“It's Not About The Sex” My Ass
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60 seconds with George Carlin: an aha moment for Joanne Hanks

6/20/2015

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“Behold, then came George Carlin”

Below: Excerpt from “It’s Not About the Sex” My Ass where author Joanne Hanks talks about her George Carlin aha moment
“
I happened to catch one of his [Carlin’s] television specials one evening while lying in bed unable to sleep. He called religion—not just one denomination, but all religion—“the greatest bullshit story ever told.” Think about it, he said. “An invisible man … with a special list of things he does not want you to do.” Break one of those rules and God will send you to “a special place” of “torture and anguish.” But, Carlin added, “He loves you, and he needs money.” 
The common sense cut through the fog in my head. It spoke to my brain and my heart. After a lifetime of nonsensical, self-contradictory religious indoctrination, here was a clear and intelligent voice that dared to tell, if you’ll pardon the expression, the honest-to-god truth. In a few succinct words, Carlin articulated what I had begun more and more to sense but had not yet quite faced. Since Carlin had an audience, I reasoned, there must be many, many others who thought that way, too. I wasn’t alone! 
—Chapter 12, “It’s Not About the Sex” My Ass by Joanne Hanks
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Catholic church: child’s first impression

6/7/2015

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•     •     •

Growing up in a church,
it’s easy not to notice that it’s weird.
But to a young outsider visiting
for the first time ...

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By their fruits and all that stuff

6/5/2015

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Actually, you can judge a 
church by its members

Sooner or later, someone will tell you not to judge the Mormon Church by its members.

Let’s mull that over a burger at the nearest McDonald’s. 

It shouldn’t surprise us if McDonald’s employees aren’t as cheerful as what’s portrayed in TV ads. Somewhat detached service is pretty much what we have come to expect there. Now, McDonald’s headquarters might beg to differ. They could tell us not to judge a company by its employees. 
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Trouble is, that’s exactly how we judge a company. Any marketer will tell you that a brand is not what its advertising claims, but the experience it delivers. If McDonald’s employees act detached, then it doesn’t matter what their TV ads show and their training manuals urge. McDonald’s is detached.

Likewise, Mormonism is not what you see in the “I’m a Mormon” campaign, Meet the Mormons, or Sunday school manuals. Mormonism is no more nor less than the experience you have when you run into Mormons.

Besides, didn’t some dude say, “Ye shall know them by their fruits”? Mormons trot that out when members shine. When they shineth not, they tend not to bring it up.
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