I saw this video clip of Bill Maher on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and I thought that I would share it with you. All the bad language is bleeped out, but there is still some PG stuff left in, so, viewer, be warned. The subject turned to Catholicism, as one might expect, given that Colbert is a practicing Catholic and Maher is a former Catholic who is now a practicing New Atheist. He even made his own documentary Religulous, which is Maher’s portmanteau for “religious” and “ridiculous.”
Their brief religious debate made an impact on me: Colbert’s humble admission (“I suck as a Catholic”) spoke to my own heart. It was like a great awakening. I thought to myself, “I suck as a Catholic too!”—to which myriads of celestial hallelujahs could be heard chorusing in affirmation.
And this epiphany has inspired me to start a new project here at New Walden. As you know, if you have been reading any of the previous posts, I have mentioned New Year’s resolutions a few times. It occurred to me that a great resolution for those of us who care about our faith would be to resolve to improve in our practice of it.
So my plan is to create a new section devoted to improving the practice of the Christian faith. And because I am Catholic, it will obviously center on practices from the Catholic tradition. It will also be based on the spiritual principles I discuss in my book, especially John Paul’s concept of a Biblical Moral Psychology. And because the Church year ends this week, it means that this project needs to get started in the next few days, so I better get busy! Talk to you soon. JG
Theresa
This is astounding! Stephen Colbert EVANGELIZING Bill Maher!
JG
I thought that Colbert held his own. Certainly, as far as style and comportment goes, Colbert performed as well as anyone, and I admire this tremendously. His performance in this regard was quite Chestertonian (wouldn’t you say?)—the way in which he maintained his winsomeness, his fluidity, and his good humor. I could certainly take some coaching from Mr. Colbert on that score.
ON THE OTHER HAND, Colbert let Maher get in a couple of good punches of his own. And they could have and should have been answered. It is my objective and unbiased opinion that my book could have helped Colbert tremendously in this regard. Someone needs to get that man a copy of my book; the health of Christendom might very well depend on it!
What I need to do is post a play-by-play analysis of the debate! What do you think?
And what do you think about the “debate?” Who won it? Would anyone like to offer their own analysis? JG