You don't have to pass an IQ test to be in the Senate.

If you build a diorama with animatronic dinosaurs and children coexisting, it must be true.

Dialing a phone on Sabbath is forbidden, dialing a phone with a stylus on Sabbath is allowed.

You will learn all this and more from Bill Maher's hilarious mockumentary, Religulous.

It is not often that a movie is so subversive, funny and educational all at once. Bill Maher certainly has his fair share of ego, but he has the comic chops to support it. In some of his interviews I wish he had gone further, but to do that he would have to have been more serious, less funny and ultimately have made a different movie.

But the movie he makes is brilliant, it shines a spotlight on some of the serious questions and inconsitencies in religion that people allow themselves to ignore. And his ultimate message is one that everyone needs to hear; there are things in this world that are not explained, and that's OK! Not every gap in human knowledge is God-shaped. Doubt is good, doubt makes us ambitious and inquisitive and humble. And that's not a bad way to be.

The FUNNY:
Bill Maher has produced a very clever, very funny, and very well edited documentary that satirizes religions of all colors and stripes. He asks many questions and interacts (as only he can) with a wide, if not imbalanced range of religious people. During this exercise, Bill brings up and reveals many embarrassing issues and hard questions that all people of faith must ask themselves and struggle with in today's world, like: the problem of Evil, the relationship faith has with science, the evils of organized religion: violence, repression and discrimination, talking snakes and many more. And he makes us laugh out loud as we watch.
The FLUFF
The most qualified person that he interviews is one of the first on the film. Bill talks with one of the world's greatest geneticists and avid defender of the Christian faith, Francis Collins. The interchange is disappointingly short and shallow, allowing Bill to get his two cents in while avoiding any real discussion. This interchange sets the standard for the rest of the movie. Bill is not going to deal with the intellectual field of religion, which is much larger and more mainstream than you'd ever gather from watching this feature. In fact besides the interview with with Dr. Collins, this film completely ignores philosophical-religion with its enormous history and focuses instead on the fundamentalist-inspired religious masses, which, bless their hearts, are mostly a product of a culturally-processed faith that has no tradition of serious thought. I'm not questioning the authenticity or depth of the faith of Bill's subjects, but there is no question that these adherents are not qualified to defend or in many cases even understand the details of their own religious systems.
MORE FLUFF
At the conclusion of the film, after Maher has appealed so strenuously to our logic and common sense, he then stands tall and full of righteous indignation as he pretends to have actually made a case against ALL faith and religion. Really he's only managed to make us laugh at blue collar fundamentalism and extreme organized religion, while completely ignoring any real intellegent discussion of faith issues.
CONCLUSION
In the end, while making some good criticism, this entertainment proves to be an interesting satire of our culture and mostly just . . . good entertainment. Enjoy

I watched this movie during a very key time of growing out of my Christian upbringing. I needed this movie to be able to laugh at not only how ridiculous religious dogma is, but to laugh at MYSELF for having once believed something that brought so much grief to my life. This movie was a breath of fresh air and a great stepping stone from a Bible-based upbringing here in the, "Bible belt." For this alone, I give the movie 5 stars. If you're teetering on the edge of belief and non-belief, this movie should pretty well give you the confidence to finally lean to one side or the other. Laughter and Bill Maher's predisposition aside, these people make their very own beliefs look ridiculous.

Highlights for me include parts like this one guy who claims he knows God because of the many, many miracles he has experienced; yet, when Bill asks him to give examples, the guy is unable to intially give any. In response, Bill questions how significant these miracles could've really been if the man is unable to recall even ONE when asked! When the man finally does come up with an example, it's incredibly laughable and you're left thinking, "wow, this guy should've kept his example to himself!" Granted, the man may have very well come up with his example just seconds after saying, "I don't know," but here again, the example he did give is preposterous.

Touching back on something I said in the first paragraph, this film also gave me permission to laugh at myself. Like many who lose their faith when they broaden their world view, this film was a resounding, "ahhhhh," when I realized issues like injustice and suffering don't fit in the equation of faith in the Judeo-Christian God for a reason.

Without going into a diatribe about how selflessly selfish I find many religions to be, suffice it to say, I have finally broken the divisive chains of ignorant and ill-founded faith. The ties that binded me were typical of many religious moderates; fear of death, desire to see loved ones beyond life, personal divine guidance and support through hard times, et al. I lived my life in a superstitious and indoctrinated fashion that narrowly shaped my world view and when I dared to step out of this narrow world view, the questions I asked were usually satisfied with cliche ignorance such as, "God has a plan for everything" or, "my feeble human mind cannot possibly comprehend God's plans!" Rubbish! Now I see this world for exactly what it is and I have been humbled 10-times beyond that of what religion ever did. But I digress...

Back to the movie, Religulous isn't for those of you who are intellectuals well-versed in the thoughts and works of people like Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris. You may get a number of chuckles but the underlying message (the one in which Bill ends the film with) is exactly that of religion being a detriment to humanity. You will more than likely wish Bill had taken the message a bit deeper, but because I saw this movie at the point I did in my shedding of religiosity, I stand as an example of person who found this to be exactly what I needed to solidify the ground beneath me during my leap from faith to rationale.

With that being said, if you identify at all with how I have portrayed a part of myself to have been, I *HIGHLY* recommend this film! If you've seen this film and you're looking for a much more in-depth explanation or rationale of the message Bill ends the movie with, I recommend the following things to you:

1 - "Root of All Evil?" Documentary by Richard Dawkins: http://richarddawkins.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3&products_id=7 (One of the most engaging and definitive documentaries on the ill-founded grounds of religiosity and spirituality as defined by the superstitious and dogmatic today)

2 - Sam Harris' Lecture on Religion: http://rapidshare.com/files/175676905/Sam_Harris_-_The_View_From_The_End_Of_The_World.mp3 (This is a VERY informative and engaging lecture. Sam's calm, cool and collected disposition - with his effective use of the English language - really drives his point home)

3 - "Jesus Camp": http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Camp-Becky-Fischer/dp/B000KLQUV2/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1233848044&sr=8-1 (If you want to see just how messed up it can get with the Christian fundamentalists raising children, watch this documentary)

4 - "Who Wrote the Bible?": http://atheistmovies.blogspot.com/2009/01/who-wrote-bible.html (An excellent documentary regarding the creation of the Bible)

And with that, I will end this review. Apologies for weaving in and out between reviewing this movie and divaricating off into other topics, but I wanted to write something relevant to the whole topic and give people who want to dig further, a place to start. Thanks for reading.

-Stephen
http://eradicatereligion.blogspot.com

PS - I forgot to mention the obvious: If you're religious, you will get from this movie exactly what you expect to get out of it: Being offended. If you're religious and you're watching this movie merely to see a bully supposedly picking on poor little innocent religious people, then prepare to walk out of the theater pissed off and having completely missed even the most obvious of notable points made in this movie.