Religulous: Atheists Will Love Bill Maher's New Flick

Posted by DJK, Brave New Films

Finally, a movie for my people! That's right, I'm an atheist. In fact, I'm so much of an atheist that I don't even like the term. I think the default setting for humans is to not be religious — I might as well call myself a non-snake handler, non-scientologist, or a non-branch Davidian.

But enough about me. Religulous, directed by Borat director Larry Charles, follows Bill Maher as he travels the world questioning religious "experts" and believers about the inherent contradictions and accepted silliness that makes up the bulk of the world's "organized" religions. Maher is not an atheist — he just accepts that he does not know the answers to life's big spiritual questions, and that anyone who claims to know with absolute certainty what God or Allah wants or what happens when we die must be doubted to the utmost. Pretty hard to argue with that.

Maher has been talking about religion for his entire comedic career. At times, the movie feels a bit like watching his stand up being performed to an audience of one, whether it be a Jew for Jesus, a Muslim cleric, or an evangelical senator. Which is not a bad thing — there are big laughs in Religulous as Maher boldly challenges the many illogical, violent, farcical beliefs that form the foundation of most religions. Unlike Borat, Religulous uses a lot of stock footage and clips to punctuate its jokes, while also adding a welcome dose of infotainment. For example, who knew that the story of Jesus — with its virgin birth, 12 disciples and resurrection — is a variation of a tale that had been circulating the Middle East and the Mediterranean for decades?

Link to con.