Jon Lindgren from the Red River Freethinkers has a very thought provoking post about Jesus and Yogi Berra.
Quotes from former baseball player, Yogi Berra, are used often. A favorite is, “It ain’t over, till it’s over.”
Fortunately, Mr. Berra is still alive. Many phrases attributed to him he testifies he never said.
An article in the Dec. 7 Wall Street Journal discusses the misquoting of famous people. It discusses things allegedly said by, among others, Thomas Jefferson and Winston Churchill.
Lindgren goes on to describe how Jefferson has been misquoted as well as Churchhill. However, I especially enjoyed the way he drove his point home:
With so much inaccuracy in quoting the words of relatively contemporary people, it is understandable why there would be skepticism of quotes from the Bible’s Jesus. We have no record of scribes writing down what he said nor records of who was present to remember.
Yet, words attributed to Jesus are believed by many to be actual quotes. Why would writers quote Jesus in some cases and simply make their own case in others?
Hmmm… much to ponder here. He raises a valid and little talked about point, at least in my local community. I have to wonder if Fargo is more liberal than Central Minnesota or if the Red River Freethinkers are some of the bolder people I know.
Kudos to Maurice Erickson for the tip.
Update: Here’s an interesting article from Clear Politics about this subject, namely how people are continually misquoted.
