Comedians mocking Jesus are nothing new. Earlier this month, we learned that Bill Maher told his HBO Real Time audience that God is a “psychotic mass murderer.” Now Jon Stewart is telling his Daily Show audience a pack of lies about Hobby Lobby and Christians in general.
Believe it or not, the Daily Show is a key source of news for millions of Americans. Stewart puts a comic bent on headlines and generally mocks anything and everything—including religion. The irreverent Stewart often crosses the line, but with an important case in the U.S. Supreme Court, he took the opportunity to completely blur the truth and take Christian-bashing to a new level.
During a six-minute segment on Wednesday night, Stewart called Hobby Lobby—a Christian-owned arts-and-crafts store that argued its case against Obamacare’s HHS contraception mandate in the U.S. Supreme Court this week—a “Jesus Christ Superstore.” Clever play on words, I suppose, but its still an antichrist view that is leading people astray.
And, of course, mockery is one thing, and downright lies are quite another.
Stewart went on to wrongly claim that Hobby Lobby is “denying its workers contraception.” He even falsely accused Hobby Lobby’s owners, the Green family, of likening any form of contraception to abortion, noting, “Contraception is not the same thing as abortion. That’s a scientific fact.”
But it’s Stewart who doesn’t have his facts straight. Or, more probable, he knows exactly what Hobby Lobby believes and decided to go before millions of viewers and tell bold-faced lies about the company for some twisted motive that I can’t comprehend.
From there, the segment took a crude turn that I won’t go into. The truth of the matter is that Hobby Lobby does cover contraception—16 different methods of contraception that the HHS mandate demands, in fact.
The company’s owners are arguing against paying for four specific types of contraception listed in the HHS mandate that are widely considered abortifacients, including the morning-after pill and IUDs. Hobby Lobby opposes abortifacients because they prevent fertilized eggs from implanting on the mother’s uterine wall. That, the company’s lawyers argue, ends human life. And that’s the Protestant pro-life movement’s problem with it.
It’s disappointing to see Christians mocked at any level, but when an intelligent guy like Stewart insists on misrepresenting the facts to millions of viewers who may take what he says as gospel truth, it’s simply irresponsible. Although his show is hardly considered journalism, it is, again, the main source of news for many. Propagating lies in the name of humor or an antichrist agenda is a sad way to be remembered in eternity. Let’s continue to pray for Stewart and those who find comic value in his half-truths. The truth always wins in the end!
Jennifer LeClaire is news editor at Charisma. She is also the author of several books, including The Making of a Prophet. You can email Jennifer at [email protected] or visit her website here. You can also join Jennifer on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.
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