Oh yeah, George Carlin
Funny? Yes. Substantive? Not so much.
This was a remainder I sliced off of a previous article.
So, watch this if your interested in hearing Carlin’s rant against faith. Make sure the kids aren’t in the room.
Then read this, how C.S. Lewis, the master himself, gives us a nifty way to think about metaphor.
Okay, whew. Now you’re ready — point by point dissection of Carlin.
“It’s all silliness! God hasn’t shown Himself by now, well, it’s simply too late.”
Response — There’s no timetable that should exist, so this is a non-sequitur. God as project manager isn’t a useful image.
“All Christians are praying to some invisible man up in the sky who was started by a bunch of ignorant farmers thousands of years ago.”
Response — Invisible man is an image. We know it’s not up in the sky. God’s location does not affect the thought of God, or his effect on our transformation. His invisible is a condition of belief as we don’t have to believe in things we see.
He needs money and if you don’t listen to the list of ten things he makes you burn in hell forever. This world is junk!
Response — God needing anything isn’t biblical, and burning in hell is most certainly an image. Whether or not you accept that image isn’t exactly the point. The thought (Rule 1) is that it isn’t good to be away from God. That concept doesn’t change, but the image continues to morph based on language and culture.
“If God is running the show, then he’s incompetent or evil!”
Response — Image here is of some CEO of a company who has not done a good job. It is an inaccurate image, as the one that the Bible and tradition uphold is that of a Shepherd, that brings dumb sheep into line before they walk off a cliff or into the path of a predator. (A more modern foundation for creation and reality can be found at the wonderful biologos.com.)
As you can see, this attack leverages incomplete or misleading images, not the ideas behind them. We hold onto metaphor and images because they are useful, but we hold them loosely, since at any time we might be smarter about the topic.
One of the values we derive from faith is the images that it provides us to understand the human condition. Through God’s slow unveiling of our reality, our images will improve, but I do not suspect we as limited creatures will ever be able to understand the true nature of reality, which for me includes the supernatural. If you want to learn more about this topic, Miracles is a timeless work that will challenge your thinking.
