I had a love/love regard for comedian George Carlin.
Known for his brash, edgy and always irreverent comedy, he was especially fond of calling out the hypocritical nature of religion and its leaders. Though I had heard of him throughout my life, I grew to enjoy him when my dad and I discovered his first book, the aptly named Brain Droppings. Though much of it is crass enough to keep from reading it again, I can't recall ever laughing so hard as when my dad and I read each other sections from it.
His writing always seemed different from his stand-up. A litter softer, perhaps? I don't know. But that seems to reflect some of the things his friends have been saying about him now that he has passed. He was, they say, quite reclusive and quiet. He was a "gentleman" behind the scenes, and even "humble." They chalked it up to his being an old-school showman--your act did not necessarily reflect your character. This is not that surprising. The people who entertain on a large scale tend to be quite introverted (this is the case with many preachers, too).
But as is the case when most people die, compliments fly and criticisms die. Carlin could be particularly mean at times, never failing to throw even old ladies under buses, as it were. His biting--and usually naïve--political diatribes usually left the listener with a bad taste in his/her mouth. But perhaps the most important thing to point out was that Carlin had a caustic aversion to the church. I don't know a lot about George, but I'm pretty sure I heard him say he grew up Roman Catholic. He had obviously left the church and had nothing good to say about it. He was definitely in the camp that argued religion made the world worse, not better. And I can't disagree.
Perhaps that's part of the reason I liked him. Comedians are adept social critics. Carlin was a master. He saw things no one else saw and made jokes out of it. Much of his critique of religion, sadly, is spot on. Religion can't fix you. It is hypocritical. It is self-serving. And so I love the guy. To me, he was one of the funniest and most astute entertainers of the last 40 years.
But I also love him (note the absence of the word "hate"). For all of Carlin's astuteness, for all of his cleverness, he wasn't ever able to find Christ (as far as I know). Oh, he thought he knew him. But he did not. I suspect that he hated religion so much because, to him, it was the best attempt to make any sense of this life. But to him, of course, religion made no sense at all. Oh, had he only known Jesus. Carlin had the correct answer to the question, "Can religion save me?" No, it cannot. But, unfortunately, he never figured out that there was a positive side to the equation. "What can save me?" Only Christ can save. Religion says, do a lot of things to please God and get right with him. Christ says, I have done everything required to please God. In fact, I have spared my own life to get you right with God. Now, would you only find rest in me? Turn from your sin, have faith in my shed blood, and you will taste life.
George Carlin was for a time my favorite comedian. My dad and I would laugh endlessly at his stuff. And so I had a love/love regard for him. I hope he found faith in the only thing that could have saved him.
0 comments:
Post a Comment