Jon Stewart Rips Fox News Christians For Comparing Obama Birth Control Mandate To Nazi Germany (VIDEO)

If there's one thing Jon Stewart can't stand, it's public figures making unfair comparisons to Hitler. Unfortunately, during his week off from "The Daily Show" last week, he was presented with yet another Nazi analogy courtesy of Fox News -- this time in reference to President Obama's birth control policy.

The President's healthcare plan requiring contraception to be included in insurance coverage has started a "firestorm" among Christians (or, as Stewart pointed out, "just the old dudes who run it") who do not want hospitals, colleges or other religious organizations to provide birth control. Obama's recent compromise that exempts religious figures from directly providing free birth control isn't sitting well either, with the likes of Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and, yes, Fox News pundits sounding off on how big an issue this is for the right.

Which brings us to Stewart's topic of the night: A panel Sean Hannity put together with men of all different races and religions to discuss contraceptive issue. Sounds good, except they forgot to invite any women. But that wasn't the biggest problem Stewart had with what he dubbed "The world's holiest sausage fest." Several panelists equated Obama's healthcare mandate to a war on religion, but Stewart especially took issue with one man who somehow managed to use Nazi Germany mandates as a comparison.

"First of all, when the Nazis came for people, they also left with them. It wasn't a metaphor," Stewart said. "Hitler did not 'start small.' His deliberate annihilation of a religion didn't kick off with insurance reform."

Stewart also brought up two pretty significant perks that American religious institutions enjoy as further proof of how far removed they are from other countries that face legitimate persecution. We're talking of course about their collecting up to $100 billion a year without paying any taxes, AND designated parking on New York City streets. We'll let you decide which one is more valuable. Watch the full clip above.

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Comments

[JohnBryansFontaine]

10:51 AM on 03/04/2012

( repost )

The fascist governments of Mussolini's Italy, Hitler's Germany, as well as Franco's Spain all banned the use of contraceptives. They also outlawed abortion and closed family planning centers.

[BadKitty]

06:13 PM on 03/07/2012

Thanks for pointing that out JBF. Faved.

[JohnBryansFontaine]

06:56 PM on 03/07/2012

You're welcome, BadKitty. Fanned and Faved.

[QuietProfessional]

07:43 PM on 03/07/2012

The Nazis were neither pro- nor anti-abortion. They did not allow abortion for healthy "Aryan" women, but demanded and forced abortion upon women deemed "un-Aryan" (Jews, Slavs, etc.) and "Aryan" women who were thought to be feeble-minded, or have bad genetics. What the Nazis wanted, above all, was to create a super-race of genetically superior Aryans.

[JohnBryansFontaine]

05:44 AM on 03/08/2012

The main form of birth control and abortion that the Nazis used were the concentration camps. Interesting that you 'forget' to mention that. Also, are you implying that Hitler's atrocities would have been OK if he had taken an anti-abortion stance in regards to 'un-Aryans'?

[SmarterThanAverage]

03:08 PM on 02/20/2012

This follows my other comment:

Another MAJOR fact conveniently overlooked in this debate is church affiliated institutions can opt out of the birth control requirement by simply having "self-funded" insurance, i.e. they fund the insurance plan themselves. Under that provision, they decide what to cover and not to cover. If the church institutions are against birth control, and don't want it to be covered, they can create their own "self-funded" coverage plan and guess what? Problem solved. So, if they have this option, why are the bishops still whining?? Because they don't want to pay for it, they want the public to pay for the pregnancies and child bearing costs. They want all of YOU to pay for them to force their faith on unwilling non-Catholic employees. They, quite simply, don't want to put their (donated and tax free) money where their purported faith is. There is no guarantee in the Constitution that the practice of your religion is cost-free or even cost-effective. The only guarantee is that you are free to do it. And, even that has limits -- among them are where religious practices cause harm or expense to others. So, while our government has every right to make choices that might cost us (that is after all part of what the federal government was given via the Constitution), the Catholic church is actually the one with absolutely no right to impose their will on our society.

[BadKitty]

06:14 PM on 03/07/2012

Brilliantly said. Happy to be fan #1!

[SmarterThanAverage]

03:00 PM on 02/20/2012

So many of the posts here miss the point entirely that there's no way to respond to each.

First, under what authority can the government tell a business what to do? Under the Constitution -- the Commerce and Spending Clauses are among them. Everyone ranting about the First "Amendment" component forgot to read the original Constitution. The Commerce clause permits federal authority where interstate commerce is involved. It is one grounds on which Department of Transportation sets safety standards for the auto industry. Mandating what must be included in commercial insurance is no different than requiring cars have air bags or working seat belts. It's no different than federal government telling trucking companies that their drivers can only spend so many hours hauling loads without sleep. Those requirements were mandated for the health, safety and welfare of the people, and to provide Equal Protection. The Spending Clause is also implicated here because these institutions take federal funds from Medicare, Medicaid, other federal programs. Any institution that receives government funds, must apply policies uniformly without favoring any religion, gender, race, etc.

Second, concerns some have that "they" are paying for anything under the Obama compromise are unfounded. As a taxpayer, your burden is lessened. If the church leaders have their way, you will be paying for quite a few unwanted children and heightened health care cost for indigent women. It is the Catholic church that is asking taxpayers to bear the financial burden for their view on contraception. (continued...)

[lumberman]

09:16 PM on 02/19/2012

Know one wants to follow the law (constitution).Know one wants to follow natural law and know one wants to follow biblical law.There are not many options left.Common sense tells you that if abortions are climbing in society there is something wrong.I personally have heard of one women that had three.The excuses are unbelievable.The abortion option has been made so easy.People out there are not just using it for life threatening causes like it or not.It is a fact.

[twain307]

11:49 PM on 02/19/2012

Actually, the right to a safe and legal abortion was the outcome of the Roe V Wade case that the Supreme Court decided in the 70's, Also, factually, abortions have been on the decrease for decades. The United States is not governed by biblical law, or the law of any other religion, though I suspect that if folks like you had your way, that would change. Whatever the reason that someone chooses to have an abortion, it is not your business, or mine. If you purport to be a Christian, then you believe that people will be held responsible for their actions in the afterlife. Again, not your business.

[Jennifer Caress]

10:19 AM on 02/20/2012

I have to correct you on this, because it's bugging me: no one, not "know" one. And what is better in your perspective, an unwanted pregnancy or an unwanted child?

[lumberman]

09:05 PM on 02/19/2012

I was baptized a Free Methodist when I was a child I was less than a year old.I am now a Catholic.I am fifty years of age and never have I seen this country the way it is concerning issues of morality.I was raised to believe by my mother and father that did not even go to church that abortion was wrong,kids out of wed lock wrong,homosexuality wrong,stealing and lieing wrong.These were basic values of hour society for as long as it has been a country.I have heard the constitution changed for the likes of the new age belief that some of these things are ok to practice.Hers the problem when we say drugs are wrong people take it on themselves to use it anyway.Not in the constitution they say.When they say not drive drunk behind the wheel of a car they say Not in the constitution.Yet people have died,Abortion kills.Families being wrecked.Marriage being paraded like it is joke.Churches of all denominations at one time use to protect these things.You don't want churches to tell you what to do but you want to blame everyone else when things happen.How many time has parents have told their kids not to have children before they are comitted to a spouse?How many times when they do have a child do they get aborted because one of them leaves the responsibility?

[Intelligenti Pauca]

01:20 AM on 02/20/2012

You seem to have forgotten one little thing.

America wasn't founded on Christiani­­­­­­­­­ty­.

Don't agree? Tell me then, do we have an "approved"­­­­­­­­­, "acknowled­­­­­­­­­ge­d­" National Religion? No, indeed we do not. If we did, and Christiani­­­­­­­­­ty were it, then we'd all be expected to go to a Christian church on Sundays. In fact, the Founding Fathers wanted to make sure that we had the freedom to choose what religion we wanted to follow, or not to follow a religion at all.

"All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will, to be rightful, must be reasonable­­­­; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal laws must protect, and to violate which would be oppression­­­­." - Thomas Jefferson

"Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law." -Thomas Jefferson

Your religion has as much "right" to legislate other people's lives, or dictate policy to the government­­­­­­­, as Islam, Wicca, Mormonism or Judaism. Namely, ZERO.

Since we are in no way a theocracy, the simple fact of the matter is that religion has absolutely no bearing on the issue of whether homosexual­s deserve the same rights as everyone else. What people think their religion says about homosexual­ity carries zero LEGAL WEIGHT in this discussion­.

[BadKitty]

06:27 PM on 03/07/2012

You are entitled to think and act as you wish. You have no right, nor does your church, to tell me how to live my life.

I've lived as long as you have and I have never seen such zealotry from the religious right in all of my years.

You think what you wish and go ahead and feel good about your place in next to your god in the sky. You and your church, however, simply have NO right to tell me or anyone else how to live.

There is freedom of religion which means the freedom to choose which dogma you wish to embrace... or not. There is separation of church and state for very good reason but that line is being blurred more and more all the time. I think what you dislike the most is the push back against it you are starting to see.

[thewestyard]

07:20 PM on 02/17/2012

doc a bologna sandwich,and two aspirin for mommy 's wr

[Illegal1]

10:40 AM on 02/17/2012

All this clowns and fake audience on the faux network get their training form the sham wow, guy they try to sell garbage to it viewers and it seem like it works.... kudos sham wow guy.

[truckers wife]

10:37 AM on 02/17/2012

Jon Stewart is a simpleton period. He just like the rest of the left are choosing to defend a position that has absolutely nothing to do with the topic. Why he and the rest of the liberals all across the country aren't screaming "separation of church and state" I'll never know because this is unequivocally the biggest government imposition on a religious organization that I've ever seen.

Liberal women have long been crying for the government to "stay out of my womb" yet they support the government forcing Catholics to include a provision for contraceptions. This makes no sense to me at all. Then again ... it's long been said that liberals are hypocritical and intolerant unless it suits them.

I doubt seriously that this will happen. The President does not have any jurisdiction over the Catholic church as the Catholic church does not take any government money not even to run their hospitals or schools. This is just another perfect example of this President's ignorance when it comes to the very Constitution he claims to have taught about.

[pjburke]

11:26 AM on 02/17/2012

"...this is unequivoca­lly the biggest government imposition on a religious organizati­on that I've ever seen."

That's because you don't know what you're talking about.

It's already been tried in numerous courts... and upheld in all cases.

[baseballmom]

03:14 PM on 02/17/2012

Liberal women would have a problem with the government messing with their wombs by FORCING them to use contraceptives.

We have no problem at all with the government making sure our employers cover legal medication prescribed to us by our doctors.

You need to try harder than that, i'm afraid.

[PathofTotality]

10:37 AM on 02/17/2012

When did Baptist's start opposing contraception? Is it more about the politics of it all?

[Michael Dobson]

10:36 AM on 02/17/2012

Hannity's such a smuck.

[Raidersteve]

09:45 AM on 02/17/2012

I love the Fox Faux Opinion..oh wait I mean Fox news... Poor Hanniety--makes over 5 million a yr. and pretends to know the "little" guy. Birht control? He compares the President to Hitler? I think the last President Hannity liked got us into 2 wars and invaded a country that had did NOTHING to us. Now thats Hitlerbush

[york1313]

09:38 AM on 02/17/2012

Your show is on the Comedy channel. Enough said.

[GenXer]

09:51 AM on 02/17/2012

You talking about Hannity, right?

[NanaPuddin]

10:22 AM on 02/17/2012

It it provides better facts, insight, and knowledge of the hyprocrisy than any other, besides the Colbert Repor.

[Positive61]

01:44 PM on 02/17/2012

Yes, Nanapuddin, and it gets replays..

.what I definately tire of, replays of fox, limbaugh, and the most unqualified candidates for president that this country has ever experienced, on liberal blogs, tv, and radio. I want to shout, "I never watch fox or listen to limbaugh because i do not want to hear their stupidity, racism, and hate." Yet, here we go again, focusing on those fools and what they say. Makes me want to give up all news, both liberal and stinking conservative!

[mattmmille]

08:58 AM on 02/17/2012

Jon Stewart does not know the history of the Nazi's rise to power...it DID start off with small steps. And many, including the writer of this story, are missing the point.There are millions of outlets for contraceptives...even provided for free. The issue is whether or not an organization should be required to include it in the health insurance policy that they are offering. If a company is offering the policy, the company should be able to choose what is included. If you don't want it, don't take the job or opt out of the company plan and get your insurance elsewhere. President Obama is forcing companies to do what HE believes in...the very definition of fascism: government control of private industry. When a Republican becomes President, should he be able to end abortion by decree because he doesn't believe in it?! If you take a job with a Jewish or Islamic-run organization, should the government be able to mandate they serve pork in their cafeteria because YOU aren't a Jew or Muslim and YOU like bacon?! Of course not. It's easy to convince the average person that Republicans are a bunch of Bible-thumping evangelicals that want to deny women access to contraception. If you tell a lie often enough and with conviction, people will believe it. Be careful what you wish for, because the next guy in charge may not be pushing YOUR agenda.

[jh61]

09:52 AM on 02/17/2012

So much wrong. What small steps were implemented in Hitler's rise to power? Oh enlighten us. How is requiring that companies provide health insurance government control? If companies didn't, then the government would be required to. He is actually taking the burden OFF government. And no President would be able to end abortions. Roe v Wade said that banning abortions would be a violation of the Constitution. So no President would be able to circumvent the Constitution. The rest of your argument is pure stupidity.

[jhamm86]

10:50 AM on 02/17/2012

What small steps were taken? Seriously? I don't have the time or space to list them all. Read a little about the history of the Holocaust. Enlighten yourself. And where does the writer say anything about the government requiring companies to provide health insurance? He says that the government should not be able to mandate what coverage the company provides. You seem to have missed the writer's point entirely.

[Vernon Franko]

07:46 PM on 02/17/2012

Well Said

[acharleyhorse]

10:32 AM on 02/17/2012

Excellent!!!

[Lady Saera]

08:22 AM on 02/17/2012

It's is so true a picture is worth a thousand words, all those men, of religion and various races, all talking about something that will not affect them, contraceptives they wont use, and will never get pregnant, and yet, they are all men..it's as if the times have gone backwards, how can Sean Hannity truly care about women when he didn't even have the respect to have at least a 50 50 panel.
Think about it..not one of those men has an ounce of respect or understanding of womens issues, why are they the ones weighing in?Its funny and infuriating, and Jon, Good for you, absolutely perfect reactions, brilliant intelligent comedy. just love it.

[Leadcore]

09:25 AM on 02/17/2012

Hey, the best contraception is a golf ball, hold it between your knees and make sure you don't let go. If you don't let go, you won't get pregnant.

[gloriaswanson43]

10:26 AM on 02/17/2012

This is just rude. Keep this nastiness to yourself.

[mrportman]

10:37 AM on 02/17/2012

LOL I can think of a few...um..."ways" to get around that obstacle...

[Michael Dobson]

10:53 AM on 02/17/2012

"How can Sean Hannity truly care about women when he didn't even have the respect to have at least a 50 50 panel."

Now what makes you think Sean Hannity cares about women?

[Lady Saera]

02:21 PM on 02/18/2012

That was my point, he doesn't.

[eviltwit]

08:18 AM on 02/17/2012

you know, HuffPo: there are people who are Americans not IN the United States currently who would like to view the video up there.

[John Mark Sappenfield]

10:31 AM on 02/17/2012

The BBC1 does the same thing. You can't watch a brief clip of old or upcoming Doctor Who.

[billbb]

11:38 AM on 02/17/2012

Sorry. It's getting better... A decade ago you wouldn't even have known that there ever was such a clip.

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