@Fishtroller 02 @Fishtroller 02

The Commandments of Lenny Bruce

It is often said of Lenny Bruce that he was a pioneer for free speech, a precursor not only for succeeding generations of controversial comedians, but for a counter-culture that came of age soon after his untimely death.

“Question authority”, a popular tenet of ‘60s youth rebels, could well have been his epitaph, and no authority came more under his comic scrutiny than the religious kind.

Less concerned with issues of personal faith than with religious restraints and hypocrisy, Bruce ushered in a new generation no longer wholly beholden to the sanctity of church doctrines.

And:

Like George Carlin, Sam Kineson, and Bills Hicks and Bill Maher after him, Bruce’s relationship to religion was paradoxical in both topic and treatment. As much as his content is condemnatory of the church, its critical impetus emanates from a moral foundation one might actually associate with the preaching profession.

On The Popehat:

Rachmones [compassion] (or the lack thereof) is similarly central to one of Bruce’s most infamous and groundbreaking early sketches, “Christ and Moses”. Here, the comedian highlights the many ways religious leaders ignore or avoid their supposed calling in order to protect their own power and privilege. One version has Christ and Moses descend from the heavens to visit St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue in New York City. There, amidst the splendor of the surroundings, they witness a conversation between Cardinal Francis Spellman and Bishop Sheen over the arrival of some lepers at the church. Rather than show compassion for the poor and lame, though, Spellman instead gets on the phone to Pope John Paul, complaining, “Look, all I know is that I’m up to my ass in crutches and wheelchairs here!” He adds, “What are we paying protection for?” characterizing the Pope as some kind of Mafia godfather.

http://www.popmatters.com/column/186926-the-commandments-of-lenny-bruce/

Lenny Bruce FBI file:

https://web.archive.org/web/20160610181036/https://vault.fbi.gov/Lenny%2...

bought the line that when you use the term "christian" it is understood that it reflects goodness.
I read their whole book. I know better.