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Bill Maher presenting a documentary on the state of religion in today’s world is as absurd as Fred Phelps presenting a documentary on homosexuality, or the Klu Klux Klan presenting a documentary on race relations in America.
Bill Maher, the often controversial comedian and host of Real Time with Bill Maher, has made it abundantly clear where he stands on the subject of religion. Namely, he believes that the faithful (be it Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or other) suffer from a neurological disorder which “stops people from thinking” and “justifies crazies”. Exactly how a man with such contempt for religion can produce an un-biased documentary about religion is beyond me.
Maher’s new film, aptly titled Religulous (a combination of religious and ridiculous, get it?), will see the famous personality travel to a number of popular religious destinations from Jerusalem to the Vatican, and interview everyone and anyone with a religious pulse from Satanists, to creationists, to Hasidic scholars.
Directing the propaganda piece, I mean documentary, is Borat director Larry Charles. With that nugget of information, one should get a clear grasp of what to expect from the two; crude interviews featuring a pompous Maher, which will be slyly edited during post production and put together for the whoring masses of religious bashers keen to sink their teeth into a bigoted package of atheistic delights.
It reminds me somewhat of Richard Dawkins – Oxford biologist, staunch atheist, hate speech advocate – and his problematic made for TV documentary The Root of All Evil?. Dawkins also travelled the world, visiting various religious destinations and interviewing a number of religious minded folk (Ted Haggard among them, Alister McGrath shamelessly not).
Also, I will not be surprised if Maher will add a short quip or joke at his interviewee’s expense during post production much like Dawkins does in The Root of All Evil?, as well as Penn Jillette in he and his heterosexual life mate’s TV program Penn & Teller: Bulls**t!. After all, cowards do love to follow suit.
The sad thing is that all indications point to this movie being a hit upon release. This is not a surprise, since the religious are easily detested, especially Christians as evident at any Bill Maher / George Carlin/ Richard Dawkins message board, and with Bill Maher and the like keeping the flame alight for religious bigotry more documentaries will be made preaching the same garbage and spewing the same hatred, often on the crutch of logic, rationality, and free speech.
Protests will be arranged, condemnation will be thrown towards Maher from various religious scholars, and a lot of money and controversy will be generated. Yet as long as the faithful sit on their hands, keep their mouths shout and decide not to counter the vulgar and offensive tirades of Maher and the like, then it will continue to be this way for years to come. |
