Movie Review: Relgilous

Movie Review: Religulous

Lionsgate Films 2008
Starring Bill Maher
Director: Larry Charles

Movie Review: Religulous
Lionsgate Films 2008
Starring Bill Maher
Director: Larry Charles

A movie examining religion in this way is long overdue. The reason is that religion continues to be the great sacred cow that is not to be discussed, particularly with regard to the really hard questions.
Bill Maher starts off carefully and steadily makes a case for disbelief as he proceeds through many interviews with clergy and believers. All the while, there are good laughs that are mostly good hearted rather than barbed and sarcastic. The scenes in the Jesusland theme park in Orlando, and when he is kicked out of both the Vatican and the seat of the Mormon religion in Salt Lake City are particularly good. He carefully deconstructs the Mormon religion for us as only the latest, except for Scientology, in a long line of falsehoods foisted upon mankind.
It is clear from the many interviews Maher conducts in the film that religious people essentially dodge the tough questions. When tough questions are asked, they resort to such specious arguments such as we cannot understand God’s mind, or meaning or plan. God, and his purpose, is simply so far beyond mortal understanding. As Maher points out, whether Jonah lived for three days in the belly of a whale or if it was a great fish is irrelevant when the real question is how could either scenario have ever happened at all. Of course it couldn’t but the religious people interviewed simply accept the story because it is in the Bible – along with the talking serpent in the Garden of Eden and many other stories that are essentially myths and fairy tales.
Bill Maher does well in the film of asking probing questions without becoming disagreeable. He obviously was well prepared with relevant background information and having this information available enriched his ability to have facts to support his opinion. He has included little known facts such as the theme of Virgin birth and violent death of a prophet is a one repeated throughout civilizations long prior to the story of Christ. Maher disputes the very existence of an historical figure called Christ asserting there is simply no evidence he ever existed, except in the mind of the men who wrote things down, albeit imperfectly. He notes that only two of the four gospels of the New Testament talk about Christ’s virgin birth and considers this a rather serious oversight of a significant fact of Christ’s life, if indeed it were true at all, and the biographers were accurate in their reporting.
The troubling intrusion of religion into political life of the U.S. Senate and Congress and White House, as well as countries such as Iran is explored. Parliamentarians in Holland are struggling with the growing influence and intrusiveness of Islam in their country – perhaps the most libertarian culture in the world.
Bill Maher states that for himself, he simply doesn’t know whether God exists, but maintains this is a very remote possibility.
Despite his good natured demeanour throughout the film, Maher does conclude the film with an edgy warning that religion is dangerous because it robs people of the ability to think and question and encourages them to settle for what are clearly the wrong answers for the worlds problems, as well as their own. He then challenges the sixteen per-cent of Americans who state they have not religious affiliation, or desire to have one, to come forward as a significant silent minority and make their disbelief known.
This is an important film and I would challenge every church, and believer, to see and discuss the film. Such discussions ought to include not only their own congregations but also disbelieving outsiders. Of course, this is unlikely to happen, but perhaps a few churches will take on the challenge. If they cannot, then indeed the case is made that their religious beliefs are little more than a house of cards they are afraid might be blown down under the gentle, and comical breath, of a modern day court fool such as Bill Maher.
I give this film 4 out of 5

Malcolm Watts MSW