Religulous – Only slightly less than Mahervelous

If you enjoyed George Carlin’s take on religion more than Bill Cosby’s you’ll probably appreciate Bill Maher’s new movie Religulous. His point seems to be that buffoons are funny, and particularly so when they’re religious. Well, if you’re an honest, self-effacing Evangelical you shout AMEN! at this point. That’s BINGO! for all you Catholics out there.

The movie, directed by Larry Charles, who also directed “Borat”, is 101 minutes of Maher meandering through the world interviewing religious idiots. He focuses on Christianity, Judaism and Islam, but also takes shots at Mormonism, TV evangelism, Scientology and some clown in Amsterdam who apparently has a cannabis church. – Actually I think at this point Bill just went for a toke and forgot the camera was on. - The great religions of the East get a pass, but I’m sure if Baliwood wants to do a remake Bill will have something to contribute. It’s funny, entertaining, clever, crude, vulgar, insightful, and a great way to spend a Thursday afternoon with the youth pastor. Our eyes will be rolling for months.

I was looking forward to using the line, “His wit is exceeded only by his ignorance.”, but I was pleasantly surprised by Maher’s comprehension of the subject matter; at least the stuff I comprehend. Of course, he does make the usual error of calling the last book of the Bible “Revelations” (there’s no “s”) and they even write it on the screen several times. And he gets the burning bush slightly out of place. And he claims that none of the New Testament authors actually knew Jesus. – To be fair, some biblical scholars are confused about that. - But he doesn’t confuse the Immaculate Conception, which is about the birth of Mary, with the Virgin Birth, which is about the birth of Jesus. And it’s very rare for a critic to get that one right. Then again, he was raised a Catholic. Guess some of that catechism stuck.

The only serious criticism I have of Religulous is the premise behind it, which Maher spells out at the end of the movie. (I paraphrase) Because religion is so ridiculous, and has caused so much suffering in the world, and is so uncritically embraced by so many people who have the power to destroy the world, and is so stupidly destructive, it must be THE PROBLEM.

Of course, he’s right about religion. It is ridiculous, dangerous, abusive, and a great menace to life on earth. The Bible’s clear about this from beginning to end. The first murder is over a sacrifice (Genesis 4:2) and the last war is about who will and won’t worship the image of the beast (Revelation 15:15). But religion is not THE PROBLEM.

Nuclear weapons, climate change, environmental toxins, clear cutting, strip mining, food additives, land mines, napalm, thalidomide, trans fats, baby formula, etc., are not the products of religion, but of science. – How odd that someone who so obviously believes in science should fail to see this. – And the really great holocausts of the 20^th century; in Europe, Russia, China, Cambodia and Africa, were political, not religious. And some of them were specifically anti-religious.

There’s something wrong with us, and that’s for sure. Not just the religious, or scientific, or political ones, nor the idiots and buffoons. All of us. You see, the problem of the human heart is the human heart. And neither religion, nor science, nor politics has found the solution. And, Bill, I’m afraid comedy isn’t the answer either, though it’s hard to imagine how we could face this silly world without it.