When I searched "religion" on youtube, this video was the first one that came up.
That was the first thing about this video that I found interesting - that Carlin's pretty scathing critique of organized religion (through humor, of course!) came up before a video of a church service, or the Pope, or anything else!
While his humor is pretty abrasive, I think he does make some good points. While some people may be really offended by Carlin (but, you know, people should know what they're getting themselves into when they click on a Carlin skit), a lot of what he says comes from nuggets of truth. Which is, of course, part of why it's so funny!
Among the many things Carlin brings up
1 - the contradiction many people find between the image of a loving God and the same God sending people to Hell
2- the problem with many churches in asking for money and justifying it with a God-centered reasoning (ironically the same problem people had many years ago when the Reformation took place)
3- the way prayer is used in our society to ask for frivolous things
Throughout the past week I've been comparing ur-religion to our modern religions and realizing that the people who drew on those cave walls would probably not recognize much of what is labeled "religious" in our modern world as anything spiritual, or at least very little. Carlin didn't even touch on the consumerism culture that religion has become a vehicle for (ex - Christmas. Need I say more).
The most interesting thing about this video?
Views: 4,800,220
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I really enjoyed this video. Carlin is a funny man, but is also quite poignant. He shows that Religion is, in some aspects, losing its original focus. As you mentioned, Jacklyn, religion now is so incredibly different than back then for countless reasons, most of which are pretty ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great video, and it's just one of many examples (like Woody Allen) where humor is used to show the contradictory nature of religion...especially as we've moved into an era where religion is so different from its original intent. Great find!
ReplyDeleteI liked this too.. and you're right the number of views makes you realize that this strikes a lot of nerves.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great video, not because of the abrasiveness or humor, but the questions and topics he challenges. I would be interested to find a legit interview with him about religion. Good stuff.
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