“Real Time with Bill Maher” is the best talk show on TV. It’s returning to HBO on August 29, just in time for the Democratic convention.I truly wish Maher had altered his usual three-months-on, three- months-off schedule for this election cycle. Look at all he’s missing... like the John Edwards fiasco.
Still, I don’t plan to pay money to see Bill Maher’s documentary “Religulous” when it arrives in theaters in October. His mockery of those who believe in God is the least appealing thing about his shtick. And I say this as an agnostic.
Doesn’t that heathen motherfucker know that without religion, we’d probably still be cannibals? (That’s this woman’s theory, and I buy it.)
Below is the trailer for “Religulous.” Doesn’t even seem like it’ll be funny.
There is a real aversion to religion is some segments of the population. And I admit, some awful things have been done and some crazy things have been believed in the name of religion. But faith is a whole 'nother thing.
ReplyDeleteI wish people could understand the difference between religion and faith. Be mad at how man effs up spirtual principles, not at God.
And Bill Maher, as a man who routinely took his life in his own hands when he slept with Superhead, ought to be on his knees thanking Jesus every day for life and breath.
It is one thing to seriously question or debate the merits of various religions. It is quite another to ridicule it and set yourself up as one who is so vastly superior to everyone else.
ReplyDeleteI was very active and involved in conservative fundamentalist baptist churches in my younger days. I found that most of the people in those and other churches to be sincere, honest searchers of truth and their spiritual side. I also found those that were so wrapped up in dogma and church doctrine that they could not keep an open mind about a lot of issues.
For that reason, I am no longer attend a formal church organization. While I am no longer involved actively in a formal Christian church, it offends me to see the attacks against the church. I still read a variety of religious books, mostly Christianity (both conservative and liberal) and Buddhism.
My beliefs have evolved to the point where I believe in a Creator/God but how that God is defined remains somewhat cloudy. I can not honestly look at the complexity and diversity of the world around us and believe it happened by chance. For me, the truth lies between the God described in the Old and New Testaments and something that I have yet to discover. I find a lot of truth in all the religions, but find a lot of flaws as well. I find a lot of Buddhist thought in the words ascribed to Jesus Christ in the New Testament, but I do not find the love of Christ in those that interpret his words.
@kellybelle:
ReplyDeletehe slept with Superhead, ought to be on his knees thanking Jesus every day for life and breath.
????????????????
ah, i got a few chuckles out of it. extremists of all stripes should be dismissed, IMHO, too easy of a target. but i am deeply uncomfortable with the disappearance of the line between church and state.
i DO believe organized religion is the root of all evil.
just hope maher's smart enough to pull it off. also kind of thought this was hitchens' ballgame.
love his show, but he's got to limit the number of times ariana is on.
kellybelle...ok, i looked it up. he should be thankful, and probably is, just not to jesus.
ReplyDelete... as a man who routinely took his life in his own hands when he slept with Superhead...
ReplyDeleteOUCH, Kellybelle! You play rough. (I like that.)
i DO believe organized religion is the root of all evil.
ReplyDeleteI say human nature is the root of all evil. Which is why, I think, civilizations all over the world embraced a systematized belief in the transcendent as a cornerstone of moral thinking.
Apparently without such appeal to a force for order beyond human beings, we wouldn't know how to act.
The fact that many of us don't act right anyway -- including religious people -- doesn't negate the civilizational value of religion over the past couple millenia.
that heathen motherfucker!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeletethe end.
0:58 on the video--i am NOT mad at that! LOL
ReplyDelete^ Hee-hee! Big boy's ready to fight!
ReplyDeleteI can not honestly look at the complexity and diversity of the world around us and believe it happened by chance.
ReplyDeleteYou know what, Dick? I find it quite easy to believe it all happened by chance. But let's not have that conversation until we get some beers in front of us.
As soon as I saw that picture I thought: "pareidolia." (Hey, I like words, too.)
ReplyDeleteGuy P. Harrison is the author of "50 Reasons People Give For Believing In A God." A couple of reasons: it's just obvious that God exists; everybody's religious so it must be true; it makes me happy to believe; I don't want to go to Hell.... Hell scares me.
I like the philosophy of Humanism and the notion of living an ethical and fulfilling life without religious belief.
Anyway, I don't know if I'll be paying to see this documentary, but if it comes to cable, I'd check it out.
You know what, Dick? I find it quite easy to believe it all happened by chance. But let's not have that conversation until we get some beers in front of us.
ReplyDeleteYou are on for the beers next time you are in town, as long as we don't go down the Schlitz Malt Liquor road of our youth.
I have a lot of animosity towards religion as a former Muslim (lol). And it probably doesn't come from a healthy place.
ReplyDeleteBut Bill Maher is sorely mistaken if he thinks religion can be discarded in the rubbish heap of history. Religious belief will *always* be a part of us.
Religion is a byproduct of mankind's capacity for pattern recognition - to the extent that we see patterns that aren't even there. "Why did I just get sick? I must not have prayed enough." "Why did that earthquake happen in China? It must be punishment for their oppression of Tibet." Spirituality may even be an evolutionary adaptation that confers increased resilience and success.
Mankind will always be spiritual.
Religion is a byproduct of mankind's capacity for pattern recognition - to the extent that we see patterns that aren't even there.
ReplyDeleteWhich is why when I saw the poster and the what the documentary was all about, I got it right away. The poster is very clever and slick in its subtlety. (Kudos to whoever thought of the idea.) This poster is more obvious.
Basically, it seems he might be poking fun at the type of people who think they see the image of the Virgin Mary etched on a grilled cheese sandwich or, imposed on the wall of an underpass. "Pareidolia provides a psychological explanation for many delusions based upon sense perception."
"Delusions." And isn't Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" playing in the trailer?
When I saw the statement that it was from the same studio as "Fahrenheit 9/11," my heart sank. Understand, my core political beliefs are not much different from Michael Moore's. But "Fahrenheit 9/11" was a lousy advertisement for liberals: it was lazy, sloppy, and had a lot of assertions that were, at best, questionable. Cheap debating points were valued over substantive dialog. It was as if Rush Limbaugh had switched sides.
ReplyDeleteThis just looks like more of the same. I probably agree with a lot of what Bill Maher believes about religion, but this looks like Maher at his worst: snide and smug.
I really like Maher's show, but his hate for all things religious gets old quick. It was fun to watch Cornel West slap him around a bit a few months back.
ReplyDelete