I watched Religulous by Bill Maher last week. Like Zeitgeist, I wouldn't recommend the movie to anyone who values their faith.
It was rather well done. Not too deep and mildly entertaining. My hat goes off to those religious folks who took the time and challenge to speak to Mr. Maher. There was one group whom he told that they seemed to truly represent Christ. I think that would be rather a nice compliment to receive, especially from someone as skeptical about religion as Mr. Maher.
There is a section of the movie about the LDS Church/Mormonism. I found it interesting, beginning with the fact that I recognized a few of the security guards who chased Mr. Maher and his crew off the grounds of the campus in Salt Lake City. Mr. Maher had requested an interview which they declined. Instead Mr. Maher was then faced with the option of speaking to opponents of the LDS Church. While technically nothing they shared was incorrect about the doctrine, it did feel weird to watch it. I may blog more on those feelings another time, since they were interesting to say the least.
Overall though, a very thought provoking and mildly entertaining movie.
Next confession... I'm reading The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. I've seen a number of Mr. Dawkins presentations on YouTube and I like his style. I'm currently in the section where he is covering the various scientific proofs of a supernatural being. It reminds me a lot of Mr. DeGrasse's description of the Argument from Ignorance which I shared a few months ago.
Very insightful and though provoking, but like the Religulous, probably not the best read for someone who values their faith.
On the other hand... how can it truly be "faith" if one has never taken the time to understand the challenges to it? Hopefully faith is not a synonym for blind ignorance and devotion.
ReplyDeleteIn my experience, at some point the only way to grow deeper in any faith is to seriously challenge one's own belief in it. It's risky, because we don't know where that will take us; there's no guarantee we'll remain on the same comfortable religious path.
But there is comfort in knowing there is no 100% absolutely perfect, provable set of beliefs out there. Even science requires faith in a set of rules with glaring exceptions. I believe in the end, nobody really decides on a faith (or "un-faith")... they choose one that they can comfortably both pursue and defend. Can I accept the problems with this religion enough to sleep at night? And if I die tomorrow and find I was wrong about it all, did the religion's (or anti-religion's) principles help me live a life I enjoyed and can be proud of?
(BTW, thanks for some thought-provoking blogging today, that allowed me to avoid work for a few moments! Alas, back to the grindstone...)
clink
Linky:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Religulous&search_type=&aq=f
I think Google Video may have the best online version...
ReplyDeletehttp://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3791007322683758535
And my pleasure Clink - as always I appreciate those who read my stuff, like yourself, and comment about it.
ReplyDeleteIt was actually a very popular leader of the LDS Church a few years back who made a comment about the Organization's truthfulness. He indicated that truth was paramount and that either the organization was 100% truthful, or it was a huge lie. Unfortunately this is the same guy who years before had been at the front of efforts to try and hide some of the more embarrassing history, which then turned out to bite him in the butt, when it turned out to be a rather clever forgery!
Loved Religulous. A good movie to couple with Zeitgeist for a weekend of thought provoking fun!
ReplyDelete