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March 18th, 2013
01:59 PM ET
Producer: Claim of Obama-Satan likeness nonsenseBy Dan Merica, CNN Washington (CNN) – The third episode of the History Channel's miniseries “The Bible” was supposed to be remembered for the brutality of Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar, the strength of Daniel in the lion’s den, and the birth of Jesus Christ. But after viewers claimed there was a striking resemblance between Satan’s human form and President Barack Obama, that probably won't be the case. Buzz on Twitter quickly grew. According to Topsy.com on Monday, there were an estimated 20,000 tweets containing the words “Obama” and “Satan” since the 9:00 p.m. ET hour on Sunday, the hour in which Satan appears in the two-hour show. In a statement, miniseries producer Mark Burnett called claims there was a resemblance "utter nonsense." Burnett said the actor who played Satan, Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni, "is a highly acclaimed Moroccan actor. He has previously played parts in several Biblical epics - including Satanic characters long before Barack Obama was elected as our President." Ouazanni has had roles in two biblical TV movies - "Jeremiah" and "The Ten Commandments." Executive producer of the miniseries Roma Downey, Burnett's wife, added, "Both Mark and I have nothing but respect and love our President, who is a fellow Christian. False statements such as these are just designed as a foolish distraction to try and discredit the beauty of the story of The Bible." Follow the CNN Belief Blog on Twitter Satan appears during the miniseries’ retelling of the Temptation of Christ, when Jesus fasted for 40 days in the Judean Desert. Satan tests Jesus’ faith, asking him to make bread out of stone and jump from a cliff, but he refuses each temptation and returns to the Sea of Galilee to begin his ministry. In the desert, Satan is draped in a long, black, hooded robe and with a slight silver tint to his face. Both Downey and Burnett supported Obama's first campaign for president in 2008, according to Federal Election Commission reports. Downey gave $5,000 to the Obama Victory Fund and $2,700 to the Democratic National Committee in 2008. Burnett also donated to Obama's first campaign - $2,300 in 2007. Neither gave money to Obama's 2012 campaign. While the show was airing, tweets poured in noting the resemblance. [tweet https://twitter.com/glennbeck/status/313120671297306624%5D [tweet https://twitter.com/lkspringer/status/313470968448315392%5D [tweet https://twitter.com/DanAmira/status/313491508391182336%5D Not everyone on Twitter agreed, though. [tweet https://twitter.com/joshuadubois/status/313489150118608896%5D [tweet https://twitter.com/jbouie/status/313498892148830208%5D [tweet https://twitter.com/scottgrimm1/status/313652372561858560%5D After three episodes, the show has scored strong ratings. Its first episode drew 13.1 million viewers, ratings that trumped CBS’s “60 Minutes” and AMC’s “The Walking Dead.” The second episode drew 10.8 million viewers. Ratings for the third installment in the five-week miniseries have not been released. CNN’s Belief Blog: The faith angles behind the biggest stories The project has been a three-and-a-half year process for The History Channel and for Burnett and Downey. Burnett - who is better known as a king of reality television, with “Survivor,” “The Voice” and “The Apprentice” all under his name - told CNN earlier this month that this project was “personal.” “It was time for an updating, adding fresh visual life to a sacred text,” Burnett said. Both Downey and Burnett were raised Catholic, Burnett in England and Downey in Ireland. They still regularly attend Mass in Los Angeles. Growing up, both watched the classic biblical films that the Hollywood of yesteryear churned out, like “The Ten Commandments” and “The Greatest Story Ever Told.” To film their Bible series, the duo set off for the southern tip of Morocco with a crew of around 400 people. Burnett and Downey consulted a wide range of pastors and academics, including a major evangelical leader and a Catholic cardinal. Their advisory panel consisted of many people from varied backgrounds familiar with sharing the stories of the Bible, rather than a who’s who of biblical academics. Joel Osteen, a popular television preacher and pastor of the 30,000-member Lakewood church in Houston, was among those consulted. Osteen and Burnett are friends and were developing a television series together that went on the back burner during the production of this series. Osteen even took his family to Morocco during some of the filming. While the History Channel owns the exclusive North American rights to the project, Burnett and Downey own the rights to global distribution and theatrical airings, which are in the works. The project also has a book tie-in, games and apps. - CNN’s Eric Marrapodi and Eric Weisbrod contributed to this report. soundoff (2,474 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 Next »
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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I wonder if the President ever gets tired of this kind of stupid shit?
Well said
"The project also has a book tie-in, games and apps." Wow. I can hardly wait. I'm getting all three. A great compliment to my jesus app and my exorcism app. I'm currently writing a video game based on the last supper where jesus and the apostles all have to agree on the menu. Judas joins a witness protection program and testifies against the others. Peter starts his own church where antisemitism is taught and crusaders kill nonbelievers causing others to convert saving them from the fires of hell. The game is meant to inspire a new generation of believers who dedicate themselves to christ while molesting boys to bring them closer to god. It should be in stores early next year.
LEAVE THE JEWS ALONE MR. BIGOT.
DONT THEY ALL SORT OF LOOK ALIKE ANYHOW? NO OFFENSE INTENDED.
You mean all demons?
HE LOOKS JUST LIKE HIM AND SURELY IS OF HIS SPAWN.
Why is this news?
It is by his grace I am saved. I am glad that I have the assurance of salvation .
Bless his grace the Flying Spaghetti Monster.... all bow down before his noodly appendages!
RAmen!
Sorry I don't believe it was NOT meant to look like Obama..
Even if it were a mistake ,It HAD to be noticed and there was plenty of time to alter it..
Looks more like Emperor Palpatine to me.
Looks like an evil Obama.
Totally his Doppleganger but then again this is all fictional fantasy anyway, he could look like the Easter Bunny and it would be just as believable.
you have to want to see obama in the satan character. Jesus was black. stop whining,heathen libs
So Satan is Black but Jesus is White as SNOW? lol sometimes you just have to chuckle at ignorance
What scares me is not "the Devil" but rather how CNN is able to datamine twitter to pick these needles out of a haystack! Lol...
Bigotry and hatred are chicken soup for the soul?
Complete Nonsense!!
Join me,Jesus.Join me on the Dark Side.
There,you will have all the Power in the Universe.Unlimited Power.To do all that you want.You need not pay attention to your Father.For I AM your Father!
Finally, an article about satan, it must be revelling in all the attention it is getting.
"It"? It who?
Come on.
'it' who? lucifer/devil-satan.
Satan is real and he is prowling around, seeking to devour the gullible.
Well, then, no wonder YOU are well-acquainted with him, you bozo.
Nope! Not as gullible as you.
@bob
You said, "Finally, an article about satan, it must be revelling in all the attention it is getting."
If it weren't for dimwitted believers, it wouldn't get any attention at all.
Satan, just like all gods, are mere fantasies. All are just figments of the imagination of underdeveloped minds. They are just as likely to exist as the Easter Bunny.
Next time you are tempted, you may want to ask yourself what it is.
I like tacos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_h_T3EYCsKI
.
(you can easily make it into Jesus by tilting the 'X' upward into a cross – otherwise it's the same)
Come on in, Christians, the water's fine. Come to grips with your inner atheist. You know religion is a fraud, hell never existed and there is no god who cares how you run your life. You know right from wrong without some immoral 2000 year old medieval goat herder rule book telling you so. Life's a party without religion!
It is by his grace I am saved. I am glad that I have the assurance of salvation .
What bob is trying to say is, "I believe what I believe because it makes me feel better." Actually, your salvation is not assured, bob, because there are a lot of religions that think you're doomed for what you believe. So if one of those turns out to be right, you're screwed like the rest of us.
I have the assurance of salvation, it is a conviction!!!
bob, so sorry to hear you're going to hell. Enjoy!
SO MANY BIGOTS AGAINST THE CHURCH! AMAZING!! GUESS YOUR TOO CHICKEN TO GO AFTER BLACK RAPISTS, DRUG DEALERS, MURDERERS, JEWISH CAPITALISTS, ETC...
GO BACK TO YOUR KLAN MEETING, YOU INBRED IGNORANT ANNHILIST.
What about my 2 chickens, simpleton?
there are some intelligent believers. I vividly recall being crushed for about a week when I found out Stephen King (the author) was a believer. It just didn't add up. That was 20 years ago though. I view the belief in god now as some sort of "veil of ignorance" – not stupidity but some sort of mechanism, defense, shield that keeps the fantasy alive inside and keeps reality at bay on the outside.
Cindy, I'm honored you're quoting me. Thanks!
I'm more concerned with Jesus. Look at his picture.. Jesus must have really had it tough, what with being the only frickin white dude in the entire middle east!
Looks like Trayvon.
This is the dumbest damned article I've ever read.... brought to you by the same people that see the Virgin Mary in a piece of toast.
Yup.
and the same ones that make Jesus up to be long haired and dirty when according to the law he lived by he would have been clean with a neatly trimmed beard and never would have had long hair since he was not a Nazirite and long hair on a man was considered a dishonor, (1 Cor.11: 14,15) but most important about Jesus was how he put emphasis on spiritual things and made known his Heavenly Father's name and Kingdom.(see John ch.17) or to learn more of what the Bible really teaches go to jw.org