George Carlin Speaks Truth?
- Derek Snyder
- Jun 30, 2008
I read as many of you might have read or heard last week that comedian George Carlin passed away from a heart attack at the age of 71. I am in my late thirties so I admit that I am probably a bit young to be part of his target audience. His rise to fame started in the 60's and continued into the 70's when he was arrested in 1972 at a show for violating obscenity laws during his routine titled "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television" which referenced what is often referred to now as simply the "seven dirty words". His case eventually went to the Supreme Court where they established the times of 10 PM thru 6 AM as a time that indecent, but not obscene language could be used. I will not repeat the seven dirty words here, but suffice to say they are definitely obscene in most uses. You will still not hear these words before 10 PM usually and often not even after 10 PM. In regards to the dirty words he has been quoted as saying "There are no bad words, just bad thoughts, bad intentions, and woooords."
Many of the articles I have read since his death have praised him for his willingness to tackle the difficult subjects and those often avoided, such as politics and religion. There is no denying some of George's so called comedy bits that were outright against God, church and religion. You can find videos and page after page online with the bits and quotes. Here are a couple of George's quotes I came across that I surprisingly found truth in...
"We created god in our own image and likeness!" -There was no date attributed to this quote but the truth in this statement struck me. Historically this has always been a problem for entire cultures, countries and yes, even the church. If you cannot see how this is true in America or in the church today I don't think you are looking very hard.
"If this is the best God can do, I'm not impressed."-- George Carlin, Napalm & Silly Putty (2001)
Whether you are a Christian or not I would be willing to bet you have uttered that phrase or a form of the phrase. Maybe you uttered something like "Really God, is that all?" or "Come on God, you can do better than that!" or even "I could have done better or done that myself God"
Funny where we can find truth if we look and let God speak...
One of the articles I read said that Carlin's material became very dark in his latter years. They say he was cheerleading for mass suicide and ecological disaster. A couple years ago George was quoted as saying "I sort of gave up on this whole human adventure a long time ago. Divorced myself from it emotionally. I think the human race has squandered its gift, and I think this country has squandered its promise. I think people in America sold out very cheaply, for sneakers and cheeseburgers. And I don't think it's fixable."
Wow. Stop and re-read that quote. That is heavy stuff. Sort of expected from a bitter sort of soul that raged his entire career against the norm and against the system so to speak. But then again, you expect that with all his frankness and bravado at times he might be satisfied with himself and career success. In the quote above, George Carlin echo's what many in the world and even within the church feel today. Often times we feel like checking out on this human adventure, emotionally, even physically at times. We see the destruction that people have brought on this world. We see pain inflicted on the human race and on little children for no reason and we wish it would all just go away. Many of us can very easily relate to selling out cheaply for sneakers and cheeseburgers because we have seen it happening before our eyes and in fact most of us have participated in it. I must disagree with the final portion of his quote though when he says "And I don't think it's fixable". George Carlin's material became darker in the end. His beliefs and lifestyle had no payoff in the end when the final heart attack hit. You see, George Carlin was missing "hope that empowers" (Russ Kapusinski -Hope That Empowers). He didn't seem to realize in time that it was indeed all fixable. He knew about God but he didn't have the intimate knowledge of Our Lord & Savior.
Let this be a reminder to us all that there is one hope in the Lord Jesus. I pray we all would experience that hope as found in Ephesians 1:15-23. It is written in verse 18-19 "I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints and his incomparably great power for us who believe."
