The Bible series, Satan, Obama

[JEFF9K]

To placate conservatives, producers of The Bible series made Satan look like Obama and took out the Commandment about lying.

[global1]

1. They Should Have Made The Devil Look Like Either Bush, Cheney Or Rmoney.....

Then they would have had at least 47% of the people watching.

[theoldman]

2. There is no commandment about lying.

The only thing close is the ninth commandment about false witness against your neighbor. Sometimes there is a good reason to lie like when you are being tortured.

[JEFF9K]

6. lying

Most people think of it as the Commandment against lying. And God recognizes that telling an untruth under duress doesn't count as a lie. It's in the revised Bible code.

[TheManInTheMac]

12. The bible does condemn lying, but yes, there is no commandment against it

other than lying to harm someone. It's one of those "little commandments" from which fundies pick and choose which ones they want to apply to everyone else or not, if it is something they like to do. Like this guy:

[DesertRat]

3. Here's what the producers say

"This is utter nonsense," say exec producers Burnett and Downey in a joint statement. "The actor who played Satan, Mehdi Ouzaani, is a highly acclaimed Moroccan actor. He has previously played parts in several Biblical epics – including Satanic characters long before Barack Obama was elected as our President."

Downey added, "Both Mark and I have nothing but respect and love our President, who is a fellow Christian. False statements such as these are just designed as a foolish distraction to try and discredit the beauty of the story of The Bible."


http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2013/03/18/bible-series-satan-resembles-barack-obama/1996445/

[Empowerer]

4. Their response moves me to give them the benefit of the doubt

It is so unequivocal and complimentary of the President - unlike many hedged "if anyone was offended" responses we see in such situations - that it makes me think they were not up to something ...

[DesertRat]

8. Agreed. nt

[ohheckyeah]

10. Why in the world did they make the actor black?

He isn't black. There's a small picture of him out of makeup here: http://www.indipedia.it/tv/the-bible-satana-somiglia-a-barack-obama-i-produttori-respingono-le-accuse

[JEFF9K]

5. coincidence?

This little "coincidence" is sure to boost ratings.

[cecilfirefox]

7. I don't think it was largely intentional, BUT

there still is that question in the back of your mind about whether someone in make up, costume, design, etc., DID make it as an obvious resemblance. That aside, the show does a great job of casting all the good characters as white Europeans, cause Jesus totally looked like a hot portugese man, and all the bad characters as darker skinned NON-WHITE people.

[Hayabusa]

9. Funny, because it should be switched

The main human villains of the New Testement would have been the Romans... Everyone else would have been darker-skinned.

[noel711]

11. The "Obama" doppleganger was least of the atrocities..

"Bible" in name only. (Aside: "Bible" means 'books' but for the bibli-idolic
among us.. 'Bible' means but one, narrow, judgmental thing...)

This series was atrocious on many levels:
it had a perspective of the evangelical,patriarchal, WHITE right wing.

There was no diversity, no women's voice (unlike the original texts
that portray women who rise up despite their repressed social roles)-

The producers omitted much of what is vital to the book,
despite one's religious perspective.

This was a shame... and the "Obama" doppleganger was a minor point.
But anything to please the fundamentalist, literalistic, shallow, bigoted
right wing.

As a scholar, I was appalled.