In recent months, late-night host Jimmy Kimmel has established himself as the self-appointed moral arbiter of the liberal left, using his platform to argue for the supposedly obvious moral good of gun control and Obamacare. It seems, however, that Kimmel’s moral compass gets thrown a little off course when it comes to respecting the sanctity of a church service.
Rich Barbieri – Jimmy Kimmel’s paid provocateur that goes by the name Jake Byrd on Kimmel’s show – made an appearance at the Magnolia Springs Baptist Church where Judge Moore was scheduled to speak during the Wednesday night services. As you might imagine, Barbieri certainly wasn’t there to peacefully enjoy the services. The so-called prankster made quite a scene pretending to be a big fan of Roy Moore in a way that parodied his actual supporters, and seemed to praise the judge for his alleged sexual assault before being escorted out by police officers.
So what did Jimmy Kimmel think about his right-hand man disrupting a church service? It turns out he was pretty thrilled with the way things went down, tweeting out “Jake Byrd heckles Roy Moore: Jimmy Kimmel comedian crashes Alabama church rally.”
Moore, however, wasn’t quite so impressed, and he had some pretty strong words for Kimmel. In response to the incident, Moore said, “If Kimmel wants to mock our Christian values, he should come down here and do it man to man instead of hiding behind a camera in Hollywood,” Messer said. “And yes, Jimmy, we will still rebuild our military, build the wall, protect our gun rights, reform our tax code, and support President Trump whether you like that or not. Hollywood will not bully us around.”
Following this statement was a rather brief Twitter spat between Kimmel and Moore – one where Moore was mostly polite and professional while Kimmel made underhanded jokes accusing Moore having no Christian values and being a child molester.
We can somewhat give Kimmel a free pass for using his platform on his show to talk about the topics that he chooses. It is, after all, his show, and if he wishes to alienate half of his viewing audience then that is his prerogative. However, when he takes his viewpoints outside his stage and uses them to disrupt a church service then that’s when he crosses the line.
Of course, to a large number of those on the left, disrupting a church service isn’t an issue at all. Christians simply aren’t high enough up on the victimhood totem pole to warrant any kind of decency or respect. If Moore had chosen to speak at a mosque, though, you can be fairly certain that Kimmel’s hired goons probably would have stayed away.
This incident is a great example of the twisted way the left views tolerance and decency. Those two themes are their primary standards so long as you agree with them. If you disagree with them, though, or if you belong to a group that hasn’t been marginalized enough in their eyes, all bets are off. For Kimmel, southern Christians listening to a conservative speaker certainly fall into the latter category.
Granted, Kimmel’s comedian wasn’t the only one willing to disrespect the sanctity of a church service in order to voice their protests at Roy Moore. Before Barbieri stood up at the front of the stage and started making a fool out of himself, another protestor had to be escorted out by the police after disrupting the service.
In response to this first protestor, the pastor of the church said, “I must remind everyone present this is a worship service. And by the way, it is illegal to disturb a worship service. The next one who disturbs the service will be turned over to the police. As the pastor of this church, I’m saying we’re going to do things peacefully and in order. If you love Roy Moore or you hate Roy Moore, listen.”
This, of course, didn’t stop Barbieri from pulling his stunt just moments later. As for what will stop this slippery slope of intolerance and indecency that people such as Kimmel and his ilk have been heading down, only time will tell.
~ Conservative Zone
