George Carlin was a comedian well-known for making various “jokes” about religion. Jokes often come from life experiences and there is no doubt that George Carlin was a devout atheist both on and off the stage.
On August 20, 1995, George Carlin admitted to the New York Times, he admitted that he felt religion was a fairy tale he couldn’t believe in. George Carlin spent a lot of his acts talking about the illogical aspects of religion. He especially rejected the idea that God would love the people to whom he inflicted ten rules that would decide whether they would be forced to be punished for eternity. Even more so, he talked about how many religions asked for money.
Carlin against all forms of religion
Typically, George Carlin made references to Catholicism and other forms of Christianity. This is probably due to him being raised in a Catholic environment back during grammar school. However, he was against all forms of religion.
George Carlin started veering off from atheism and accepting a deity in his life. However, it wasn’t any current standard religion. Instead, he began worshiping the Sun because it was a god he could actually see.
He felt the sun was a more worshipable god because its energy brings about warmth, light, and life. It wasn’t very clear whether he truly believed that or he used it to make a point about the importance of being happy for the things we know we have. After all, he also made references to worshiping Joe Pesci.
Of course, George Carlin would never admit to being an ‘atheist’. He was very much a believer of free thought and didn’t much like the idea of being categorized. Even patriotism seems ridiculous to him. Since atheism has become a global label, almost a religion in itself, it’s no wonder George Carlin didn’t want any association with the title. Social connotations aside, he was an atheist.
Because of his celebrity status, George Carlin found a following among the various atheist Americans. He also received criticism from those who were offended by his beliefs. Although he was a “comedian”, there were many times where certain acts seemed more like his personal monologues than comedy. Still, people listened because past all of the obscenities were complex and logical arguments.
George Carlin died at 71 but his influence on atheists remains
Where else would we get a saying like “I would never want to be a member of a group whose symbol was a guy nailed to two pieces of wood.”
Sources:
http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/quotes/carlin.htm
http://nowscape.com/atheism/carlin.htm
