He teaches Sunday School, motherf*cker!
Earlier in the week, Stephen Colbert had Philip Zimbardo on The Colbert Report to discuss Zimbardo’s book, The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil. After a few minutes, though, the interview turned into a theological discussion concerning—among other things—whether or not God created hell (and by extension, evil) and how folks end up there.
Watch the full interview below. The good stuff starts around the 4:00 mark.
So not only is Colbert a great entertainer when it comes to White House Correspondents’ Association dinners, he’s also got some pretty good theological chops to boot!
More info and comments can be found on the No Fact Zone, here and here. You can read Zimbardo’s follow-up response at The Hero Workshop.
On a related note, does anyone else think that Colbert’s exclamation would make for an awesome t-shirt? It’s at least as good as “Colbert Has Stones”.
Comments
Matt Langdon
February 16, 2008 9:35amThanks for the mention of the Hero Workshop. I had no idea this was going to be such a popular topic - I guess I underestimated the power of Colbert.
John Bell
February 16, 2008 5:27pmWow - I had no idea Colbert could discuss theology so fluently or fluidly. Thanks for sharing this!
Gene Summerlin
February 19, 2008 11:52pmIt’d be a great t-shirt, but I’m not sure exactly where I could wear it.
Aaron
February 20, 2008 2:50pmI’m not sure I’m convinced Colbert’s ready to start teaching Sunday School.
The impression I get from Colbert, in this clip and many others, is that while he’s certainly well versed in theology, I think he balances what he’s learned about the church from his childhood with a heavy dose of adult skepticism.
In this clip, it’s illustrated in his comments on obeying authority.
It’s just so hard to tell with Colbert “the TV personality,” because he’s playing a character (one quite the polar opposite of who he really is) but at the same time, you often see little bits of his real personality seeping through.
Jason
February 20, 2008 6:53pm@Aaron: Actually, Colbert really does teach Sunday School.
http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2007/edition_09-23-2007/AStephen_Colbert
But I think you’re right about the skepticism. And based on everything I’ve read about him, I think Colbert would say that there’s nothing wrong with being a devout Catholic and still thinking critically about what you believe. The two aren’t mutually exclusive.