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Having faith and questioning it too

November 7th, 2008 Dennis - Central

Lewis Black is probably something of an acquired taste for most of us. He’s achieved most of his fame as a stand-up comedian and social commentator of the angry rant style of delivery. Whatever his topic, it doesn’t seem to take long before he’s twitching, sweating, and shouting (complete with F-bombs) his way to what might eventually become a major-medical claim against his health insurance provider. The man is intense. And it ain’t pretty. So when I saw that he wrote a book called Me of Little Faith, ostensibly about religion, I had to check into it to see what, if anything, he could add to the reasoned discourse about religion after recent works by Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris seemed to make questioning established religious beliefs acceptable. Or, if not acceptable, they at least made somewhat scholarly investigations of certain aspects of widely established systems of belief. Could Lewis Black, not just the acerbic comedian but also Master’s graduate of Yale University, add anything valuable to the debate?

Not really.

There’s very little scholarship here. No citations or footnotes. Some of the critiques he levels against established religions like Judaism, Christianity, or Mormonism, have already been done. Lewis Black’s critiques are more anecdotal in nature. His disappointment at being given a dreidel at Hanukkah while his Christian friends receive cooler toys makes for somewhat amusing reading, but it doesn’t prove anything except Christmas toys are probably more fun than Hanukkah toys. His tours of the Mormon Tabernacle, Heritage USA (the property of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker), or observations of televised performances by Pat Robertson, Oral Roberts, Billy Graham, or Jerry Falwell, give him starting points from which to develop a premise that he hopes will either bemuse or outrage readers. But they probably won’t convince anyone whose faith has any real depth. Black seems to believe that if he states his opinions as facts, he doesn’t need to offer proof. Indeed, he seems to be asking for faith-based dis-belief.

And by the way, he explicitly refuses to do any sort of examination of Islam. Nothing to say about it except that he has nothing to say. The implied joke being that some followers of Islam won’t tolerate humor and will express their displeasure in a violent way, and he’s much too savvy to say anything that might give offense and isn’t he clever to avoid falling into that trap? No “fearless sifting and winnowing” for this brave soul. Assuming he has a soul, of course.

Yet, when it comes to faith, “the belief in things not seen,” Black seems to want to have it both ways, as when he talks about the death of his beloved brother, and the coincidental (or not?) boost to his own career that seemed to take place once his brother was dead. He also seems to have a different sort of faith when he talks about a psychic (you read that right, a psychic) who has an uncanny ability to make vague observations about the course of Black’s career prospects before knowing him personally or without having any advance knowledge of what’s happening in Black’s life. Black seems to think this is all the more believable because he has never given the man any money. Take it on faith, I guess.

So it’s a little hard to treat this as any sort of serious religious critique. Believe me when I tell you, there’s nothing faith-shattering here. It’s entertainment for the type of people who won’t be offended by this sort of treatment of established religions. And, of course, for fans of Lewis Black. Everyone else can probably find better uses for their time.

The book is also available as a recorded book and might be a better choice for those familiar with and appreciative of Lewis Black’s brand of humor. I’ve read and listened to both versions and think the recorded book is superior, although he doesn’t manage to get himself wound up into an apoplectic state for most of the reading. He is just reading a book after all. There is a short play called “The Laundry Hour” included at the end that was commissioned and produced by Joseph Papp of Public Theater fame that Black co-wrote and performed with Mark Linn-Baker. Mark Linn-Baker joins with Lewis Black to reprise the stage performance in the audiobook.

Entry Filed under: Nonfiction