George Carlin was just called home to wherever comics who profess no religious affiliation and have their work kicked to the Supreme Court on an obscenities charge go. For him, at best it seemed that God didn't care.
It was especially powerful when, in his standup, he questioned why politicians are forever ending their speeches with "God bless America" or "God bless the USA". He concludes that God doesn't care about America or any of the other two hundred or so countries around the world that blessing us would apparently preclude from divine intervention.
He also said something very interesting in an interview they replayed with him on NPR. I don't have the quote exactly right and I have not gone back to the podcast, but it goes along the lines of God has created an order here on the earth and religions stomp all over that order with their rules for living and threats of damnation for not living it right.
This from the man who gave us seven words you can't say on TV.
I think the man has a prophetic voice. We live in a nation where there are Christians-some of whom prefer to call themselves 'followers of Jesus' rather than Christians-are trying to steer government to a 'Christian' agenda. That runs the gambit from promoting Israel to bring Armageddon through a thick set of 'prayer cells' across Washington DC's power elite that have confused American expansionist ambition with the order of Jesus to a conservative wing of the church as a whole that would legislate their own social agenda, barring abortion, barring homosexual marriage, barring frank discussion of sexual practice among our young people-and weaving such language into our foreign policy.
George Carlin saw the absurdity of it all and that became the basis for his social commentary-that also made us laugh. He also had a potty mouth which I am ashamed to admit made me laugh all the more.
And he played a Cardinal in the movie "Dogma", which is a review for another day.
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