Product Description

Julia Sweeney says she was a "happy Catholic girl" when, one day, she walked into church and signed up for a Bible-study course. "What an eye opener that was!" she says. "Next thing you know, I was on a quest for something I could really believe in. I traveled to places like Bhutan, Ecuador, and my local Starbucks looking for answers. Would I embrace Buddhism? New Age pseudo-science? Was I a freak for feeling the way I did, or were there other people out there just like me? I was grappling with serious questions. But, somehow, a lot of the things that were happening to me seemed, well, funny." Equally comedic and insightful, Letting Go of God is Sweeney's brilliant one-woman show about her struggle with her faith. Grappling with the seeming contradictions in Adam and Eve, Noah, the Ten Commandments, and even the teachings of Jesus - and trying to understand the Bible's messages about morality, family values, and human suffering while faced with door-knocking Mormons and wise-cracking priests - Sweeney takes listeners on her very personal journey from God to "not-God". This performance was recorded on November 19, 2005, at the Ars Nova Theatre in New York City.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1978 in Music
• Released on: 2006-12-02
• Number of discs: 2

Review
"Searing and bracingly funny... "Letting Go of God" is refreshingly unrancorous, lucid and, yes, inspirational. Ms. Sweeney may not believe her audience has spirits to be moved, but that's certainly how it feels." --New York Times

Review
"Julia Sweeney's brave, hilarious, moving new show "Letting Go of God" is a gale-force breath of fresh of fresh air into the mostly politic dialogue about religion in our time." --Los Angeles Times

Review
"An excerpt of this show is the single most popular story we've ever put on our show in over ten years on the air. Somehow, against all common sense, Julia is making something funny that has no business being funny. So buy this CD, if you dare." --Ira Glass, This American Life

Customer Reviews

EVERYONE should hear this--at least once!
This CD has become very dear to me and some of my friends. I saw this performed live three times, and laughed all the way through and even wept a few times (and I am a grown man!). Sweeney went through the whole gamut of spirituality, (Catholicism, Buddhism, the belief that "God is love" and finally "God is Nature") before truly weighing fact from blind faith. It was not easy for her (or any of us seeking truth and perhaps even FEARING the truth) which is what this great 2 CD set covers. I know it sounds like a very broad statement, but if everyone on earth could hear this, I think we just may come to live in a more rational world (or perhaps that is just wishful thinking on my part...). I HIGHLY recommend this to anyone who is questioning the rationality of blind faith, who is suffering from a religious upbringing, or feels they are ready to live a truly authentic life. A NOTE: Sweeney has no agenda--she only tells her story and the listener can take from it what they may. I always feel very peaceful and inspired after listening to this. It comes with a book of the complete text, a track list and 2 CD's.

Wow!
Inspiring, poignant, funny. Julia's intimate journey is not to be missed. Just as the other reviewer stated, I'm constantly mentioning this to friends, bought one for my sister and refer to is time and again. You'll listen to it repeatedly and laugh louder and be struck more deeply each time. Worth every penny (especially on iTunes where it's only $12).

Brilliant, charming, hilarious
Letting Go Of God covers all the bases: the journey from childhood religious indoctrination to freethinking adulthood, the contradictions in the Bible, the silliness of New Age thinking as a substitute for reason, the prejudice against atheists, and, most of all, shows that you can be a good, kind, loving person without God (indeed, it's hard not to be totally in love with Sweeney by the end). It never sneers, never uses condescension, and never once tells anyone else what to think -- it trust that the members of the audience can find their own way. A tour de force; I recommend it highly and wholeheartedly.