One has to be even-handed in passing out the dunce awards to two wannabe pundits: Whoopi Goldberg and Sherri Shepherd. The media has, predictably, jumped all over Shepherd's historical howlers in a debate with Whoopi Goldberg on The View.
It began with Joy Behard referring to the philosophies of pagan Greece. Shepherd felt obliged to point out that Christians predated the ancient Greeks, and even the Hebrews. Earlier this year she admitted that she didn't know if the world was flat or round (see related story).
I suppose this will "prove" to militant Christian-bashers what idiots believers really are. Actually it proves to me just how unqualified most celebrities are to discuss anything, from foreign policy to ecology. I almost suspect ABC, which hosts the show, of putting up an inept, if well-meaning, dupe to represent the "conservative Christian" perspective. Ann Coulter, she ain't.
Theologically speaking, the incident confirms what I've believed all along—that dumbed-down religion of the Elmer Gantry/tent revival variety is not representative of serious Christian belief. Shepherd's personal conduct and comportment are as frivolous as her metaphysics.
But we shouldn't let Shepherd's sparring partner off the hook either. Just a few weeks earlier on The View, Goldberg made the remarkable observation that America is "not as free as it was when I was a kid" (when segregation was still in effect). Maybe Ms. Goldberg thinks she's reprising her role as the superhuman Guinan of Star Trek: The Next Generation. But, if you ask me, it's just the leftwing equivalent of flat-earthism.
