Religulous…
So I rented the movie “Religulous” which is a documentary about religion by none other than Bill Maher.
First and foremost, in no way shape or form am I trying to say to you “go out and rent this.” In fact, if you are young in your faith, or a person who is really troubled by questions and doubt, then I would recommend that you do not see this film for a number of reasons.
If you have seen it, I’m interested to know what people’s thoughts are on the way things were presented and what you know about the accuracy of the material within it. Here a couple of my thoughts.
1. Classic Straw Man Stuff – It’s not that difficult to erect a “typical” Christian, Jew, or Muslim by interviewing a whole bunch of people who are not that intellectual, painting them as the norm for the rest of the population, and then beating the crap out them with witty banter. In fact, if I was interested, I could probably find any number of groups out there, interview their “fringe” people, paint them as the norm, and then shoot holes in their ideologies and philosophies. This leaves a very sour taste in my mouth when someone does this in general and an ever more sour taste in my mouth when I belong to one of the groups!
2. The Editing Room – on a number of occasions in the movie, it was clearly edited and another “take” was inserted to make sure that the full effect of the joke, or punch in the obliques was fully felt and clearly communicated to the viewer. This happened a number of times while Bill is in the car and “spontaneously” pontificating and I can only imagine how the editors chopped and pieced things together with the actual interviews.
3. Why not interview some well respected ambassadors of the faiths in question? Again, this goes along with the straw men that were erected throughout the film, but I would love to have seen Dallas Willard or Ravi Zacharias and representatives from Judaism and Islam who would be respected in the circles these guys write and publish and teach in. I have a feeling Bill wouldn’t have been quite as quippy and snarky if they were present, but with a guy who claims to be Jesus Christ himself you can have a lot of fun.
In closing, the a few things that Mr. Maher said that I thought was worth pressing into were these:
1. ”I get so tired of all these people who are so arrogantly convinced that their view is right and everyone else’s is wrong. I mean my answer is, “I don’t know.” I guess the product I’m pushing is doubt.” This I can handle – a respectful dialogue about the uncertainties of life and how faith plays a part and role in them. And 2. Can we be honest about all of the bloodshed and violence that has been perpetrated in the name of religion in the last 2000-4000 years and figure out a way to live peaceably while we attempt to follow whatever God we happen to believe is true? I think this is a conversation worth having.
Intersted to hear some of your thoughts.
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