The Passing of George Carlin

By now everyone knows that George Carlin died last week at age 71. At least, I though everybody did - everyone except the woman that I heard quoting Carlin last night.

"You know he died, right?"

"What? No! When?"

"Last week."

"Nooo!"

I wasn't a huge Carlin fan. Carlin is probably best known for his bit on "The 7 Things You Can't Say on Television" from back in the '70s. He had a long career, with appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson in the '60s to shows in the last year. The past couple of decades seem to have made him more bitter and vitriolic, and I stopped listening to him almost 20 years ago. Of course, he ridiculed religion, especially Christianity.

But he had a sharp intellect and keen perception, especially about human behavior. My favorite bit of his, called "A Place For My Stuff," released in 1981 on the album of the same name, was a good rant about how materialistic we are. Matthew 6:19-21 states "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." But Carlin's bit was based on the fact that we spend so much of our lives working against this very warning, working hard to earn enough to fill our lives with possessions. It's a funny bit, because it points out the absurdity of our actions (I think much of comedy is about the absurd), but is extremely sobering when measured against Scripture.

Here is a clip of his "Stuff" bit recorded for Comic Relief '86. WARNING: Carlin does use some profanity, so if you are offended by profane language, please do not watch this clip.