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Religulous

post #1 of 89
10/5/08 at 1:15am
Thread Starter 
Just saw Bill Maher's "Religulous". I'm sort of the ideal audience member, but I still have to encourage everyone to see this film. It raises some important and very un-p.c. points, that even if you disagree, are worthy of serious consideration. I also promise it is far from a dry polemic, with director Larry Charles bringing the same comedic pacing and brisk pace of Borat.
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post #2 of 89
10/5/08 at 1:18am
It looks like its only goal is to make fun of Christianity and try to poke holes in the logic. But everyone who's seen it tells me that it's not really like that--- it's more about asking questions that people should be able to answer about their beliefs. They said it's about pushing the boundaries of faith and logic as they're known together and not just making fun of people who hold that faith.

If that's true, I'd be happy to see it. If it's just a guy walking around making fun of religion, I'd rather not.
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post #3 of 89
10/5/08 at 1:25am
I decided to see it after I heard an NPR interview with Maher and the director. I have no idea if they show this in the film, but they said they found an American living and working in the Vatican as a latinist who said that many stories in the bible are bullshit, but that people needed their stories. The director concluded that many of those living in the Vatican and in the higher tiers of catholicism are highly educated, logical people who just provide something the masses want.

I should be seeing the movie in under an hour.
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post #4 of 89
10/5/08 at 1:25am
From what I've seen/heard, he doesn't just make fun of Christianity, but all religions. And at that, I don't know how much he makes fun of it. It seems like more of a "how do you know?" Bill Maher has even gone on interviews to say that he does believe in God, but has an issue with organized religion. All things considered, I'd really like to see the movie.
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post #5 of 89
10/5/08 at 1:27am
Thread Starter 
While a good portion of the film lampoons the excesses of and odd members religion tends to attract it is by no means simply making fun of religion. Maher also does not single out Christianity, he bravely excoriates Islam as well as spending time on most of the major American religions. Maher does not disrespect religion, he views it as a hugely powerful force, one that he strongly disagrees with, but one that is certainly no laughing matter.
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post #6 of 89
10/5/08 at 1:28am
My impression is that Christianity is the main target, inevitable, I suppose, from a US perspective...

However, I hear that it attempts to tackle absurdities in all faiths.
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post #7 of 89
10/5/08 at 1:29am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by AntiHero84 View Post
From what I've seen/heard, he doesn't just make fun of Christianity, but all religions. And at that, I don't know how much he makes fun of it. It seems like more of a "how do you know?" Bill Maher has even gone on interviews to say that he does believe in God, but has an issue with organized religion. All things considered, I'd really like to see the movie.


True - except Maher certainly does not believe in any god and would identify as a rationalist and a skeptic.

Like most atheists, he would say that there certainly could be all manner of higher powers that we have yet to understand, but he will not acknowledge them without reasonable evidence.
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post #8 of 89
10/5/08 at 2:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Magician View Post
True - except Maher certainly does not believe in any god and would identify as a rationalist and a skeptic.

Like most atheists, he would say that there certainly could be all manner of higher powers that we have yet to understand, but he will not acknowledge them without reasonable evidence.

Could have sworn he said something about not being an atheist on the Daily Show. The only YouTube clip I found cuts off at the end. It seems like the line between atheist and agnostic is a bit blurry anyway.
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post #9 of 89
10/5/08 at 2:10am
Unfortunately, it has Bill Maher in it.
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post #10 of 89
10/5/08 at 2:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by AntiHero84 View Post
Could have sworn he said something about not being an atheist on the Daily Show. The only YouTube clip I found cuts off at the end. It seems like the line between atheist and agnostic is a bit blurry anyway.

I saw that. He said he wasn't an atheist not b/c he doesn't believe in God, but that he believes to be an atheist requires the same amount of blind faith and unknowable certainty that most religions do.
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post #11 of 89
10/5/08 at 2:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kwilkinson View Post
I saw that. He said he wasn't an atheist not b/c he doesn't believe in God, but that he believes to be an atheist requires the same amount of blind faith and unknowable certainty that most religions do.
Shit. Shit, shit, shit. Bill Maher agrees with me on this. I need to rethink a very fundamental belief I have.
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post #12 of 89
10/5/08 at 2:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Piobaire View Post
Shit. Shit, shit, shit. Bill Maher agrees with me on this. I need to rethink a very fundamental belief I have.

Are you sure? It's possible that all those negatives and the run-on sentence just confused you.
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post #13 of 89
10/5/08 at 2:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kwilkinson View Post
Are you sure? It's possible that all those negatives and the run-on sentence just confused you.

Don't hate on me and apply your limitations when judging me!
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post #14 of 89
10/5/08 at 3:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Reggs View Post
I decided to see it after I heard an NPR interview with Maher and the director. I have no idea if they show this in the film, but they said they found an American living and working in the Vatican as a latinist who said that many stories in the bible are bullshit, but that people needed their stories. The director concluded that many of those living in the Vatican and in the higher tiers of catholicism are highly educated, logical people who just provide something the masses want.
Not sure what the guy said, but this is close to the truth. Most scripture scholars, incl. Vatican ones I assume, believe that many stories in the bible are not literally true. But this does not mean they are BS. Rather, they think the stories are told to provide a deeper, moral or spiritual meaning -- which is actually worth far more than the literal meaning. For example, no orthodox Catholic scripture scholar believes God created the world in 6 days. But all orthodox Catholic scripture scholars believe the world was created by one force and that the world is good -- as opposed, say, to a Manichean view which posits that some things in the world evil because created by an evil god and some things good bec. created by a good god.
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post #15 of 89
10/5/08 at 5:18am
It's a short movie. I'd say about a 1/4 of it was spent interviewing muslims. The movie is all about asking why people don't extend the logic they use in every day life to religion, and what a powerful force it has become.

The latinist I mentioned earlier is also a Priest, and is shown in the movie. He also does not believe hell exists. Other unexpected interviewees include gay muslims, an anti-Zionist jew, a puerto rican claiming to be Jesus, and some guy in Amsterdam who made a religion centered around marijuana. The marijuana religion guy didn't seem very relevant to the movie, but I'm glad his bits didn't end up on the cutting room floor because they were absolutely hilarious.

Anyone catch the name of the muslim rapper he interviewed in the underground? That was pretty infuriating. I want to read more about that guy.
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