But no one is singled out.* Bill Maher finds all religion — unbelievable. Out today on DVD is Religulous, one of the best movies of the last year. Maher goes about the world asking people to explain and justify their beliefs, and he’s actually a lot more patient with these people than I would have been. This is no hatchet-job, but a nuanced treatment of a previously unapproachable topic. There are several surprises and lots of laughs. Maher won’t even call himself an atheist — but rather, a doubter. I do not go along with this. A believer could read ‘doubter’ as an opening, like I’m questioning things, and actually start talking to me. Call me an empiricist, but I’m really gonna have to see a miracle at this point. And not that crap about ‘dew on morning petals’ and ‘the sound of children’s laughter’ — I want a real frog-raining, water-walking, flying horse miracle.
* Scientology isn’t really any nuttier than the others, but it got sold to a more modern audience which is pitiful. The Christians come in for a little extra heat because of the idiocy of the last eight years.
[trailer after jump]
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Looks like it could be funny, its always fun to laugh at what we all do that seems crazy, religious or not. I just hope it shows the nice sides different faiths give people too, or at least viewers are smart enough to know religion does not necessarily = crazy loon. crazy loon = crazy loon. Ill give it a watch.
I forgot about that nutty priest at St. Peter’s… he was a scream!
Mahr terrifically balanced humor w/ serious questions and commentary. Even with a couple obviously set-up gags, the film was thorough and well done. But it was interesting that the two sanest-appearing people both represented the Roman Catholic Church (kinda known for doing bad things in the name of God over the years, even pre-Bush): the drunken-seeming senior priest in St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican’s astronomer. Not that there weren’t plenty of other non-sane ones in the film to balance them out…And yes, lots of arrogance (shivering at the “I was once gay, now I just hate ’em” guy and his hugs).
Oh, I wouldn’t say nobody is spared.
I liked the “doubter” angle. It was the arrogance of ‘knowing’ which infuriated me, and apparently Mahr too. The knowing was final, the knowing lead to a comfort which lead to the death of curiosity in a person. That is what’s scary: the end of knowing more.