If that headline got your attention, you're not alone. In its first two days on YouTube, Sarah Silverman's video (warning: adult language) of the same name has had 114,000 views. But in the coming days, the video will likely both hit the 1M mark and become a feature in this week's discussions online and off. (Hat tip: JDubRecords)
The core idea is as simple as the headline. If the Vatican liquidated its billions of dollars's worth of assets, world hunger could be eliminated. Of course, this being Silverman, the video is additionally peppered with inappropriate comments about how the commercials for hunger organizations make her want to "get them [the emaciated hungry people] out of my apartment" as well as irreverent suggestions about how the Vatican should buy a complex of condos with a water slide, and then, with the leftover money, end world hunger.
"You preach to live humbly, and I totally agree," Silverman lilts, "so now maybe it's time for you to move out of your house that is a city." Silverman, always the equal opportunity invoker of images and ideas guaranteed to offend someone (if not everyone), promises conspiratorially that if the Vatican does this, "any involvement in the Holocaust...bygones."
Check out the video, and after the jump, an analysis of some of the comments left by fans and detractors.
Beyond the content of the video, the comments on the YouTube page are particularly interesting. Commenters range from those who think Silverman's treatment is a brilliant idea to those who find it distasteful - some are even critical for her blowing the punchline in the video's title. (A mistake which we repeat here in the above headline. Sorry.)
One commenter says, "A world without the Christian church? Good luck," while another "completely" agrees with Silverman. "If Christ would be living right now, he will be the first one to sell every single peace of treasury to feed poverty. But, as it has happened since the beginning of Christendom, church has committed so many mistakes and has gone so far away from the words of Christ ..."
Predictably, some condemn her for her flip attitude toward both hunger and the church, while others call her out as a Jew who doesn't care about the church. "If a Catholic American had suggested selling Jerusalem or Israel to feed the poor, the good Lord knows the Jews would have destroyed her/him with the magic "anti-Semitism" label, but somehow, it has become okay to hate on Catholics and Catholicism. I'm Greek Orthodox, but I abhor such normalisation of disrespect for a particular group." One commenter took it a step further [all punctuation/capitalization retained from the original comment]: "Hey Sarah...since you are a JEW. Sell Israel to the Palestinians. You could sell it to them "Wholesale". I am sure the Arabs would buy it from you Sarah. but don't "Jew" them out of it...lol."
But among the 723 comments on the video, there are also several people who see a truth within the comedy. "I love all the hostility thrown back at Sarah for her making the simple proposition that Christians should act like Christians. I'm a protestant and I'd be thrilled if my church (Methodist) or any other protestant church cashed out and gave to the hungry and dying. This level of human suffering is inexcusable in this day and age. Our palaces to God are full of our shame."
What are your thoughts on the church's responsibility - and our personal responsibility - to addressing world hunger? Are interfaith initiatives like OneSabbath enough?
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I think there's no question Hollywood could do a lot more than it is doing right now for world hunger. Imagine how far the budget of, say, Transformers 2 would have contributed to solving international poverty and medical crises - way more than it contributes to American or world culture. Does any actor (Adam Sandler, Eddie Murphy, or anyone else) really need $50 million a picture? I think it's clear to anyone that Sarah Silverman, a comedian, is noting the excessive wealth of the Vatican in opposition to the extreme state of poverty and hunger worldwide. I like to think she's not saying "sell the Vatican" as a literal prescription for a cure, but "where is our money going, and are our dollars - and our faith structures - doing all they can?"
Maybe Sarah should encourage the International Jewish bankers to stop pillaging national economies and stop finiancing wars. Then maybe we might be a tad more prosperous and peaceful.
My commentary:
"Sarah Silverman's modest proposal for the Pope, and what I propose for Sarah"
http://www.americanpapist.com/2009/10/sarah-silvermans-modest-proposal-for.html
I agree for probably the very first time with Sarah Silverman, but She could have left out the valgarities and the point would have been stronger. I do ask myself why do these places have so much, when there are so many with so little. Then I again I do not understand why L.A. is broke with all those stars, singers, actors, etc... living there. Wait!!! Yes I do, it is called, SELFISNESS, what is mine is mine and you can't have it!!!!!!!!!
My mother taught me to share what I have, not important how little it may be, but I think quite a few folks forgot this lesson... if they were taught it in the first place.
You couldn't sell the Vatican because it's unmarketable in its present condition as a World Historic Site. Rather, let's have Steve Helmsley, CEO of Unitide Health Insurance to donate 5% of his rapacious take-home pay and with Helmsley's earnings alone we'd have $12,500,000 dollars a year to contribute to offset world hunger. They could keep on working with their pirate's loot rate of pay and each CEO could give that much or more or less each year till world hunger was solved.
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