RELIGULOUS
I saw Bill Maher's movie this weekend- "Religulous" and it was super good. It was far less condescending than I thought it would be (which is fine) and I think it's aimed less at preaching to the choir, and more at asking religious people to just ask themselves "how do I know this is true" and to get past the idiotic answer "because I have faith". Having "faith" doesn't make anything true- ever.
He asks a lot of good questions, presents a lot of good points, and infuses of course some humor within, and he does interview some genuine whack jobs. But he also talks to relatively otherwise normal people who still seem to believe in the great big fairtytale.
The idea that people need God to be good is silly, and if people are being good just to get into Heaven, that's selfish. I still say religion is one huge racket. I hope some "believers" go see Religulous with an open mind. And to those of you who say "well, gee, Tom, you should go see a religious movie with an open mind..." -- I will remind you all I was raised Catholic, received my Holy Communion, and once I was old enough to actually investigate religion on my own over the years (as opposed to being brainwashed by my parents) I realized just what complete stupid bullshit it was. When it comes to religion I have been there and done that and I'm all the happier and more enlightened for it.
The two best scenes are where he talks to two priests from the vatican- one kind of old priest who says whatever is on his mind, including, but not limited to, most of the bible being essentially wrong or made up. The other Vatican is a PhD, so an astronomer priest, basically, saying that people who derive science from the bible are ignorant and stupid, as the bible predates science as we know it by thousands of years.
So to hear these two Vatican guys basically saying what people like me are saying only increases my belief that the US is the stupidest country on the planet, and that Christians are the reason for that gap. Sorry, Christians, it's not my fault you believe in fairy tales.
Anyhow, if you are an atheist/agnostic go see Religulous it's right up your alley. If you're a religious person who is open minded enough to explore important questions about your own faith go see it, too.
He asks a lot of good questions, presents a lot of good points, and infuses of course some humor within, and he does interview some genuine whack jobs. But he also talks to relatively otherwise normal people who still seem to believe in the great big fairtytale.
The idea that people need God to be good is silly, and if people are being good just to get into Heaven, that's selfish. I still say religion is one huge racket. I hope some "believers" go see Religulous with an open mind. And to those of you who say "well, gee, Tom, you should go see a religious movie with an open mind..." -- I will remind you all I was raised Catholic, received my Holy Communion, and once I was old enough to actually investigate religion on my own over the years (as opposed to being brainwashed by my parents) I realized just what complete stupid bullshit it was. When it comes to religion I have been there and done that and I'm all the happier and more enlightened for it.
The two best scenes are where he talks to two priests from the vatican- one kind of old priest who says whatever is on his mind, including, but not limited to, most of the bible being essentially wrong or made up. The other Vatican is a PhD, so an astronomer priest, basically, saying that people who derive science from the bible are ignorant and stupid, as the bible predates science as we know it by thousands of years.
So to hear these two Vatican guys basically saying what people like me are saying only increases my belief that the US is the stupidest country on the planet, and that Christians are the reason for that gap. Sorry, Christians, it's not my fault you believe in fairy tales.
Anyhow, if you are an atheist/agnostic go see Religulous it's right up your alley. If you're a religious person who is open minded enough to explore important questions about your own faith go see it, too.