I like Bill Maher and I enjoy his show on HBO. Prior to hearing him discuss religion and his agnosticity--I really think that should be a word--I’d considered “agnostic” to mean “persuadable.” However, he convinced me on Real Time that it’s an unwavering stance: it is pointless and potentially harmful to feel absolutely positive about the unknown.
I think this is where he was going with “Religulous,” asking why otherwise logical people feel 100% confident about their faith, and what that means for our culture and--however unconstitutional--our political system.
Unfortunately, Religulous turns from a search for reasoning behind religion to a search for the wackiest people in America. (i.e. the segment at the Christian theme park). This does little to form an argument other than “There are lots of crazy people walking around.” The problem is everyone can agree on that. The existence of weirdos is not a point or a question.
In short, the proportion of smart--or simply prominent--people to wacky ones is off. The focus should have been on the religious scientists and politicians. The characters speaking to the dead on DVD should have been a tool, not a feature. Leave that stuff for a reality show.
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