“What does anybody want? Not to be alone. I think a performer gets on stage and says the things that are in his mind in his own particular way, to make a connection with the audience so he doesn’t feel so alone. And hopefully the audience feels the same way.”
Gems like the above quote resulted from a wonderful, insightful interview on the program “Witness” with a then-Colbearded Stephen and Fr. Thomas Rosica of the Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation. The interview, which occurred in April of this year, offers a deeper understanding into how Stephen juggles his work as a satirist/comedian with his Catholic faith.
After the jump I highlight a few great quotes from the exchange. Enjoy the vid!
Quotables
On the character:
- It sounds pejorative to say “idiot,” but idiocy…is a hard thing to consistently achieve.
- [The character] knows that willful ignorance allows you to win arguments you otherwise wouldn’t because you can be selective about your own facts, and still be honest with yourself.
- (referring to the character’s “foolish” tendencies) Father Rosica: “And we’re all fools for Christ, huh?” SC: “ Yeah, yeah. Willing to be wrong in society, or wrong according to our time, but right according to our conscience, which is guided by the Holy Spirit.”
On being a “thinking” person of faith:
- Every religion has been so defensive of its beliefs that it has actually abandoned its beliefs at times. And that I can do my show and make jokes about the Church, and now sit with a priest and laugh about it, that’s a fairly modern behavior. […] I hope this is the right relationship with your faith, to love it, but not to exclude it from your intellect.
- Faith can’t be argued. It has to be felt. Hopefully you can still feel your faith fully, and let your mind and have a logical life of its own, and they do not defy each other, but compliment each other.
On comedy and faith:
- If you’re flippant [with your jokes], it is the opposite of joy.
- Doing something joyfully doesn’t make it easier, it only makes it better.
- “Do not worry” [referencing scripture passage] is close to a commandment.
Clergy related:
- I was at an Anglican church, and a female priest was saying the mass. […] When I heard a woman say ‘this is My Body,” – the freshness of hearing a woman say that gave the message a universality it always should have.
- I have no doubt that [Pope Francis] is far from a perfect man, but he gives me hope that the message of joy that he wants to spread right now can be seen as not revolutionary but a manifestiation of something that was always there.
- Stephen’s hypothetical question to Pope Francis: “How do you achieve joy?”
I like that Stephen keeps his understanding of his faith very closely related to love and service to others, and not so much by reciting or getting hung up on a lot of dogma – even though, of course, he is well versed in scripture and in the teachings of the Church. He also clearly believes that funny and faith can peacefully coexist, and this is a message that should certainly resonate with comedy-loving people of Catholic or any faith.
Stephen Colbert Discusses Faith and Comedy on 'Witness'
Gems like the above quote resulted from a wonderful, insightful interview on the program “Witness” with a then-Colbearded Stephen and Fr. Thomas Rosica of the Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation. The interview, which occurred in April of this year, offers a deeper understanding into how Stephen juggles his work as a satirist/comedian with his Catholic faith.
After the jump I highlight a few great quotes from the exchange. Enjoy the vid!
On the character:
On being a “thinking” person of faith:
On comedy and faith:
Clergy related:
I like that Stephen keeps his understanding of his faith very closely related to love and service to others, and not so much by reciting or getting hung up on a lot of dogma – even though, of course, he is well versed in scripture and in the teachings of the Church. He also clearly believes that funny and faith can peacefully coexist, and this is a message that should certainly resonate with comedy-loving people of Catholic or any faith.