When Keith Olbermann quotes scripture, he must have something very profound to say. He doesn’t quote scripture, so when he did last night on Countdown, I was riveted to the entire show.
Keith’s Biblical quote:
In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets. – Jesus; Matthew 7:12 (NRSV)
His passionate special comment was in response to California’s Proposition 8 passing and taking away the right of gay and lesbian couples to legally marry, but goes beyond just Prop 8 to the very root of Christianity, love.
Here is the clip of the show with Keith’s special comment. I can’t write about it as well as he says it:
I ask everyone to read one passage not quoted very often because it puts the responsibility of right and wrong, and good and evil squarely on each individual.
You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? – Jesus; Luke 12:56-57 (NRSV)
I believe all the religious wrangling about the Bible saying homosexuality is a sin misses Christ Jesus’ point, which is to love God, love one another, and love your neighbor as yourself. He also implores people to pay attention and make up their own minds, take personal responsibility and don’t fall back on blind faith. People are so stuck on quoting scripture that they lose site of the spirit and meaning of the Bible as a whole.
I don’t believe Jesus would be against gay marriage in today’s world. I do believe He would be livid at the behavior of many people who claim Him as their Savior.
Countdown, gay marriage, Jesus, Keith Olbermann, Keith Quotes Bible, Marriage definition, redefine marriage
November 11th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
[...] When Keith Olbermann Quotes Scripture [...]
November 12th, 2008 at 2:03 am
NRSV stands for the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, the translation and interpretation used by Biblical scholars.
November 12th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
YES! This brought tears to my eyes! Holy crap! This was on live TV! Thank you, Olbermann!
November 12th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
** What would Omar Kayyam do? Creed of a skeptic. **
Amazing isn’t it how those who imagine that they can speak clearly about “what-Jesus-would-do” end up drawing diametrically opposed conclusions. Ripping verses out of context and finding genuine contradictions are all part of the exigetical game.
Quoting “scripture” unfortunately reinforces a view that xian writings represent a single, unified, consistent source for wisdom, knowledge, guidelines based on an alleged supernatural foundation. Nonsense.
Olbermann might instead have quoted Master Kung (Confucius) who did not bring gods or spirits of any sort into ethics.
15:23 Tsze-kung asked, saying, “Is there one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all one’s life?” The Master said, “Is not ‘reciprocity’ such a word? What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.” The Analects [trans. S.R. McIntyre 2003]
No god is needed to police human behavior. All ethics is irreducibly social, but not utilitarian. Harming others cannot be generalized; otherwise, no culture could exist.
Olbermann also quoted from The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam in Richard Le Gallienne’s translation of 1901. The Fitzgerald Rubaiyat (1879) had become a skeptic’s, an agnostic’s credo, extolling and suffering everything transitory without offering a spurious anodyne like post-mortem existence. (Clarence Darrow, who defended John Scopes and evolution, thus applied his “freedom of conscience” under Amendment 1 of the Constitution.)
A quatrain added by Gallienne adds to a skeptical theme:
So I be written in the Book of Love,
I have no care about that book above;
Erase my name, or write it, as you please–
So I be written in the Book of Love.
bipolar2 ©2008
November 13th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Keith Olberman is the most liberal jack ass on the airwaves today. Not a source worth even quoting or referring too. he is a bill maher wannabe but with more hate.
November 13th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
@_bark, I cried, too. Did you see Rachel Maddow’s face when her show started right after Countdown? She looked like she had busted into tears and had just dried them up in time for the camera. Hope you’ll read the previous article I wrote about a Case for Gay Marriage. We lost in California, Florida and Arkansas, but we won in Connecticut. Massachusetts has marriage equality and has managed to keep it.
@Bipolar2, thank you for mentioning that ethics and morality are not solely found in religion or religious texts. I know personally more than a few atheists who are extremely moral, ethical people with strong values. That’s why I argue often for a strict separation of church and state. We are not a theocracy.
I quoted the Bible as well, and it shows just how anyone of any belief can find passages to support his or her argument.
I am a Christian, and I find much of the spirit and teachings of Christianity to be trampled down by right-wing conservatives claiming to be Christians when their behavior and hatred are anything but Christian.
I had not thought about it in a long time, but Jesus quoted Tsze-kung in Matthew 7:12. They didn’t seem to have rules about referencing your sources in Biblical times. Jesus quoted a lot of non-Jewish wisdom throughout scripture, one of the reasons He was so dangerous. He thought differently, and they couldn’t have that, now could they?
@Eric, so, you’re back. Yes, Keith Olbermann is a liberal and he does get angry pretty often, but, so do you.
I like Rachel Maddow and she is a policy liberal with a brain, she doesn’t spew hate, oh, and she’s a lesbian with a life partner, and I wish for them the right to get married legally should they decide to do so.
I like Keith and Rachel, so I will likely continue to put up videos of them when I find something I decide to post about in one or both of their shows. I’m one of those liberals as well. I’m not a partisan liberal, I’m a policy liberal, so I don’t always agree with the Democrats. I listen to my own sense of what is right, as Christ taught in the passage from Luke that I quoted.
We’ll likely never agree, but I do enjoy these jousts with you. Thanks for coming back. It reminds me of Maddow v Buchanan.
November 13th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
keith is the man.
sleeping disorders’s last blog post..How Sleepy’s BodyDiagnostics Program Can Help You Find the Perfect Mattress
November 13th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
@ Eric: Isn’t it funny, that in the same instance that you condemn hate, you direct your own hate towards somebody who has spoken with more elegance, grace and benevolence than you seem able to yourself muster.
The real treat however is the contrast between Keith Olberman’s unobtrusive appeal for love, (instead of which he could easily have gone on a rant of attacks upon those in support of Prop
and your beligerant and unprovoked recriminations.
Maybe you’re just a big soft sensitive guy with a chasm of insecurity under that opinionated surface, but I didn’t see a trace of hate in that speech, only despair.
November 13th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
The free agency to live as one chooses is a sacred right owned by each person on earth. This makes any issue regarding gayness or gay marriage quite moot and spiritually illegal. The law of love by itself has
produced that right, so when you call yourself a “christian”, ask, could I
also call myself a christ? Jesus called upon us all to be christs,I believe.
And when you pronounce the word LOVE, ask, am I a christ, and if i am
not, then how can I say,”I love you”?. Christian means only one thing,—(“CHRIST”) If you would be a true lover, you must also be a CHRIST.
November 13th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Eric, Who are you to call Keith Olberman a jackass? You can only call
him that if that is what you are. Your brand of judgement shows you
for what you have made yourself and for the kind of person who Jesus spoke out against.——Doug Rosbury
November 14th, 2008 at 12:53 am
Eric;
You suck the sweat off a dead mans balls.
November 14th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
@Doug, are being straight and having heterosexual marriages also moot and spiritually illegal? I’m not sure I’m following your point as it applies to love and marriage in society today. Though I do agree with your comment to Eric.
@Alex, great! Couldn’t say it better myself.
@Mr. Joshua: for Eric – ouch! But sometimes the truth hurts. That’s a good one. I’m gonna have to remember it.
November 14th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
@sleeping disorders: Keith is indeed the man. His passionate plea was just that, a plea for mercy for gay and lesbian couples to be treated equally to straight people who want to get married.
Off point, I love my Select Comfort Sleep-Number bed. I will never own another type of bed unless they come up with one that can read your body and mind when you lie down and adjust your mattress automatically
November 14th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Joubess, You misunderstood me big time. i said that any issue regarding
being gay or about gay marriages meaning any prejudice against same
is made moot by virtue of free agency which gives us the right to live as
we choose. Does that help? If one can live as they choose without
being punished as with free agency(by law) (spiritual law) then it is
illegal to censure them for being gay or entering into a gay marriage.
——Doug
November 15th, 2008 at 2:02 am
Doug,
Thanks for clarifying. I did totally miss your point. Sorry about that.
November 15th, 2008 at 9:42 am
Can we look at an obvious aspect of this argument? Are we not concerned about the survival of the human race? If such a large number of people become gay and become married, whos going to have the
babies to carry on the production of people to keep the race of humans
going.? Is God not concerned about this. Yes, they have the right,.however, It seems there would be a very critical result if so many
ignore the obvious damage to the race. If this is not worth our concern
then What kind of thinking are we engaging in? I feel that the spirit is watching with concern.——Doug Rosbury
November 15th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Doug,
People don’t “become” gay. It is not a choice. It is a preference people are born with and it only occurs in about 10% of the population. It happens at the same rate in all sexually reproducing species, not just humans. Brain studies have been done in humans and many other species to show that our brains are wired differently than straight people.
If homosexuality were a choice, why would so many (10%) choose such a difficult, unpopular life? Why would so many gays and lesbians enter into opposite sex marriages to be miserable because it is what they are supposed to do? They wouldn’t.
I’m going to assume you are straight. When did you choose to be straight? Was there a defining moment when you looked at another guy, and decided even though you were attracted, you were going to look for a woman to whom you were attracted? I’m going to hazard a guess that never happened to you. Why? It never happens to anyone because it isn’t a choice.
Choosing a partner is a choice, and gays and lesbians have entered into hetero marriages for millenia because that’s what society dictated. In case you didn’t know, many gays and lesbians have biological children from straight marriages from which they are divorced. I am one of those people. I have a son. Many of my friends have children from previous straight marriages.
Is God concerned about this? I don’t believe so because he created everything and everyone that exists, so he created gays, too. We are no less God’s children than straight people.
The world population is growing faster than we can find solutions to feed, educate, clothe and shelter all the people. The world population is somewhere around 7 billion right now. Being fruitful and multiplying is not a problem we human beings are having.
I feel that God is watching with disgust at those who are so arrogant as to believe that they can define what God would consider unGodly, and have created Him in their own image. I believe He would be happier if society supported all its members and loved each other as they are supposed to love Him, including loving and supporting gays and their relationships along with straight people and their relationships.
Sherri
November 21st, 2008 at 11:33 pm
Excellent content and style…keep up the good work!
November 28th, 2008 at 12:07 am
To be gay is to be light and cheerful. How can you be so if you know you are going against the natural order and claiming that you have no choice but to do so? Are you a robot to have no choice but to have been born that way? Is God a dictator? I don’t think so. are you a slave? Only if you make yourself one by surrendering to an imagined life sentence.
By doing so, you set yourself outside of nature as an anomaly and an
obvious fault in the structure of society, threatening it with collapse.
By arguing in favor of your decision, you force yourself to live in a state of denial for the whole of your life. How dishonest is that?—Doug
November 28th, 2008 at 12:12 am
To be “Gay” is to live in denial——Doug
November 28th, 2008 at 12:14 am
To be “gay” is to be a freak of nature——Doug
November 28th, 2008 at 12:20 am
However, you do have a God given right to to be gay or anything you wish——Doug
November 30th, 2008 at 2:33 am
Doug,
I don’t see how you can conclude that 10% of humans and all other mammal species are gay or lesbian to be a freak of nature. If we are of nature, then we are not freaks.
To conclude that being gay is to live in denial is absurd. For you to decide that being gay is anything other than the natural order of life is putting quite a few words into God’s mouth.
God created entire universes. His power is far more immense than we can begin to imagine. He created people with a whole lot of differences. One of those differences is some people love people of their own gender in a romantic fashion.
Some people like ketchup and don’t like mustard. Some women love other women but not men. Some men love other men but not women. Some people can love either men or women, but 90% prefer the opposite gender as love partners.
I’m going to say this one more time. Being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered is not a choice. It is the way God made us and to deny our true selves is wrong.
We who are attracted to and romantically love those of our own gender do not live in denial. However, I believe you do.
All your dancing around the question I posed to you before you wrote 4 replies and didn’t answer it still stands.
Have you ever looked at another guy and felt a strong sexual or romantic attraction, then chose to become heterosexual? Yes or no?
Did you choose your orientation? Yes or no?
Did you find yourself to be in the 90% of people who look at persons of the opposite gender and felt strong romantic or sexual feelings? Yes or no?
God is not a dictator, but we are each born with a certain brain wiring unique to each individual but with patterns that emerge to group people together. People have anxiety, depression, serious mental psychoses but most are normal and have no such problems. Most people are right-handed, but some are left-handed and exhibit a unique intellect because of the wiring differences in their brains. There are severely autistic savants who can’t dress or feed themselves but can perform magnificent feats using musical instruments. Are savants and left-handed people freaks of nature? I don’t believe so. Therefore a sexual orientation difference is no more different than being left-handed as far as I can see.
Do people choose to be left-handed? No. Lefties used to be forced to become right-handed, but now that we no longer force it, left-handed people are left-handed. Gays and lesbians used to marry in arranged marriages as a part of social customs, but now that arranged marriages are no longer the norm, gays and lesbians are no longer forced to marry someone of the opposite gender so they are able to choose a same-gender partner.
How is the concept of being homosexual any different than the concept of being left-handed? How would you explain that?
November 30th, 2008 at 9:53 am
I knew i would get the kind of response you gave me. I’m sorry I can’t agree with you or with the “GAY” philosophy and life style. For me, it is
a matter of choice. When God gave birth to me, He gave birth to a spirit
who was destined to do his own thinking and of course, the same is true of you, however, you have chosen to abrogate your God given right and
have decided to violate the most basic logic. I guarantee that when you
pass to the other side of the veil, that you will discover the truth, unless
of course, you should decide to continue in denial of your chosen
position as rebelling against Gods most fundamental method for the
perpetuation of the human race. Good luck—Doug
November 30th, 2008 at 10:09 am
“Gay” people as gay, are not of the nature that God intended. they are
offspring of God who have chosen to rebel against Gods chosen way to perpetuate the human race. They have indeed taken advantage of Gods own gift of free agency to use that wonderful gift against God himself
to satisfy their own purely personal desire with no remorse whatever
for their selfish rebellion against the very God of creation who has given
them the gift of life and the freedom to live life according to their own choice and their own decision. How can one who acts in this way be called gay? It flies in the face of the most basic logic.——Doug
December 2nd, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Doug,
By “gay” I mean homosexual. That is the current meaning of the term.
You are one of those fundamentalist idjits who has created God in your image with your own set of His beliefs. You have no forethought that if we exist, God had something to do with creating us. God created Hitler, even, and though we would like to think he went to hell, I believe he was ultimately forgiven, much as I hate the idea. You also seem to have no understanding of logic. You present no argument other than “that’s the way it should be so you’re wrong if you believe otherwise”.
Yes, there is evil in the world, but loving a person of the same gender is not evil.
I warn you of your journey to the great beyond or Heaven, whatever you choose to call it. You are the one who will be shocked, not me. God is far greater than anything we could possibly do to sin against Him.
I do not believe homosexuality is a sin, and you can believe it is. If there is a hell in which I may be punished, I’ll be driving the bus to get us there.
We’re going to agree to disagree here. If you keep writing me preachy comments, they will eventually not be published because you will be rehashing your past comments. I don’t publish duplicate content.
December 2nd, 2008 at 9:18 pm
To mr. or is it miss gay person. Have it your way. you already have
anyway. I can already see the future where only a sad diminishing
population of gays are left, still refusing to have sex with the opposite gender and becoming fewer and fewer by attrition until the earth is left
as barren as its diminishing population of rebellious homosexual
individuals. That is my prediction That will surely come true if people like you have your way.——–Your compassionate friend,—Doug
December 3rd, 2008 at 9:18 am
OMG Doug,
You’ve already jumped to the conclusions that everyone is going to turn gay or lesbian and not reproduce, and you seem to believe that gays and lesbians don’t have children. OMG!
I was married for 15 years and have one child. God didn’t bless us with more. Most of my gay and lesbian friends were married and have children as well. Their kids are mostly straight, not all, but most. Many self-identified gays and lesbians marry just to have children.
There are now alternatives, like artificial insemination and surrogate mothers for gay men. There is also adoption. There are many kids in foster homes and orphanages that need stable homes and many gay and lesbian couples adopt and provide the love and parenting these lost kids need.
I hope to set your mind at a little more ease. First, 90% of all humans are straight, not all of whom decide to have children. Second, gays and lesbians do have children at about the same rates as straight couples, whether biological or adopted.
You can disagree, but the facts simply aren’t on your side. You’re going on fear, not facts. Good luck living with your delusions. In spite of them, your fears won’t come true in the real world.
In case you are unfamiliar with traditional, European names, “Sherri” is a woman’s name. I would not call you compassionate nor my friend with your attitude and beliefs.
Sherri
December 3rd, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Joubess, As ofspring of our heavenly father, we are destined to follow
his example in whatever we may do and whatever we may create.
This includes being obedient to principles of creation which can be depended upon to faithfully bring to life ,in the physical, manifestations
which are true to the original and originating vision in the mind.
these principles may not seem critical when applied to human society,
however, they will be of critical importance and are, when an individual
wishes to bring to life, his or her vision of which it is of critical importance to be made manifest successfully. If we practice violating
such principles, we will condition, in our minds a distorted perspective
on creation and thus realize failures in our attempts to create. The
sexual act as decided upon for humans has everything to do not
only with respect to bringing human children into the world but also
with any attempt at the creation of other situations. Principles are
devised quite intentionally to operate as they are designed to operate.
If you wish to argue against procreation and in favor of the relative barrenness of the gay life, You are quite welcome to do so and I will’
never act to deny you that right. However, never imagine that you can
distort important principles without adverse consequenses accruing
from your attitude being contrary to divine intention.—Doug Rosbury
December 4th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Doug: Whever…meaning what ever.
December 4th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Joubess, You seem to be unable to intelligently discuss my latest point.
Very well, in keeping with that, I will follow suit and leave you to matters that you can understand. Let me know if you have any rebuttal to offer.
——Doug
December 4th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Doug, I do not consider your last comment intelligent enough to discuss, and we’ve already discussed this point.
We disagree on moral grounds, and I’m not going to change your mind and you aren’t going to change mine. I believe you are wrong and you believe I am wrong.
So be it.
December 4th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Doug, I don’t buy, and never have bought, the “obedience to God” thing and I never will.
I would start a Biblical conversation here, but I really don’t want to get into that again, especially not with you.
Check some of my other posts. There will soon be a video of the musical stage show, starring Jack Black, about California’s Prop 8.
December 4th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
joubess, We never learn anything new unless we disagree, don’t you
think? My responsibility is to myself to support my own views and to
take care not to violate anothers free agency or their private space or to
steal their private belongings. I mind my own business and leave others the hell alone. Good luck———-Doug
December 5th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Doug,
If you mind your own business why are you out spewing your opinion on other people’s blog posts?
We learn from argument, but not from rehashing the same arguments over and over again. That is not useful, and it is often harmful.
I choose not to worship at the same alter as you. We will never agree, so arguing is pointless.
I can tell you that history is likely not on your side, and that what you believe will go the way of racial opinions about persons of color being less human than whites. You never have to like it or agree with it, but it is why minority civil rights must never be decided by popular vote.
Sherri
December 5th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Sherri, The constitution of this country guarantees free speech,
doesn’t it even though individuals like you don’t seem to agree with free speech. Have you ever learned to carry on a discussion diplomatically?
apparently not in both cases. You seem to have the freedom to live and talk as you choose. Do I have the same freedom? You can bet I do
and with or without your agreement, you can bet I will. Now it’s your
turn, lets see If you can discuss matters with kind diplomacy and
intelligence and sraight forward logic. You haven’t any power over me
I guarantee. The ball’s in your court——–Doug
December 5th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Doug, you are so easy to bait!
Happy Prohibition Repeal Day!
July 2nd, 2010 at 5:11 am
Just thought i’d comment and say neat design, did you code it yourself? Lookssuperb.