Did anyone congratulate Lawrence O'Donnel for quoting the Bible to the GOP?

[grasswire]

I've been off DU mostly for a couple of weeks, and may have missed any threads on this.

But I have to remark how much I was affected by the courage of Lawrence O'Donnell to quote Matthew to shame Republicans.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

Thank you, sir.

[provis99]

1. I don't know any conservatives who have actually read the Bible.

They keep a handful of about four or five goddy-sounding quotes, some of which might even come from the Bible, but I've met none who have actually read the Bible.

Met some atheists who have read the whole Bible, though.

[orpupilofnature57]

2. Theres no way they could keep their contrite views ,if they read the whole book...

Shrubs TRICK was to Preach the new testament to fundies and use the old testament to justify War ,Homophobic policies ,and pure pilfering of our countries wealth.

[Hardrada]

10. I'm generally agnostic but I've read it twice.

And much of the NT in Greek.

[CarmanK]

3. Conservatives profess God, but not a JUST GOD!

conservatives invoke their special relationship with god and then proceed to dictate to others how they shall live their lives according to their interpretation of the BIBLE. For them, it is not about god, it all about power and money. These extremists lust after power, celebrity and money. and they are willing to corrupt the word of GOD to do it. the SHAME IS THEIRS individually but the harm they do is to society.

[Ilsa]

4. I saw that program. He did well in showing that to the GOP, religion is a political tool. nt

[chollybocker]

5. When so-called Progressives quote the bible to make a point,

it's not a good sign. It only legitimizes the bible and quote-mining for modern context. Especially for a political pundit with his own show. 'Biblical' and 'Progressive' are a dichotomy.

[grasswire]

6. I disagree.

I believe -- no, I know -- that the progressive Christian church is a force for good in the world. Don't you?

[chollybocker]

8. No.

People are good. Religion is unnecessary in that equation.

[demosincebirth]

7. I guess you only must know christian fundies. Many liberal christians here on DU.

[chollybocker]

9. Christian fundies, liberal Christians...

You're changing the subject.

Lawrence O'Donnell is hero worshipped as a strong 'progressive' voice. Quoting the Bible is not progressive. He might as well quote the Koran or the Torah to back him up. Progressive means not relying on 2,000 year old tracts to form an opinion on issues that affect the future. Yes, I understand that all people follow religion to varying degrees. My criticism rests with LO.

[demosincebirth]

17. That is your opinion on what progressive means. Much of the New Testament is very progressive. For

example, the Beatitudes...very progressive.

[JI7]

12. he is calling them out on their hypocrisy , i don't see him calling for prayer in schools

or making christianity a state religion or anything like that.

[no limit]

16. The simple fact is most (if not all) Republicans in congress claim to be christian

so I don't think he legitimized anything. He was simply pointing out their absolute hypocrisy on the issue. Millions of people in Africa are dying from famine. Yet the same people that claim to believe in Christ are the ones wanting to cut aid to those countries. If anything this helps show just how irrelevant religion is and how it is nothing more than a badge that nobody actually tries to follow.

[Avalux]

11. I saw that - Lawrence was excellent.

He did a great job without coming off as preachy.

[Rincewind]

13. When right wingers quote the Bible,

they quote the Old Testament, not the New Testament. That Jesus fellow was damn hippie, don't ya know.

[JoePhilly]

18. He also hung out with prostitiutes, had questionable middle eastern ties, and too much empathy.

[SwampG8r]

14. yay matthew

matthew is my kind of christian
he shows a side of jesus that is all about social justice
next he will drop a mark bomb on them

[Loudmxr]

15. Point of the parable. The good did not do good just to please the Lord.

They just did it because... like... it was the thing to do.

No reward. No thanks necessary. It was just the right thing to do.

I had this read at my mother's funeral, a fighter for senior rights and justice. Died in her 26th year on the Senior Board of Burbank California. An appointive position of the City Council.

"I need to say something that's gonna piss somebody off tomorrow"...we would say to each other. Because, the shamrock grows from the same field, we both fought and I fight for justice.

We would find a way to say what needed to be said without pissing off one or other individuals. But the message needed to get out without personal rancor. That was our rule.


I saw Lawrence O'Donnel on that night too. I wept.

Thanks for posting.