The Audacity of Faith
Well, I broke down and went to see Religulous, Bill Maher's documentary on religion. Now go before I go any further, I should mention there are spoilers in this post so if you don't want anything to be revealed before you see it, now would be a good time to stop reading. This is of course a documentary so it's not like I'm going to be ruining any plot twists. No 'Darth is Luke's father' or 'Rosebud's the Sled' here but you have been forewarned.
Still with me? Alrighty then. Since I strive for objectivity, I should probably state my biases upfront just as Maher himself did at the beginning of the movie. He clearly stated the agnostic mantra of 'I honestly don't know what's out there' so we'd know exactly where he's coming from. I consider myself Protestant Christian. Like many other Christians, I consider myself very open-minded and like quite a few, I have more than my fair share of doubts.
I also went into the movie with a sort of negative feeling based on something I read* where Maher said the main reason he made this movie was for laughs. This bothered me since, for both good and bad, religion plays a big part in people's lives and while I'm all for questioning just about everything, it should be done for more than just a punchline.
I'm happy to say the movie was so much more than that, with one major exception. So let's get that out of the way now since it did anger me a bit.
There's this bad dating show** where, post-production, they insert these thought baloons over the participants' heads. The captions in the baloons usually have something to do with how awful the date is going and its done purely for laughs.
Maher does something quite similar, also for laughs. He inserts his own comments post-production. The difference is, that if you're going on that dating show, you know they're gonna do that. With this movie, I don't think the interviewees knew what they were getting into.
That just seems pretty cheap and underhanded. For me, it also undermines Maher's credibility and sincerity.
Three times while filming (at the Vatican, a Mormon temple and at a bizarre Christian theme park) he is either denied entry or told to leave. The PR woman at the Christian theme park flat out said that she didn't want Maher there. Now normally, I'm on the side of the press and against anyone that tries to censor anything. However, based on Maher's antics, my sympathies in this instance, actually lie with the crazy religious freaks. I'd kick him out too.
That said, the movie has a lot of thought provoking material interspersed with the laughs and, while I have quite a few misgivjngs, I do recommend it.
I can see how a lot of people would be offended but I actually thought the movie was most intersesting when Maher was knocking my own faith. He echoed many of my doubts and made several valid points. For example, why isn't 'Thou Shalt Not Rape' one of the 10 Commandments? Yeah, desiring your neighbor's wife isn't good but isn't violently forcing yourself on someone else way worse?*** And isn't torture pretty bad? They somehow managed to leave that one out too.
And Maher did a good job pointing out that Christianity's ressurection theme had been done in other religions. Maher points out the story of Osiris among others. Maher didn't continue (possibly because he thought it may be overkill) that in the history of religion, the new religion will capitialize and/ or villify the old religion.
For example, based on the descriptions in the Bible, Jesus was probably born in the Spring yet Christmas was set in the Winter to coincide with the Roman solar holiday. Egyptians regarded the snake as holy and Christians turned the old holy symbol into the incarnation of the devil. I could go on and on but since none of this was actually in the movie, I'll get back on topic before anyone nods off.
One of the misgivings I had before going into the movie was that Maher was going to find easy targets and pick on them. Extremists are, after all, good fodder. He did do some of this but, surprisingly, this turned out to be one of the movie's strengths because it illustrated an important idea. Let me explain.
Maher made an excellent point. He said that if you knew nothing of human culture and you were presented with two tales: the story of Jonah**** eaten by the whale and the Jolly Green Giant, and then asked which was a work of pure fiction, you'd be hard pressed to say. They're both pretty out there.
He then continues on knocking so-called easy targets. And who's more easy than the Scientologists? Yep, I was laughing right along with their beliefs in extra-terrestrials. Oh, those wacky Scientologists! How could anyone seriously believe any of that?
But then Maher pressed his point saying that some of the Christian ideas like the burning bush and a snake who temps people are considered perfectly sane. In fact, in some cultures, if you don't believe these things, you're considered crazy. Why is ET outlandish while a talking snake isn't?
It's a simple idea that all religions are a little bit weird. But I've never seen it presented so simply and eloquently in this movie. I felt Maher deftly stated his case and was ready for the closing statements.
And here's where he totally dropped the ball.
At this point, he could have made a plea for acceptance of all religions (including those that don't have a religion.) We're taking a lot of faith here so why begrudge others. Let's at least try to understand or accept them first and then maybe they'll accept our own admittedly strange ideas. In other words, can't we all get along.
Insead, Maher basically insists that religions are pretty much the root of all evil and we should do away with them.
Okay, first, not gonna happen. I'm not saying that we're all going to accept each other's beleifs but we can at least make steps to do that. We're not going to wave a magic wand and make everyone's beliefs just go away. Nor should we.
Second, religion is not the root of all evil. Just a symptom of it. Yes, a lot of blood has been shed in the name of religion. But I've seen people get violent over their favorite sports teams, the jerk who cut them off in traffic or the last Tickle Me Elmo doll. If you get rid of religion, people will just find something else to kill themselves over. Guaranteed.
A Muslim woman Maher interviews on the street insists that politics, not Islam is responsible for the violence. Maher rightly dismisses that as not altogether true. But he's also wrong in insisting that religion is the only problem. Politics and other factors such as land and oil play a great deal into it. Sure, religion in a cause and other factors (such as land an oil) play a great deal into it. It may be easy to rally folks based on religion but I wouldn't say that's the root cause. At the very least, it certainly isn't the only one.
Third, a lot of good is done in the name of religion as well as bad. But this movie never seems to acknowlege this. Maher's basic thesis at the end seems to be 'Religion Bad.' I don't think that's necessarily true. Like the Force in Star Wars, one's beliefs can lead one to the light side or the dark side. A KKK member and Mother Theresa may both pray to the same god, but that doesn't necessarily make Christianity bad. If it was inherently evil, they'd both be hating and not helping people.
Or to put it another way, you and I could listen to 'Helter Skelter' by the Beatles and have a completely different reaction to the song than Charles Manson. The Beatles are widely regarded as one of the greatest bands in history. Does Manson's reaction to one of their songs automatically invalidate that?
Yeah, as Maher indicates, faith can be kind of goofy. Not entirely rational. I'll admit to often reverting back to my old agnostic ways because it's so damn logical. There really is no way that we can know everything. At the very least, we'll never come to a consensus.
So, it's true that people are not logical. But dammit, that's what makes us human! I refuse to believe that our faith in something beyond ourselves is necessary a detriment. This so-called weakness is paradoxically one of our greatest strengths.
Lets say you could eliminate faith because, as Maher illustrates, it is illogical. Should we eliminate every other illogical facet of our personalities. Turn us all into good little brainwashed robots all believing the same thing. Sure, we may eliminate a lot of our problems but we may as well be dead.
So, no, I don't think religion is at the root of all evil. I think lack of tolerance is. Let's realize that all Muslims are not by definition, terrorists. All Christians are not by definition, close-minded bigots. All Pagans are not by definition, Satanists. All Athiests are not by definition, evil people. Heck, Mormons aren't even all rabid Osmond fans.
Let's rejoice in our own irrationality and accept other's craziness too. And yes, Mr. Maher, you're right in pointing out that we do need to question our own beliefs. I don't think that anyone can truly believe anything without first asking hard questions and listening to the other side.
But faith is not the problem. Yes, beliefs can be perverted but I'd argue that fear is the cause and religious fervor is just the symptom of that fear.
Faith has helped people rise beyond that fear and aspire to better things. I'm not saying that one has to believe in order to aspire to be better, but a lot of good has been done in the names of various religions. And you know, I personally thank God for that.
*I normally cite my source material but I honestly don't remember where I read this from and I don't want to go searching for it since I don't want to read anything that'll bias my initial reactions right after seeing the film
** Okay, yeah, I realize there aren't any good dating shows. However, if you are an insomniac like myself, it is more entertaining than the infomercials that are on at the same time. And yes, there is a point to this. Just bear with me. (-;
*** Yes, in case you were wondering, this is a rhetorical question.
**** And I will admit that I, personally, consider the story of Jonah to be one of my favorite and most powerful stories in the Bible.
Still with me? Alrighty then. Since I strive for objectivity, I should probably state my biases upfront just as Maher himself did at the beginning of the movie. He clearly stated the agnostic mantra of 'I honestly don't know what's out there' so we'd know exactly where he's coming from. I consider myself Protestant Christian. Like many other Christians, I consider myself very open-minded and like quite a few, I have more than my fair share of doubts.
I also went into the movie with a sort of negative feeling based on something I read* where Maher said the main reason he made this movie was for laughs. This bothered me since, for both good and bad, religion plays a big part in people's lives and while I'm all for questioning just about everything, it should be done for more than just a punchline.
I'm happy to say the movie was so much more than that, with one major exception. So let's get that out of the way now since it did anger me a bit.
There's this bad dating show** where, post-production, they insert these thought baloons over the participants' heads. The captions in the baloons usually have something to do with how awful the date is going and its done purely for laughs.
Maher does something quite similar, also for laughs. He inserts his own comments post-production. The difference is, that if you're going on that dating show, you know they're gonna do that. With this movie, I don't think the interviewees knew what they were getting into.
That just seems pretty cheap and underhanded. For me, it also undermines Maher's credibility and sincerity.
Three times while filming (at the Vatican, a Mormon temple and at a bizarre Christian theme park) he is either denied entry or told to leave. The PR woman at the Christian theme park flat out said that she didn't want Maher there. Now normally, I'm on the side of the press and against anyone that tries to censor anything. However, based on Maher's antics, my sympathies in this instance, actually lie with the crazy religious freaks. I'd kick him out too.
That said, the movie has a lot of thought provoking material interspersed with the laughs and, while I have quite a few misgivjngs, I do recommend it.
I can see how a lot of people would be offended but I actually thought the movie was most intersesting when Maher was knocking my own faith. He echoed many of my doubts and made several valid points. For example, why isn't 'Thou Shalt Not Rape' one of the 10 Commandments? Yeah, desiring your neighbor's wife isn't good but isn't violently forcing yourself on someone else way worse?*** And isn't torture pretty bad? They somehow managed to leave that one out too.
And Maher did a good job pointing out that Christianity's ressurection theme had been done in other religions. Maher points out the story of Osiris among others. Maher didn't continue (possibly because he thought it may be overkill) that in the history of religion, the new religion will capitialize and/ or villify the old religion.
For example, based on the descriptions in the Bible, Jesus was probably born in the Spring yet Christmas was set in the Winter to coincide with the Roman solar holiday. Egyptians regarded the snake as holy and Christians turned the old holy symbol into the incarnation of the devil. I could go on and on but since none of this was actually in the movie, I'll get back on topic before anyone nods off.
One of the misgivings I had before going into the movie was that Maher was going to find easy targets and pick on them. Extremists are, after all, good fodder. He did do some of this but, surprisingly, this turned out to be one of the movie's strengths because it illustrated an important idea. Let me explain.
Maher made an excellent point. He said that if you knew nothing of human culture and you were presented with two tales: the story of Jonah**** eaten by the whale and the Jolly Green Giant, and then asked which was a work of pure fiction, you'd be hard pressed to say. They're both pretty out there.
He then continues on knocking so-called easy targets. And who's more easy than the Scientologists? Yep, I was laughing right along with their beliefs in extra-terrestrials. Oh, those wacky Scientologists! How could anyone seriously believe any of that?
But then Maher pressed his point saying that some of the Christian ideas like the burning bush and a snake who temps people are considered perfectly sane. In fact, in some cultures, if you don't believe these things, you're considered crazy. Why is ET outlandish while a talking snake isn't?
It's a simple idea that all religions are a little bit weird. But I've never seen it presented so simply and eloquently in this movie. I felt Maher deftly stated his case and was ready for the closing statements.
And here's where he totally dropped the ball.
At this point, he could have made a plea for acceptance of all religions (including those that don't have a religion.) We're taking a lot of faith here so why begrudge others. Let's at least try to understand or accept them first and then maybe they'll accept our own admittedly strange ideas. In other words, can't we all get along.
Insead, Maher basically insists that religions are pretty much the root of all evil and we should do away with them.
Okay, first, not gonna happen. I'm not saying that we're all going to accept each other's beleifs but we can at least make steps to do that. We're not going to wave a magic wand and make everyone's beliefs just go away. Nor should we.
Second, religion is not the root of all evil. Just a symptom of it. Yes, a lot of blood has been shed in the name of religion. But I've seen people get violent over their favorite sports teams, the jerk who cut them off in traffic or the last Tickle Me Elmo doll. If you get rid of religion, people will just find something else to kill themselves over. Guaranteed.
A Muslim woman Maher interviews on the street insists that politics, not Islam is responsible for the violence. Maher rightly dismisses that as not altogether true. But he's also wrong in insisting that religion is the only problem. Politics and other factors such as land and oil play a great deal into it. Sure, religion in a cause and other factors (such as land an oil) play a great deal into it. It may be easy to rally folks based on religion but I wouldn't say that's the root cause. At the very least, it certainly isn't the only one.
Third, a lot of good is done in the name of religion as well as bad. But this movie never seems to acknowlege this. Maher's basic thesis at the end seems to be 'Religion Bad.' I don't think that's necessarily true. Like the Force in Star Wars, one's beliefs can lead one to the light side or the dark side. A KKK member and Mother Theresa may both pray to the same god, but that doesn't necessarily make Christianity bad. If it was inherently evil, they'd both be hating and not helping people.
Or to put it another way, you and I could listen to 'Helter Skelter' by the Beatles and have a completely different reaction to the song than Charles Manson. The Beatles are widely regarded as one of the greatest bands in history. Does Manson's reaction to one of their songs automatically invalidate that?
Yeah, as Maher indicates, faith can be kind of goofy. Not entirely rational. I'll admit to often reverting back to my old agnostic ways because it's so damn logical. There really is no way that we can know everything. At the very least, we'll never come to a consensus.
So, it's true that people are not logical. But dammit, that's what makes us human! I refuse to believe that our faith in something beyond ourselves is necessary a detriment. This so-called weakness is paradoxically one of our greatest strengths.
Lets say you could eliminate faith because, as Maher illustrates, it is illogical. Should we eliminate every other illogical facet of our personalities. Turn us all into good little brainwashed robots all believing the same thing. Sure, we may eliminate a lot of our problems but we may as well be dead.
So, no, I don't think religion is at the root of all evil. I think lack of tolerance is. Let's realize that all Muslims are not by definition, terrorists. All Christians are not by definition, close-minded bigots. All Pagans are not by definition, Satanists. All Athiests are not by definition, evil people. Heck, Mormons aren't even all rabid Osmond fans.
Let's rejoice in our own irrationality and accept other's craziness too. And yes, Mr. Maher, you're right in pointing out that we do need to question our own beliefs. I don't think that anyone can truly believe anything without first asking hard questions and listening to the other side.
But faith is not the problem. Yes, beliefs can be perverted but I'd argue that fear is the cause and religious fervor is just the symptom of that fear.
Faith has helped people rise beyond that fear and aspire to better things. I'm not saying that one has to believe in order to aspire to be better, but a lot of good has been done in the names of various religions. And you know, I personally thank God for that.
*I normally cite my source material but I honestly don't remember where I read this from and I don't want to go searching for it since I don't want to read anything that'll bias my initial reactions right after seeing the film
** Okay, yeah, I realize there aren't any good dating shows. However, if you are an insomniac like myself, it is more entertaining than the infomercials that are on at the same time. And yes, there is a point to this. Just bear with me. (-;
*** Yes, in case you were wondering, this is a rhetorical question.
**** And I will admit that I, personally, consider the story of Jonah to be one of my favorite and most powerful stories in the Bible.