Waking up at the crack of dawn every Sunday for church. Reciting nighttime prayers at the side of my bed. Leading Youth Group crusades through the wilderness. It’s hard work, being a good Christian. But someone’s got to do it.
And that someone isn’t me. I’m not religious. Bill Maher would be proud that I admitted it. The comedian and pundit, who teamed up with Borat director Larry Charles to make Religulous — a hilarious, snarky dissection of all things spiritual — urges more anti-religionists to emerge from hiding. At 16 percent and counting, we outnumber African Americans, Jews, gays and NRA members who reside in America. So why are we so afraid not only to confess our ennui with religion, but also to question others about their faith?
In Religulous, Maher preaches doubt. He begins by documenting his own confused religious upbringing — where he was raised Catholic despite having a Jewish mother — and how it all ended during his teenage years. The seeds of uncertainty were planted, and now he’s grown up and looking for answers to questions like how the United States has become a Christian nation. Religion has a strong undercurrent in America’s economic and social realms, but has become most intertwined politically — our current president has invoked the name of God in countless speeches. There’s a myth that the Founding Fathers were incredibly pious men who set the standards for a Christian state. But even dear old Thomas Jefferson once said, “I do not find in orthodox Christianity one redeeming feature.”
Maher makes many more observations than just how our country grew to be such a powerhouse of devotion out of relatively secular roots. He illustrates the incredible similarities between Jesus and a god who came way before him — Horus was born to a virgin mother, walked on water and was resurrected after death. He critiques the rising commodification of Christianity, visiting a religious theme park in Orlando and interviewing a minister decked out in a $2,000 suit. He doesn’t just tackle Christianity — Maher goes on to roast a member of Jews for Jesus, preach false Scientology in a British park and question the peaceful background of Islam. Along the way, he travels everywhere from the Vatican City to Salt Lake City to a truck stop chapel; he interviews everyone from a Jew for Jesus to a Muslim British rap artist to a gay man turned straight through religious healing.
Because I’m anti-religion and a huge fan of Maher’s, to me Religulous is biased reporting at its best. It’s not your usual documentary — its primary goal is to entertain. But on a deeper level, it’s also supposed to make you laugh about and question all of the inherent contradictions and flaws that religion entails. Religion is an incredibly influential, driving force — its raw power could have serious implications for our future, as Maher exemplifies in his closing statements for the film.
I can’t remember the last time I was so actively engaged in a movie. Religulous is sidesplitting and offensive and, at times, puts style ahead of substance. But even so, I urge you to go and see it, whatever your religious beliefs are. Take friends or family and have a discussion about it afterward. I’m a believer in Bill Maher at his best.
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