Comedians take on Religion
by Don Lacey on Mar. 07, 2013, under Armageddon, Art & Culture, Atheism, Atheist Humor, Christianity, Critical Thinking, Freethought, Fundamentalism, God & Bible, History, Reason, Religion
By Jim Wilson:
For decades one of the few places a public figure can openly challenge religious belief is the wonderful world of stand-up comedy. Here nothing is taboo and almost anything goes. Humor and mockery are among the best ways to challenge the commonly held values and assumptions in society. Comics are often some of our greatest exercisers of free speech in addition to being merely entertaining.I would like to present our readers this collection of some of my favorite irreverent stand-up bits about religion. (Warning, these are not intended for children or the easily offended and some are NSFW).
- Bill Hicks’ perfect response to an angry Christian: The end of this clip always makes me happy. I’m pleased to say I’ve used this response to a few believers myself.
- Sarah Silverman says: Sell the Vatican Feed the World. Though it is technically not part of her standup show, this short by Sarah Silverman makes an excellent proposal for feeding the world, at the Pope’s expense, and provides some nice commentary on papal decadence.
- Ricky Gervais on Noah’s Ark The former star of The Office, Extras, The Invention of Lying and many other projects, discusses the absurdity of Noah’s Ark.
- Eddie Izzard: Jesus and the Dinosaurs. This takes on much of the Christian worldview. My favorite part is when God asks Jesus about what he told his followers about wine.
- Jamie Kilstein on Gay Marriage A wonderful rant on marriage equality and religious bigotry, also hilarious. Nothing more needs to be said.
- Julia Sweeney on the book of Revelation The former Saturday Night Live actress gives her thoughts on the rather psychedelic implications of the last book of the Bible. This comes from her wonderful film Letting Go of God.
- Bo Burnham’s Rant During his comedy central special, Bo Burnam breaks into this musical number.
- Jim Jeffries: God Loves the Stupid Australian comic Jim Jeffries delivers a foul mouth dose of religion bashing, and explains the lack of Kangaroos in the Noah’s ark story.
- David Cross: Heaven & Squagels The former Arrested Development and Mister Show star, discusses heaven and, as an added bonus, something called Squagels.
- George Carlin: Religion is BS George Carlin at his best!
I hope you enjoy watching these as much as I have.
