Religulous!

This is probably going to piss me off.



To be fair, I haven't seen the movie yet, so Bill Maher could totally redeem himself with awesome points and arguments, but the preview I find intensely annoying.

I don't mind Bill Maher. He got a bum rap for being fired from 'Politically Incorrect' on ABC for saying something that was, ironically enough, politically incorrect. He comes down hard on religious extremism of all kinds and takes an even harder line on 9-11 Truthers all of which I approve of.

Yet, his blind spot seems to be religion. The guy just can't wrap his head around it. He doesn't get it and treats it like some sort of mass delusion. (Like not a few other prominent members of the intelligentsia out there. See: Hitchens, et. al.) But that could be more due to his position in life than anything else. When you're rich and have your own television show on HBO (and can afford to make movies like this) it may be hard for you to wrap your head around how comforting it is to think that there could be something bigger than everyone out there that might help out in unseen ways.

When you're working three jobs to support your family or get fired or have a crappy life or a shitty job, faith can help. Faith manages, as the wise man once said- the substance of things unknown and the evidence of things unseen can be an incredibly powerful thing.

You just have to be open to it and you can't take it literally.

But we'll see what the movie brings. In the meantime, argh, Bill Maher for bringing another anti-religion screed to the big screen which will flop and probably hand James Dobson, Focus on the Family and Conservative groups everywhere a money-raising bonanza. Way to fan the flames of the Culture Wars, Bill.