Comments on: Julia Sweeney http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2006/07/07/julia-sweeney/ by Hemant Mehta Tue, 14 Feb 2012 02:56:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 By: Friendly Atheist » More Randomness http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2006/07/07/julia-sweeney/#comment-683 Friendly Atheist » More Randomness Tue, 24 Oct 2006 04:10:29 +0000 http://friendlyatheist.com/2006/07/07/julia-sweeney/#comment-683 [...] – This American Life is now podcasting! Best. Radio. Show. Ever. And as I mentioned before, Julia Sweeney’s Letting Go of God was excerpted on the show before (their most requested episode ever). [...] [...] – This American Life is now podcasting! Best. Radio. Show. Ever. And as I mentioned before, Julia Sweeney’s Letting Go of God was excerpted on the show before (their most requested episode ever). [...]

]]> By: Eliza http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2006/07/07/julia-sweeney/#comment-314 Eliza Sat, 08 Jul 2006 07:07:57 +0000 http://friendlyatheist.com/2006/07/07/julia-sweeney/#comment-314 I got to see her perform 1 hr of her 90 min show a few months ago when she was in Seattle - then she and Ira Glass (host of "This American Life") sat on stage and talked for another half hour. Siamang's comments are right on. She comes across as respectful, and thoughtful, and there is more of a spiritual awareness to it than I had expected. (But no wavering in her conclusions.) She told some funny stories about the show afterwards, and said that she likes going to church (Catholic) for the pageantry and ritual. Ira Glass was quite clear that he is an atheist, & was also funny. He was somewhat negative about religion in their discussion, whereas Julia Sweeney was neutral-to-positive. I also found it interesting that the theatre, which seats 2000+, was packed. The audience was for the most part interested and appreciative, though a noticeable number (~10%?) left at intermission. I'd never been in a room with 1800 atheists and atheist-sympathizers before, so that was a new and encouraging experience in and of itself! I got to see her perform 1 hr of her 90 min show a few months ago when she was in Seattle – then she and Ira Glass (host of “This American Life”) sat on stage and talked for another half hour. Siamang’s comments are right on. She comes across as respectful, and thoughtful, and there is more of a spiritual awareness to it than I had expected. (But no wavering in her conclusions.) She told some funny stories about the show afterwards, and said that she likes going to church (Catholic) for the pageantry and ritual. Ira Glass was quite clear that he is an atheist, & was also funny. He was somewhat negative about religion in their discussion, whereas Julia Sweeney was neutral-to-positive.

I also found it interesting that the theatre, which seats 2000+, was packed. The audience was for the most part interested and appreciative, though a noticeable number (~10%?) left at intermission. I’d never been in a room with 1800 atheists and atheist-sympathizers before, so that was a new and encouraging experience in and of itself!

]]> By: Siamang http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2006/07/07/julia-sweeney/#comment-309 Siamang Fri, 07 Jul 2006 17:52:14 +0000 http://friendlyatheist.com/2006/07/07/julia-sweeney/#comment-309 I love julia. This is a great show. Better to see it in its entirety, this clip doesn't really do it justice. A lot of the warmth and humor are from other parts of the show. Her tone in the piece as a whole is less confrontational and more spiritual, in a way. As an atheist, I often feel as if I'm conversing with the image of God in the popular imagination. She literally converses with this God in her play. It's a medium is the message thing. God is the other character in her one-person show. And that's the entire point. He's "there," but not really there. I love julia. This is a great show. Better to see it in its entirety, this clip doesn’t really do it justice.

A lot of the warmth and humor are from other parts of the show. Her tone in the piece as a whole is less confrontational and more spiritual, in a way.

As an atheist, I often feel as if I’m conversing with the image of God in the popular imagination. She literally converses with this God in her play. It’s a medium is the message thing. God is the other character in her one-person show. And that’s the entire point. He’s “there,” but not really there.

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