Religulous
John Lennon asked us to imagine a world without religion. Bill Maher’s “Religulous” demands such a world. There’s a big difference between the gentle poetry of Lennon’s plea and the stridency of Maher’s harangue. “Religulous” is mostly a comic documentary, and it’s funny, smart, even brave at times. It’s also shallow. Maher has a good knowledge of sacred texts and their contradictory claims. But he aims his barbs at the easiest targets – fundamentalists who take every word in the Bible, Koran or Torah literally, and hypocrites who use those words to justify their hucksterism. The few religious moderates he confronts seem to baffle him. And he avoids entirely those whose faith guides them to help people in the here and now. Once his easy mockery hits a point of diminishing returns, he delivers a sermon, asking those without faith to “come out of the closet.” He dismisses moderates as “enablers” of the fundies, and while that may be true, it’s not a nuanced position, and he doesn’t back it up. Maher champions the humility of doubt over the arrogance of faith. Yet he has faith – faith that human beings can get over religion, and that the world will be better for it. I think such a claim is so purely speculative as to be pointless. “South Park” did a brilliant episode set 500 years in the future in which everyone is an atheist, but they’re constantly at war over the proper form of atheism. It’s more sophisticated than anything Maher achieves in “Religulous,” because, like the faithful, he’s convinced that his way is the right way.
LISTEN: Religulous
I wholeheartedly agree with this assessment, but what is even more disingenuous were the ill informed inaccurate statements for instance the entirely erroneous statement that none of the testament writers knew Jesus. John meant on his breast at the last supper! Shame he didn’t interview any people who were actually changing the world for the better and who could actually correct many of Maher’s errors.
David
14 Mar 09 at 10:22 pm
Religulous does point some of us in the right direction. If your willing to open your eyes and look… the bible and it’s writings were passed down by men over the years. To think these are the actual words of God or Jesus is ridiculous to me. Where mankind is concerned I cannot trust that the integrity of any message would hold up over time. Personal gain, politics, exaggerations, and hidden agendas have diluted any true meaning at this point. Speak to me directly God. In plain words, not tongues and not through someone on T.V. asking for donations. If there is a God and Jesus then man himself has destroyed the avenues by which to reach him. Most religions kill or condemn people.
nada lada
8 Jun 09 at 5:44 pm