Religulous

Religulous is a new film by politically incorrect comedian Bill Maher and producer/director Larry Charles. Maher, ever eager to be the poke-in-the-eye truthtelling jester, interviews rabbis, ministers, prophets, and others about their religious beliefs. From truckstop chapels to the reputed site of Armageddon to the Vatican, Maher casts his jaundiced eye on organized religions, seeking answers and (he hopes) spreading doubt about their veracity.

Maher, armed with his world-weary wry smile, takes plenty of cheap shots at religion, but some questions are both fair and pointed. He asks one man, who talks about how he is looking forward to his wonderful place in heaven, “Why don’t you kill yourself?” The question may be snarky, but it does raise a valid point: If the man is convinced that heaven and the next world is so much better than this one, and he will be nestled in God’s love for eternity, why wait for a heart attack, car accident, or debilitating disease to take him there?

The film has been criticized for picking easy targets, and that has some truth to it. But the heads of the various groups seen in the film were repeatedly asked for interviews; the Pope was busy, the head of the Church of Scientology didn’t respond, and so on. It’s not surprising that they refused to be part of the documentary, but nor is that the filmmakers’ fault. Besides, in documentaries sometimes trying to get the interview is part of the story (recall Michael Moore tracking down GM CEO Roger Smith for Roger and Me, or Charlton Heston in Bowling for Columbine). In fact, some of the most devout people Maher interviews come off as some of the most sensible—including a Vatican scientist who finds no contradiction between faith and evolution.

I was surprised that Maher didn’t delve further into some of the tenets of mainstream religions. While Maher mocks the Mormons’ “magic underwear,” I’d have been more interested in a discussion of the racism inherent in Mormon doctrine. Latter-Day Saints founder Joseph Smith and Brigham Young both clearly identify African-Americans as evil and cursed, their dark skin bearing the “mark of Cain.” That former presidential candidate Mitt Romney was brought up in a church whose teachings depict Blacks as evil and cursed is surely worthy of note.

Raising the Salman Rushdie affair, Maher interviews several Muslims and asks them why Islam has a reputation for religious violence and intolerance. All assure him that the world has misinterpreted Islam, that it is in fact a peaceful religion. He doesn’t pursue the issue further, and instead says with a shrug, “I guess I’m wrong.”

Maher also didn’t investigate the idea of transubstantiation, the Christian doctrine that when receiving the Eucharist, the bread eaten actually and literally transforms into the flesh of Christ. (I can just picture Maher using an x-ray or a stomach pump to see if the sacrament does literally change from bread to human flesh when consumed.)

Ultimately, of course, you can find and interpret scripture to prove whatever point you want to make, for any purpose. The Christian God is peaceful (Rom. 15:33) yet is “a man of war” (Ex. 15:3); God can be seen (Ex.32:30), but then again, no He can’t (John 1:18). And the Koran does indeed preach peace; it also states, “fight and kill the disbelievers wherever you find them” (9:5).

In a way, that is the point of Religulous: there is so much contradiction in so many of the holy books that followers of organized religion must either believe the whole lot—contradictions and all—or pick and choose which parts to follow. Neither option argues strongly for that religion being the only true faith.

Technically, Religulous needs work; it sometimes meanders, and the choice of interview set-ups seems odd: Was Grand Central Station really the best place to interview a professor of psychiatry about religion and neuroscience as he and Maher walk through a crowd? What was the point of interviewing an Amsterdam pot smoker who seeks god in marijuana and hash, other than giving Maher a chance to partake on the producer’s dime? The frame of Maher’s own family and religious upbringing doesn’t fully work either. Resolving issues among those of different faiths—or of no faith—will of course require discussion instead of mocking, but as Terry Gilliam said, “If your religion is so vulnerable that a little bit of disrespect is going to bring it down, it's not worth believing in.”