tigerwong

Religulous.

This movie was something else, i gotta tell ya. Bill Maher, in his typical snarky fashion, poked fun at, as well as very frankly and seriously critiqued the major modern religions of the day. i thought he might go into different ones, but he stuck with the "Big Three" (Judaism, Islam, and Christianity), for the most part, and delved into Mormonism and Scientology as well. I wish he'd gotten to interview some Scientologists, but oh well.

For most of this movie, the means was comedy to the ends of self-examination, which was provided in spades. What stuck ut most to me was how the story of Jesus, after some research, appears to have been "recycled" from religions prior to it, and from different areas of the world. Didn't really like the "December 25th" reference in that part, but that was the only real error i could see in his argument.

What i find interesting is that he actually has a pretty good amount of respect for religious people, or at least for those who seem to able to put religion in a proper perspective. At one point he says that in his view, faith is something that is a luxury to *NOT* have; he draws from a fairly typical statement that a prisoner might make: "When i was behind bars, all i had was Jesus." He seems to actually understand that quite a bit, as well as understanding that in his position of wealth and fame, faith isn't really something he feels that he needs. Where he loses respect for people, and where i tend to agree with him, is when things are taken to the extremes of say, the creationism museum in Kentucky, or going so far as to say that "God hates fags" or to declare "Jihad against the infidels" and claim that they all need to die. Most would argue that it's natural to disagree with these kinds of notions, but what i find interesting is that the religious people i grew up around, and those in my family, would probably agree that saying a race, or a group of people of a different belief system, need to be killed, but would have no problem with the idea that gays and lesbians (or anybody who decides that church just isn't for them) will be sent to hell and need to be saved from themselves.

While i do wish that he's delved into other eastern religions, because i find them fascinating in the sheer difference in their philosophies, i think that it was very poignant of him to focus on the Big Three, because they are the most prevalent, and in my mind (and probably his) they are the most problematic. He points out the fact that people use religion to their own ends, often for money as in the case of the Latino guy who believes that he is the second coming of Christ (and ironically, wears a 666 on his vest), but more often and more distressingly, as an excuse for hatred. The other thing that has always bothered me is the fact that those who are religious often can't seem to understand the fact that the laws and rules and everything that was written in the bible, for example, even if the words are all true, were written to a specific people in a specific time and place, for specific reasons, and are very likely not to be taken literally by modern man.

I've only barely scratched the surface here; you should really go see it for yourself if you have the opportunity. The only thing that jarred me a bit about this documentary was the last 10 minutes. I won't say why, but i will say that it was not what i expected out of a comedian. definitely a good movie, though. If you believe in something or if you don't, go see it. You might learn something; if nothing else, you'll have to look at yourself and take stock of what you really believe.