... Really? I'm in no position to say where he is or isn't, but his own philosophy would seem to suggest that he didn't believe he would be doing anything of the sort. If he didn't believe in the big man in the sky, I would wonder why someone might expect him to be up there right now -- regardless of the reality or non-reality of heaven. It's easy to knock the Christian belief -- or any other religious belief -- of the afterlife on this side of the grave. But when it comes down to it, death is death, and at that point the time for speculating is over. So far as I know, the Christian hope allows for the biggest sigh of relief when death becomes a reality. I've seen that the George Carlin thread over in the Bench has gotten kind of heated and perhaps touched a nerve with some people. I typically refrain from commenting in such threads because I'm not convinced that heated online (or, face-to-face, for that matter) discussions change (m)any minds. I feel compelled to write something here, however, because I feel this forum sort of constitutes my "home turf." BTW, Pop -- I don't know if what I say here will be relevant to the kind of discussion you were looking to generate, but this is in no way intended as an attack on you. Just my thoughts spawned by your brief post. :TU: I can understand what may have led Carlin to be cynical and derogatory towards Christianity. Some of the things done in the name of Christ -- past and present -- are downright embarassing. On a larger scale, the Crusades; on a smaller scale, individual Christian cowardice and insensitivity when faced with difficult, moral-determining situations. I'm ashamed to say that I can be accused of the latter in more than one case, and that, unfortunately, it is often these latter incidental events of "duplicity" that cause non-Christians to question the consistency of the Christian faith as a whole. That whole process is unfortunate, but nevertheless, to me, a point well-taken. What pains me more, however, is when the individual (person or event) is taken to represent the whole. Despite all the talk in Christianity of "perfection," Christians still are, after all, humans, like anybody else, bound to make mistakes. To illustrate, if my first exposure to comedy was a lousy performer at the local club, I could make the call that all comedians must be lousy and unentertaining, and that this first exposure would also be my last. That would be unfortunate for George Carlin, however, because, despite all the Christianity-knocking he did that I didn't appreciate, he nevertheless had some great lines which still make me laugh out loud. In other words, what I wish to say is that, despite all the Christian goof-ups and fakery out there, there is yet genuine Christianity out there, as well. It is kind, caring, honest, resilient, courageous, head-scratching and eyebrow-raising, and, above all, incredibly powerful. 'Life-changing' might be a more apt descriptor. I wish more people had the opportunity and/or the time of day to witness such faith. It is simply amazing. That is my $2.48. :laugh:
" I swear there ean't no heaven but I pray there ean't no Hell. But I'll never know by livin only my diein will tell. " I will miss Gorge. He caused me to re-examen my faith and it is stronger today as A result.
