Monday, September 21, 2015

An Earnest and Thoughtful Discussion by Stephen Colbert




Stephen Colbert on joy, Pope Francis, and being a fool for Christ

September 15, 2015
Back in April, Comedian extraordinaire Stephen Colbert sat down for an interview with the Salt + Light Media, which has finally seen the light of day. Colbert sheds his famous persona for an earnest, thoughtful discussion, and the results are compelling and heart-warming. Below the video, I've hastily transcribed some highlights.

On faith and reason:
"Carl Sagan said that 'Buddhists believe that their God is so great that he need not actually exist'....I really like that, because it reminds me of St. Anselm of Canterbury's ontological argument for the existence of God. You know, "the fool says in his heart that there is no God, but by God he means that being then which no greater being can be conceived," and he goes into this lovely 13 step proof that God must exist because we conceive of the word. It's logically perfect. It's completely unsatisfying. Faith ultimately can't be argued. Faith has to be felt. Hopefully you can still feel your faith fully and let your mind have a logical life of its own. They do not defy each other, but compliment each other. Because logic itself, I don't think--for me, Aquinas might say differently--logic itself will not lead me to God. But my love of the world and my gratitude toward it will. Hopefully I can use my mind to make my jokes and not deny my love for God at the same time."

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