Steve Colbert Runs Rings Around Sam Harris

Before you watch this fascinating video of Steve Colbert interviewing -- and utterly bamboozling -- bestselling atheist Sam Harris (The End of Faith), read this post at Althouse: "Colbert and the dissonance between religion and comedy."

If I had not read this post, and the Colbert interviews touching on religion that it links to, I would have assumed, like the friends who are visiting me right now, that Colbert was purely making fun of religion, parodying a fundamentalist believer in Biblical inerrancy. "After all, he was on 'The Daily Show'!" So he must be a straight-up liberal humanist, right? Not exactly. Ann described a Colbert interview with Paul Begala:

Begala reached in his back pocket and pulled out a copy of the New Testament that he's been carrying since 1979. [ . . . ] and says he highlighted John 3:16 and handed it to Clinton. Begala hands the opened book to Colbert, points to the verse, tells Colbert to read it [ . . . ] Colbert takes a slight glance at the book, flips it shut, looks straight at Begala and says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that those who believe in him shall not die but have eternal life." Begala says, triumphantly, "Four and a half seconds!" And Colbert says "That's the Christian sound bite."

Begala wants to use the New Testament to prove a point about how he got through to Clinton. I felt that, reciting the verse, Colbert was not being the Colbert Report character but that his own religion was dictating that he had to say the verse as a demonstration of his own faith, and it wasn't right to fool around with that. I can't say why I feel so sure. The Colbert character would, I think, have been more pleased with himself to know the verse. You'd have felt the preen. I experienced this moment as a startling statement of faith, the kind of thing you don't normally see on TV.

Ann quotes at length from an interview Colbert did with "Fresh Air's" Terry Gross, in which he talked about the "tightrope" it was for him to do "This Week in God" on "The Daily Show," because he's a churchgoing Catholic and people in the comedy world are always asking him, "Yeah, but do you believe that stuff?" "What's funny to me" Colbert said then, "is what people do in the name of religion."

Now watch him interview Sam Harris. (Windows Media Player required.) Harris begins his standard rap about how "we're all atheists with regard to Poseidon." Colbert sternly overrides him, insisting that not all gods are created equal and "My god can kick your god's ass." Harris seems nonplussed. He starts to talk about those three crazy religions, plural, that believe their Books were written by God and contain no errors. Colbert interrupts him mock-aggressively, barking that we're not talking about three books here: we're talking about one -- the Bible. People who think some other book is the last word aren't "crazy," says Colbert: "They're wrong!" He goes on to say the Bible is inerrant because -- it says it is! Comfortable laughter from the audience.

Colbert hectors and all but shouts down Harris, shutting him up, in a parody of a religious right-wing talk-show host. But if you've read the Althouse post, you know there's at least a double twist of irony here, if not a veritable dobos torte or puff pastry of sincerity and parody. Colbert is something far more subtle than a fundamentalist, but on some level he means what he's saying, and is making fun of himself for meaning it by impersonating a fundamentalist's absurdly over-the-top way of saying it. No wonder Harris is baffled: it's impossible to tell where Colbert is really coming from. If you assumed he was mocking religion itself and therefore agreed with you, you'd fall into a trap.

By contrast, Harris seemed very literal-minded, plodding and straight-ahead. If you assumed the rationalists were the smart ones, all I can say is -- watch out.

Comments

[XWL]

Hugh Hewitt appeared recently, and he in a post on his blog he speculates that Colbert may be more conservative than many folks assume.

But I claim primacy on this idea.

Here's a link to my post from early February (which I think many people who used search engines to find the post were disappointed with which closet I was outing him from)

Also, I look forward to him hosting the White House Correspondents Association Dinner this Saturday, I hope he does the entire evening 'in character'.

[Michael Reynolds]

First of all, dobos torte? Excellent choice.

Second, no one, no matter how smart, can beat a comedian on his own show. The smartest guy in the world can't go on Letterman or Jon Stewart or Colbert and somehow prevail. The host owns the audience, and controls the timing and flow, and has long since established the dominant ethos. And by the way, the three guys named above are all highly intelligent on top of their institutional advantages.

[Simon]

What are you talking about. Sam Harris was the only one talking sense. Colbert was just talking over him and not listening.

Of course, he was being more crowd pleasing, what with his very biased audience.

Try that in front of a group of atheists.

[David]

Harris was a stuffed shirt, with no sense of humor about himself. If you're going to go on a show like that, be prepared to have fun poked at you -- and be ready to take part in the fun.

It looked like Harris takes himself too seriously for that.

[eteraz]

Sam Harris is a tool.

Anyone who bashes religion on the bases of reason but can't concede to reason behing bashed by reason (deconstruction - adorno/horkheimer -- is a tool.

[ŧαŋġуаρρłε]

I have to agree with commenter Michael Reynolds concerning how a comedian owns his show and audience no matter who the guest.

However, I do think Harris has a point. He just seemed unaware of the fact he was never going to get it across on that kind of show. Why and how much we should tolerate faith is a very good question, especially in light of violence committed in the name of it. Colberts' lighthearted but constant "let's kick some ass" retorts just underscores one of the points Harris was attempting to make.

But I also think Harris might be a little short-shirted in reducing his argument to reason alone and in the name calling of believers (crazy or stupid).

[amba]

If you agree with Harris, you'll think he was talking sense. And of course the comedian owns the show. All that's beside my point. My point is that Colbert was doing something very complicated and cunning -- parodying what may well be his own side in the debate. He has faith. He may be embarrassed by the rhetorical excesses of some of those who share his faith, so he gets to bash Harris from behind that mask. It's such a stealth strategy it makes your head spin.

[quxxo]

Stephen Colbert is a riddle wrapped up in an enigma served on a bed of lettuce that speaks to you. Stephen Colbert is a bird chirping in an empty meadow with a song no one but you can hear. Comedy is a wreath of beautiful flowers that smell very, very bad.

[fhg]

?

[einstein]

It's funny and sad that some people still don't understand that Colbert Show is satire. He's play-acting a conservative. All of his interviews are full of these kinds of absurd remarks and idiocies such as the line quoted above: "Bible is inerrant because -- it says it is."

As someone who is sympathetic to the ideas espoused in this blog, it's a bit embarrassing to keep reading such clueless content.

Some more contact with the current popular culture, sarcasm and irony would do be helpful.

[Nick]

I love both these guys and Sam did wonderfully. I saw nothing that could be considered an intelligent point from the Colbert character and, judging from the actual substance of your post, neither did you. That you found anything other than parody and mockery in Colbert's performance says more about you than it does about Harris or Colbert.

[Dr. Diogeron]

It's amazing how many people don't seem to understand that Colbert is a satirist, first and foremost. Sam Harris is smarter than 95% of the people who watch Colbert (and 99% of people who don't.) To say that Colbert "ran rings" around Harris is just plain stupid. Harris has a Ph.D. and is a true intellectual who has written several books on the subject. Anyone who expects that a person of substance can actually make an argument (in the academic sense) on a show like Colbert's is smoking something really strong. On second thought, maybe they should to enhance their critical thinking abilities. It's a COMEDY show, dude.