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When I found out my editor, Aaron Shill, had an interview scheduled with one of my favorite comedians, I felt a surge of jealousy spring up in my chest. That initial wave of envy only grew when I read the resulting article and realized Aaron had been able to get Nate Bargatze to discuss his faith.
The topic came up because Aaron was trying to solve the mystery of why Bargatze became a clean comedian, a performer who avoids swearing or telling crude jokes. Bargatze shared that being clean comes naturally to him since he was raised “Southern Christian” and watched only clean comedy growing up.
“I knew I would never be dirty. I’ve always been clean,” he said.
To my delight, Bargatze talks more about his childhood faith in his new special, “Hello World,” on Amazon Prime. He explains that his parents were intensely Christian when he was young, which led to some pretty amusing interactions with his less sheltered friends.
For example, when he was about 12, he was at a sleepover and found out the plan was to watch “Friday the 13th.” He spoke up and said he wasn’t allowed to watch R-rated movies, and, to his horror, his friends responded with blank stares.
“The (host’s) mom came over — She was just trying to save me the embarrassment — and said, ‘Maybe just don’t tell your parents about it,’” Bargatze recalled, joking that, by that point, he’d already called his parents and told them to come over.
“I didn’t know we could lie to these people,” he said he remembers thinking. “This is the first I’m hearing that’s an option.”
Bargatze’s series of jokes about religion and childhood reminded me of how much I love it when comedians look back at their formative religious experiences. Through their expertly told stories, they help me see my own faith-related memories in new ways and remember what it felt like to be a kid experiencing at-times confusing rituals for the first time.
Do you have any favorite comedy routines that reference religion? I’d love to hear your recommendations.
Fresh off the press
A museum told Catholic students to remove their anti-abortion hats. Here’s what happened next
President Biden urges lawmakers to ‘love thy neighbor as thyself’
Term of the week: Holocaust Education and Antisemitism Lessons Act
The Holocaust Education and Antisemitism Lessons Act is a new, bipartisan bill aimed at helping policymakers understand the state of Holocaust education nationwide. It was introduced in the House on International Holocaust Remembrance Day (Jan. 27).
If passed, the bill would require the director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to conduct a study of where and how lessons on the Holocaust are being taught across the country and report back to Congress on the findings. The ultimate goal of the legislation is to boost knowledge of the Holocaust and thereby reduce antisemitism, sponsors said in a press release.
“We cannot — and we must not — ever ignore the stunning rise in antisemitism and Holocaust denial — across Europe, around the world, and increasingly, here at home in the United States. ... The mounting evidence that knowledge about the Holocaust is beginning to fade should also alarm us all,” said Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat serving as the bill’s lead sponsor.
What I’m reading ...
While Punxsutawney Phil was getting spooked by his own shadow last week, I was busy reading Religion News Service’s fascinating look at the religious messages contained with the movie “Groundhog Day.”
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are among the victims of a recently unveiled Ponzi scheme based in Las Vegas. Latter-day Saints were drawn in because one of the alleged organizers of the fraud was a member of their faith community. “Because we were friends and belonged to the same church, the red flags were heart-shaped,” one of the investors told The Washington Post.
Don’t miss The Forward’s lovely profile of Ze’ev Remer, an Orthodox Jewish basketball player who chose to attend and play for a small Lutheran college despite the challenges it would pose to his religious habits. “I see my friends at Maryland, I see my friends at UCLA, and everything’s easier for them,” he said “But I think that’s what makes me unique. Like, it’s definitely gonna define me in the long run.”
Odds and ends
My interest in the mystery surrounding recent animal escapes and deaths at the Dallas Zoo only grew last week when it was discovered that a church led Dallas police to the abandoned home where two missing monkeys were being kept.
It’s already February and the time to reflect on 2022 has probably run out, but I never got the chance to remind everyone of the funniest tweet I sent in 2022.