I know what you are thinking, "With so much going on in the world why is this person writing about a movie 5 americans have seen?" The answer is simple... I am writing 6 different postings all at the same time, this economy, healthcare, Obama's "hope", Prop 8, the unorganized Republican Party, and Business... I wanted to post something and I had a few minutes this morning... the rest are on the way...
Since last summer when the “documentary” Religulous came out, I’ve been debating weather or not I wanted to see it. I’ve made it a point to read or listen to every atheist/agnostic writer/speaker that I can find from Hitchens to Harris, and now Bill Maher.
My personal faith is complicated. I don’t have trouble with any of the cliché questions about faith and God. How a good God can make an evil world has never bothered me since it is the option for evil that we even know God might be good. Further it is that God created that option and not the action. The best analogy I’ve ever heard is that just as darkness is the absence of light, sin is the absence of God. Light does not create darkens and God does not create sin.
Still there are looming questions that keep me from raising my hands in church, questions of a more personal nature. But that might be another topic.
So, last night I finally broke down and rented Religulous. If you can get past Bill Maher trying to be funny as he basically makes a fool of everyone he talks to about his questions you are still left with an extremely empty movie. His disrespectful comments and use of language is enough to keep you clinched fisted the entire movie. His tactics are nothing short of taking (in most cases) good willed people and editing and showing them in a such a way that makes him look like he is enlightened and they are worshiping the sun.
Bill Maher spends most of the movie of Christianity, confusing Catholicism and Evangelical Christianity. He pulls the gloves off with Christians and Mormons but then handles those he interviews from Islam with the most delicate of questions and to thier face, the utmost respect. He does not question direct passages from the Koran, and doesn’t even bring up Mohammad and all his contradictory teachings. He does insinuate that Islam is a violent religion but doesn’t complete the thought by comparing the number of damning verses in the Koran to the number of “peaceful” verses. Not to mention the number of verses that nullify any verse that calls for peace.
Like most cowards in the media and the entertainment world, Bill Maher comes out swinging with Christians and Jews because he knows they wont hit back, But barely taps into Islam. Throughout the “documentary” he interviews people all over the world but for some reasons doesn’t interview Muslims who live in a Muslim country. Why? oh yeah, because he might be killed…
All I can say that I got from this movie is that if he really wanted to find answers he could have asked more informed people. But obviously he didn’t he just wanted to make fools of people. Its too bad that Bill Maher didn’t really try to make a good film. I for one would like to see an honest film that asks religion tough questions. Instead I just got a movie full of inaccurate information and a picture of a lost man.
About Me
- Heroic Fools
- I believe that the bible describes rules that only better a life. Not just spiritually but more so, practically. I believe that the bible is filled with principles that if followed lead to a fuller, richer life. I believe that those rules put into practice will benefit anyone, regardless who you think Jesus is or if you believe God is real. This blog is a series of conclusions I have come to from conversations and or books I've read about various topics... Life is not complicated, humanity is. most every right decision only requires common sense, however it is the abandonment of common sense that is the crux of our social divide. feel free to disagree with me, but if you do, please leave a comment. You can also reach me on Twitter: @heroicfools
1 comment:
Thank you for reviewing this to keep me from wasting my time. I don't think I would have actually rented it just because it's Bill Maher, I have never found him to be especially intelligent or insightful, especially where religion is concerned. I think there is a much bigger problem at play here than the typical discrepancies with how Christianity/Judeasim/Islam are treated. The essential difference is that true Christianity is not a religion, it is a personal relationship between two people. Because of that, trying to treat it in the same way non-personal religions are treated is like trying to say all marriages or all friendships are the same. The behavior of one Christian in relationship to his Savior will be different than another's, just as the relationship of one child with his dad will be different than another's. That doesn't mean one is right and the other is wrong, just that they are different people and approach things differently, and God is gracious, knows us each personally, and interacts with us each on a deeply personal, uniquely individual level. This fact alone makes stereotyping or attacking 'Christianity' as an entity is a false premise from the beginning, and bound to lead to false conclusions.
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