No Quarter

Yesterday I felt the amateur blogger's responsibility to recognize a not all together awful Nick Coleman column. But many readers felt I was a little to easy on Coleman and they make a persuasive case. Here's the feedback, all of it regarding Coleman's closing line about Jesus, Mary, and Joseph:

From David V:

You ARE being a little too charitable on Nick. You missed the use of a common liberal untruth that always pops up this time of year. Nick wrote:

"After all, once upon a time, a homeless couple came to Bethlehem, looking for shelter."

That's incorrect. Mary and Joseph were not "homeless". They were traveling FROM their home to Bethlehem to enroll for the census and couldn't find a hotel room. That's not exactly "homeless", is it?

Here's an excellent deconstruction of the "Mary & Joseph were homeless" myth. Enjoy and keep up the great work.

That link does present a fascinating history of the Homeless Jesus myth. From the mind of Jesse Jackson to Nick Coleman's column, in only five short years.

Peter B. also chimes in with some revisions of Coleman's revisionist history:

I can't believe you didn't take the opportunity to nail Nick Coleman to the wall for the ridiculous closing line of his article. Mary and Joseph were not a homeless couple who came to Bethlehem. They had a perfectly fine home (or two -- they were unmarried) in Nazareth and enough combined wealth to afford a pack/transport animal. They were VISITING Bethlehem (by command of the government, which was planning to raise their taxes).

I have no home in St. Paul so -- according to Nick's slant -- when I drive in from the suburbs to see a show, I guess I am just another of the teeming mass of St. Paul's homeless population.

According to Nick's rules, that may be true. Warning Peter - if you do come to St. Paul, stay out of the White Castle on Lexington, or you may find yourself the subject of a Nick Coleman column.

Finally, the Honorable James Phillips bringing these glad tidings:

Curse him! They were not homeless! They were reporting for a census and there was no room at the inn. Why do these a-hole democrats (Gore, Hillary!, and now this loser) insist on propagating this bald-faced lie. It was "big government" that forced Joseph and Mary to go there in the first place. If they were homeless (they were not), THE GOVERNMENT MADE THEM SO!

Excellent points James. For more on Hillary and homeless policy in New York City, check out this WSJ article from 1999.