness of Babylonian, Egyptian, Sumerian and Assyrian law for the simple reason that no one is trying to impose these laws upon me.

LLH
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Just curious - but what Old Testament laws are trying to be imposed on you? And is it the laws or the laws and the punishments that are trying to being imposed on you?
 
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