![]() ![]() He also smokes marijuana on camera and jokes about other drug usage. Maher uses the f-word frequently, among others. Religulous is rated R, mainly for language. The Family Corner For parents to consider What would you say to Maher if you could offer him your best "sell" of Christianity, given the numerous objections and doubts he raised in the film?.What do you think of Maher's assertion that religion and nationalism do not mix well?.What do you think are Maher's best arguments against Christianity? How would you respond if he had asked you the question on camera?.For everyone else, Religulous is a trifling and shoddy tirade that, ultimately, is not much of a threat. If you are already prone to believe that, then this movie is for you. It's a movie meant to make religious people look stupid, to "prove" that religious belief and intelligence are mutually exclusive. Religulous is best seen as a comedy (and there are many funny moments) and not as a serious or measured examination of anything. Religion has far from a perfect record, but then again, nothing has a perfect record. Countless atheistic regimes have bred violence and calamity in the world, totally outside of any religious motivation. Maher's thesis that all things evil and destructive are a result of religious delusion simply does not hold water historically. ![]() It's a cheap shot scare tactic-somewhere between An Inconvenient Truth and Future Shock-and it conveniently ignores certain facts about history, namely that religion has been the source of untold good in the world. What nuance Maher had up till then is lost in this final segment of alarmist hysteria, which reminded me of LBJ's famous "Daisy Girl" ad during the 1964 presidential election. Right there he loses about 98 percent of the world's population. Faith of any kind (i.e., believing in something that can't be proved) "makes a virtue out of not thinking," according to Maher. Such things are all hocus pocus to him and cannot be believed by anyone with a brain. Maher's ideology has no room for the miraculous or supernatural. Maher's biggest problem with this movie is not that it is reckless or condescending (which it is), but that it espouses a point of view that, quite simply, is not shared by many people in the world. And on Larry King Live in August, Maher exposed his amoral approach to life when he defended John Edwards' extramarital affair, saying, "people like new you can't stop human nature." This "anything goes" view of adultery is doubtless not an opinion many people share with Maher. Maher doesn't help break the "out of touch liberal" stereotype when he smokes pot on camera, for instance. He also loses credibility by sheer fact that he is Bill Maher-an ardently liberal, slightly greasy elitist with a penchant for condescension. At moments like these, Maher might actually find allies in conservative Christian circles. Maher is particularly hard on Islam, offering somewhat surprising pronouncements about the inherent violence and barbarism of that most touchy of all world religions. He goes to the Vatican and interviews some crazy Catholic priest, and Jerusalem to deconstruct Judaism and Islam. He goes to Utah and skewers Mormonism, interviews Puerto Rican cult leader Jose Luis De Jesus Miranda (who claims to be the Antichrist), and even gets high with a leader of a religion based around marijuana. To be fair, Maher also interviews Christian evolutionist Francis Collins, but he too comes out looking a bit buffoonish.Įver the equal-opportunity atheist, Maher spends the second half of the film undermining religions and cults of every shape and size. And he also interviews young-earth evangelical Mark Pryor, a democratic senator from Arkansas who creates some of the funniest moments of the film. Maher takes a trip to the Creation Museum in Hebron, Kentucky, where he interviews creationism guru Ken Ham against the backdrop of animatronic dinosaurs with saddles (for humans to ride on). Maher spends the film traveling all over the world, along with Borat director Larry Charles and a small camera crew proficient in the art of "sabotage interview." The first half of the film is mostly focused on evangelical Christians, how they believe in things like a 5,000-year-old earth, etc.
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