1. Comment #70789 by EastCoastAtheist on September 16, 2007 at 11:18 pm

"Does god split hairs too, or just you?" Ha!

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2. Comment #70795 by stereoroid on September 16, 2007 at 11:47 pm

"Again, I would say 'how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?' on this one."
"Well, you did ask a Jesuit on the show..."

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3. Comment #70796 by Corylus on September 16, 2007 at 11:48 pm

Interesting. I believe that Colbert is genuinely a Catholic.

I would be interested to know that his real feelings were about this. I admit I'm puzzled.

Oh well. Can't figure out everything - I'm just going to go back to sniggering about that airport bathroom quip :)

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4. Comment #70798 by EastCoastAtheist on September 16, 2007 at 11:54 pm

Corylus,

I can't be sure, but I don't think that Colbert is actually a Catholic. The Stephen Colbert you see on his show is not the real life Stephen Colbert. It's just a character that he plays to make fun of the Bill O'Reillys of the world. His show is on Comedy Central, after all. Keep in mind, this is the man who originally did the "This Week In God" segments on the Daily Show. (I love it when they do those, even without Colbert). He makes fun of religion and the religious a lot.

But hey, it's not like I know him personally.

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5. Comment #70800 by lukerazor on September 17, 2007 at 12:21 am

I couldn't get this link to work.

In case anyone else is having problems I found a copy here
http://www.milkandcookies.com/link/67899/detail/

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6. Comment #70846 by Bueller_007 on September 17, 2007 at 4:17 am

Colbert is a Catholic in real life. He teaches Sunday school.

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7. Comment #70853 by Crazymalc on September 17, 2007 at 4:48 am

I've only seen Colbert twice. This one and the one with Michael Behe. (we don't get much English stuff here in Korea).

I've like what I've seen though. He asks very good questions with a healthy dose of humour.

Very good!

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8. Comment #70865 by Aaron on September 17, 2007 at 5:27 am

It seems the priest has a harder time accepting that Mother Teresa didn't believe in god than Mother Teresa did.

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9. Comment #70867 by plastictowel on September 17, 2007 at 5:28 am

I watch Colbert every night, and I must say in the past year he's done more for atheism/agnosticism, and the acceptance of science over scripture than any other show I'm familiar with. It's galling to try and comprehend him as a catholic. Although I did read the same review where he claimed he was one.

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10. Comment #70885 by Alkal on September 17, 2007 at 6:56 am

I loved the part about "if there is not a crisis f faith, why would you go to Calcutta. That place is enough to make you doubt that existence has a meaning!!!"
True true true

I LOVE COLBERT

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11. Comment #70896 by Robert Maynard on September 17, 2007 at 7:34 am

I love Stewart and Colbert, but in the end their religious beliefs (if any) don't make much of a difference on what I think of them, because who are they?
I can't pretend to be capable of separating, let alone correctly classifying, my knowledge of the character and the person, and I can't pretend to know when what I'm seeing is the real Colbert or his lovably crazy creation. The ambiguity lets him maintain a private personality (or another character?), the details of whom is really none of our business.
Colbert's affability comes from the fact that his affiliations and antagonisms all exist in this unreal, unknown state. eg. Catholics couldn't exactly use him as a posterboy, because of how often he professes belief in young-earth creationism (which the Vatican is officially against) and makes fun of the Pope.
It would be kind of difficult (and ridiculous) to feel alienated from him, or angry/disappointed with him, because of how fictional and uncertain his persona is.

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12. Comment #70905 by Galactor on September 17, 2007 at 7:59 am

"Isn't it up to us to continue to believe in God even if we have no evidence?"

And the way he delivered the question! Fantastic.

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13. Comment #70911 by konquererz on September 17, 2007 at 8:31 am

This is absolutely hysterical! I haven't laughed this hard for a while.
"So a really nice atheist could be a saint?" Classic!

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14. Comment #70931 by GoneGolfing on September 17, 2007 at 9:26 am

Funny Stuff !

It's obvious to me that Colbert may be a Catholic by name but certainly not by experience. His hilarious hooks, jabs and uppercuts in this interview show that more than likely any theistic beliefs he may have are truely weak and superficial.

GG :-)

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15. Comment #70938 by pewkatchoo on September 17, 2007 at 9:40 am

Very amusing. But, perhaps it is just me, but I see him as being very clearly on the side of the faithheads. He may like to show-up the obvious ironies of the position of the church, but he still follows it.

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16. Comment #70939 by ksskidude on September 17, 2007 at 9:40 am

Wow could this Father apologize a little more for her?

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17. Comment #71048 by walk on September 17, 2007 at 4:40 pm

Colbert is brillant here! He expresses the beliefs of the priest in such a way as to make them sound absolutely absurd.

Colbert: "Why be good if you don't constantly fear the threat of heaven or hell." - - - priceless!

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18. Comment #71055 by EastCoastAtheist on September 17, 2007 at 5:28 pm

I believe that Colbert is genuinely a Catholic.

I see him as being very clearly on the side of the faithheads.

Everyday, at my old job, I used to laugh about the previous night's Daily Show/Colbert Report with the other employees. One day, our boss overheard us and said something like this (I'm paraphrasing here):

'I think Colbert is kind of funny, but I don't really like his show. I guess I really just don't agree with the things he has to say.'

It took a lot to keep the laughter down. I shot a few glances at the other employees and they all had big grins on their faces. Some people just don't get satire.

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19. Comment #71071 by Russell's Teapot on September 17, 2007 at 6:27 pm

I see what you're saying, ECA, but Colbert teaches Sunday School and has said (as Real Life Stephen) that he's a Catholic. He's probably a fairly liberal one, of course, but he at least superficially believes in Sky Chief and his Zombie Son.

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20. Comment #71089 by atkinson on September 17, 2007 at 8:00 pm

The link failed for me, too. So did the alternative. :(

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21. Comment #71132 by Tumara Baap on September 17, 2007 at 10:12 pm

I have to concede the priest probably got it right. A lot of atheists, Hitchens included, proclaim Mother Theresa was a closet atheist. Rubbish. I doubt MT ever subjected herself to the finer points of atheist argument. She simply did not feel the exquisite elation that religion or meditation is sometimes known to impart. In TGD, Dawkins is dismissive of those who ask him "What of Mozart then?" when they argue in favor of God. Indeed it is a dismally poor argument from a purely logical standpoint. But the power of sublime feeling in most people gets grossly underestimated by skeptics. Most people when experiencing an intense emotion rationally succumb to the primordial feeling, and thereafter arrange supporting reasons to make their first instinctive position tenable. MRI brain scans reveal such is the thought process in most, and not just about God. I hazard to say even "scientists" like Francis Collins have been sucked into the divine quicksand in this manner. Note there is not a single logical reason for his stance... all he seems to do is to suspend his scientific rigor to make room for Jesus. It's mind boggling. Nuns and other religious figures have reported being overcome by "Unio Mystica", an intense spiritual feeling that usually cannot be summoned at will and may occur only once or twice a lifetime. Psychedlic agents, such as the fungus extract psilocybin may trigger the same. Ditto for certain epilepsy patients put on anti-seizure meds. Neurosurgeons have reported inducing such feelings simply with electrode stimulation of specific brain regions. What happened with MT was that she didn't feel her elation was commensurate with the mission being undertaken. And that was about it. The preist nailed it.

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22. Comment #71165 by Silviu Gherman on September 18, 2007 at 1:18 am

This video illustrates best the arguments against atheists. The fact the Mother Theresa is dead and some guy makes jokes on her is... how can I say... relatively not nice. The woman lived a life of spiritual misery and pain. Agreed, she loved poverty itself and was a violent anti-abortionist and she shouldn't be raised and praised for her lack of belief; but still, the fact that she is dead must be treated with a minimum of concern and empathy. Christopher Hitchens talked about her in a book that appeared in her lifetime. That was OK. So please, treat every departed human being with some sort of empathy. She wasn't such an evil witch, after all. Just a sincerely deluded one.

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23. Comment #71210 by brainsys on September 18, 2007 at 3:42 am

Yep - I agree the use of MT's doubts and dodgy dealings with money is no reason to completely destroy the woman's reputation. Its the catholics with no doubts that really scare me.

I think we are tending to confuse religious denomination with faith. The pope with his personal hotline to God is against contraception. Most catholic women appear to listen, check out the alternatives and then ignore it.

Churches are great as buildings, great music, clever and insightful clergy, a place to meet good and friendly people and have a few moments of reflection on a Sunday. Mumbling silly words - or even great ones (how can any atheist still not be moved with a rousing rendition of 'Jerusalem'?) is better than a Supermarket visit or even watching the Colbert Show.

No the problem is when these people start believing what they mumble. I think many atheists lack the imagination to realise how duplicitous many of us are. Mumbling and belief are not the same thing.

Getting the mumblers to leave and make space for the fundies might not be a good move ...

An ex-mumbler

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24. Comment #72759 by sillysighbean on September 22, 2007 at 6:02 pm

Colbert asked a very good question: "Why be good if there is no promise of a heavenly reward or eternal punishment?" You would think the priest would have the answer to a very familar question right at his finger tips and he dodged it to gobble up time and the interview ended.

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25. Comment #72767 by steveroot on September 22, 2007 at 8:40 pm

21. Comment #71165 by Silviu Gherman on September 18, 2007 at 1:18 am
This video illustrates best the arguments against atheists.
...
So please, treat every departed human being with some sort of empathy.

It is a fallacy of relevance to say an argument is invalid because it seems (or is) mean-spirited.

And once you're dead, you're dead. Was Hitchens too hard on Jerry Falwell?
(Psssst: "sympathy", not "empathy")
Steve

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26. Comment #98037 by Newton30 on December 13, 2007 at 2:44 am

Colbert is practically the fifth horseman of atheists. Too bad he's in the closet. His book 'I am America and so can you' is almost as damaging to religion as the God Delusion. It was his interview of Richard that first got me interested in this whole atheism movement.

At one point in his book, he rants satirically about atheism as he always does, and then describes agnostics as 'Atheists without balls' LOL!

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