Julia Sweeney - Letting Go of God
List Price:
Our Price: $5.98
You Save: $4.01 (40%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $2.45 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more CD details
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
CD Details
Artist: Julia SweeneyEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 2006-12-02
Music Label: Indefatigable Inc.
Music reviews of Letting Go of God
Music Review: Almost totally impressive - almost
Rating: 4 Stars
Julia Sweeney's verbal performance of her work, "Letting Go of God," impresses me at almost every turn. Her self-disclosure is both disarming and warming. Her vulnerability and wit come through in each carefully chosen word and phrase. And notably, for a written work recited by the author, the phrasing and meter of the work comes across almost perfectly.
Sweeney's search for the substance of her faith is less a metaphysical journey than a cry from the heart. Her disappointment in her conclusion that God does not exist is palpable. But sadly, Sweeney shows that her examination of the really big metaphysical questions are a bit lacking. Of course, there is a limit to how much philosophy one can squeeze into a comedy performance, but Sweeney clearly means this work to be instructive as well as entertaining, and the instruction is lacking. Sweeney does not attack the question of primal causality, the question of "how did everything get here?" that caused ancient Greeks to posit a prime mover and thus gave birth to a variety of philosophical schools that each contributed to western philosophy. Instead, Sweeney give warm homilies on why she rejected Christianity, Buddhism, naturalism, and other schools of thought by occurrences that to her seemed to destroy the fabric of the particular school of thought under examination.
Sweeney dismisses all forms of faith as simple social constructs for the purposes of cultural stability and morality. She fails to see that her own faith in science is also a social construct arising from similar needs and for the same purposes. Philosophically, such a stance seems just a bit over-simplified. But again, there is a limit to how much philosophy one can squeeze into a comedy performance.
Those whose faith in their own tradition can be easily shaken might pause for a moment before listening to this author. And before buying this as a gift, it might be well to consider the ethics of setting so strong a drink before someone who has not yet tasted the burning sensation of difficult concepts regarding man and his place in the universe. On the other hand, any college graduate who has sat through a beer session after a class on philosophy or metaphysics from a good professor has had their minds as challenged as Sweeney's work will challenge, but almost certainly not as well entertained as Sweeney's droll wit.
As a United Methodist minister, this isn't a work I would share or recommend to my parishioners, but I would hope that all of them have taken the difficult journey of independent thought and faith examination that Julia Sweeney has shared with the public. This is a work to be approached with some degree of caution by Christians and others of faith, not because the message is untrue but rather because the message is not complete and has not been fully thought through. Sweeney just wrote this too early; she may change her mind again as she approaches major life changes such as disability or her own demise. I'll look for her next work and probably enjoy it, too.
If you're mature in your faith (whatever that faith may be) and enjoy roller-coaster rides through metaphysical arguments, buy a copy and start giggling. Roman Catholics, especially from California, will probably enjoy this most due to a number of subtle in-jokes.
Miscellaneous CDs
Music Genres
Bestsellers in Miscellaneous CDs
Rudolph Wurlitzer - Slow Fade (As Read By Will Oldham)Release date: 2011-05-03; Music CD
Best price: $10.98
Price in other shops:
3 Fools 4 April - 3 Fools 4 AprilRelease date: 2008-03-25; Published: 2006; Music CD
Best price: $7.14
Price in other shops:
Judy Clark - Sing Like the StarsRelease date: 2008-07-22; Published: 2008; Music CD
Best price: $23.99
Price in other shops:
Race and Win: Race Boat Crewing with Tucker ThompsonBennett; Release date: 2007-01-01; DVD
Best price: $23.07
Price in other shops:
Rebecca Cooper - Coming Home to our Appetite: Guided ImageryRelease date: 2009-06-01; Music CD
Best price: $12.42
Price in other shops:
Sharon Bridgforth - Bull-Jean StoriesRelease date: 2005-12-27; Published: 1999; Music CD
Best price: $9.95
Price in other shops:
Janice Tucker Rhoda - The ABCs of Violin for the Intermediate, Book 2: Performance CDCarl Fischer; Release date: 2009-03-17; Music CD
Best price: $11.64
Price in other shops:
![You Can Dance - Waltz [VHS] Image](/images/You-Can-Dance-Waltz-VHS-0769720692-X.jpg){kind=small}
You Can Dance - You Can Dance - Waltz [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.74
Price in other shops:
![You Can Dance - Rhumba [VHS] Image](/images/You-Can-Dance-Rhumba-VHS-0769720668-X.jpg){kind=small}
You Can Dance - You Can Dance - Rhumba [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $2.99
Price in other shops:
Dino: Collector's SeriesPublished: 1998; Music CD
Best price: $53.95
Similar CDs
The God Who Wasn't ThereRelease date: 2005-08-23; Published: 2005-06-06; DVD
Best price: $15.82
Price in other shops:
Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believeby Greg Epstein
William Morrow; Published: 2009-11-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.49
Price in other shops:
Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheistsby Dan Barker
Ulysses Press; Published: 2008-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.87
Price in other shops:
The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really Trueby Richard Dawkins
Free Press; Published: 2011-10-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.56
Price in other shops:
God Said, Ha!: A Memoirby Julia Sweeney
Bantam; Published: 1998-05-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.10
Price in other shops:
Islamophobia: Making Muslims the Enemyby Peter Gottschalk, Gabriel Greenberg
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers; Published: 2007-07-26; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.00
Price in other shops:
Julia Sweeney - In the Family WayRelease date: 2007-06-01; Music CD
Best price: $5.20
God Said, Ha!Buena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2003-05-06; DVD
Best price: $8.45
Price in other shops:
ReligulousLIONS GATE HOME ENT.; Release date: 2009-02-17; DVD
Best price: $6.60
Price in other shops:
Letting Go of GodRelease date: 2008-11-21; DVD
Best price: $11.99