Letting Go of God

I saw Julia perform this show in Las Vegas in 2007 before an audience of skeptics. She received a standing ovation. The show is clever, thought provoking and funny. She explains in her gentle way her personal path to becoming an atheist. "God Said Ha!" (produced by Quentin Tarantino) which detailed a traumatic year for her described the first part of her journey from being a good Catholic girl to her position as a non-believer. In it she tells the story of how her brother developed cancer. While she was caring for him she discovered that she too had the disease. Julia survived. Her brother didn't. "Letting Go of God" carries on from there. Ms Sweeney comes across as a very warm, decent human being. I've spoken with her after seeing her shows and her humanity shines through. It's well worth seeing this film - no matter which side of the fence you're on - because it may well change your outlook on life. Highly recommended.

Julia Sweeney, best known from her days on "Saturday Night Live," lets the audience in on her quest for faith which ultimately led her to the revelation that she has none in "Letting Go of God."

Watching one person speak for over two hours can be a bit taxing and difficult to sustain, but for Sweeney, it all comes naturally. She tells her story in a humorous and human way, often getting emotional as well as witty and casual. For the entire duration, she has the audience in her hand, as she talks in depth about childhood doubt, adulthood tragedies and the journey which led her to her ultimate conclusion: God is a figment of our imagination.

For those who believe, Sweeney's monologue might be a tough pill to swallow, but rest assured, she speaks in a respectful manner, even relating to her parents who kept their faith as well as their relationship with their daughter in the wake of her newfound atheism. The message of the film is bold and gut-wrenching but ultimately inescapable. Julia is a great storyteller, and it's worth sitting down for a few hours and letting her tell you her story.

My religious road is very similar to Ms. Sweeney's (minus the trips to India and South America), and I was delighted to hear someone echo my very thoughts on the Bible and the life of Jesus.

Ms. Sweeney's testimonial is direct, honest, and moving. She comes across as educated on the topics she is discussing, yet she explains everything in a very clear way. At no point does she sound preachy or pushy. She simply provides her story.

My only criticism is that it's a bit too long. I felt like the monologue could have been more poignant had she broken it up with other types of segments (e.g. interviews with her family members, showing us her childhood church, etc.). The one-woman show is effective, but it felt long (at 2 hr. and 20 min. I believe).

Either way, it's a stirring performance, and I would encourage everyone to watch it.

the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) is having the world premiere of this film and i was fortunate enough to see a press screening today. somehow i missed the live tour and i'm very sad about that as this looked like it was such an intimate, thought provoking show. julia delivers her one woman monologue in her usual, witty way. i was thoroughly delighted every moment of this live film. i can't give away anything but i will say it was a pleasure to listen & watch julia speak about her spiritual journey/evolution and her realistic outlook on life. when this film comes to your city, do yourself a favour and see it with a group of friends or family. you'll laugh out-loud, get teary-eyed and rejoice in the intelligent criticisms before you. i LOVED it!

Julia Sweeney presents a monologue on religions and religious people. She brushes with several religions and major alternate religious writers and speakers. However, she stays mainstream enough that you should be familiar with all of the references, some of which are just mentioned in passing.

She only touches on the window dressing or superficial part of each religion or speaker and avoids any of the deeper or real focus of the religion. So long as you are not aware of the depth of the particular religion or writer in her critique you can laugh and not think much. She does focus more on Catholicism, LDS, and Buddhism. One writer mentioned but glossed over is Joseph Campbell who has a great body of works and all she remembered is "Follow Your Bliss." Transcendental Meditation" if anyone remembers it got about four words; this could be a time restraint of the presentation.

One part that I particularly found interesting was when Julia took a course in quantum mechanics she found that people bandying around scientific words and trying to equate them to off the wall religions had no concept of physics and was found out to be full of it. If more people took the time to take a course in quantum mechanics people like Gary Zukav would starve to death.

You may agree or disagree with Julia. However, the presentation is well worth watching and discussing.