Have you seen Bill Maher's movie Religulous

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   RealityTalkposted 11 years ago

   Have you seen Bill Maher's movie Religulous
   
   I have watched The Ten Commandments, the Robe, The Passion of the Christ and many more religious movies despite my being a realist (Atheist).  So, I challenge the religious to watch the movie Religulous if you have not already.  After you watch the movie, tell me where Bill Maher has gone wrong in his assessment of religion and its place in the world.
   
   

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   JMcFarlandposted 11 years ago

   As a fellow atheist, I think the only part of this movie that went a bit awry was when he semi-used the argument from Zeitgeist.  It's one of the movies that people point to that make me want to smash my head through a window.  It's full of mis-interpretations and baseless claims that do nothing to expand atheist viewpoints, and it makes people that point to it look silly.  While Bills' mention of its concepts etc. was very brief, it was noticeable - maybe only to me because Zeitgeist has been quoted to me so many times that I see it coming from a mile away.

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   ChristinSposted 11 years ago

   I did enjoy the movie and it made some very valid points. Bill Maher himself leaves a bit to be desired because he seems to struggle with being able to be funny and honest without being completely obnoxious with it. He's very condescending to some of the people in this movie and I think it ends up with him "preaching to the choir" so to speak because of that aspect.  Atheists will listen, but not many others. I don't think his tactics would actually get a religious person to think about what he's saying, because it's hard to listen when you are bristling and feeling defensive.
   
   I wouldn't be any more tempted to listen to a religious person try to convince me if they were obnoxious about it.  The only time I even listen to religious people is if they are respectful. I think that's human nature. I do however agree with 99.9% of what he says in this movie and it certainly does shine a light on a lot of the ridiculous things religions do.

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   M. T. Dremerposted 11 years ago

   I enjoyed this movie, but Bill Maher does tend to come off as a bit of an ass. I've seen quite a few thoughtful movies on the subject, though. 'For the Bible tells me so' is an examination of religious parents who have gay children, and how they dealt with it. 'The God Who Wasn't There' is about a man who grew up in a heavily religious environment and later became an atheist. And 'Kumare' is about a man who poses as a religious guru and develops a following despite being a fraud. All three are incredibly powerful movies and, I believe, take a softer approach than Bill Maher. Again, I did enjoy Religulous, but I don't think believers will respond to the tone of it.

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      fpherj48posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I thank you for the references to 3 movies, as well as RT for bringing my attention to Bill's movie.  I most definitely will see to it that I watch all 4 of them!   Appreciate it!

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   Say Yes To Lifeposted 11 years ago

   I have not seen the movie - in fact, this is the first I've heard of it.  The reason I'm answering this question is to ask one of my own; how do atheists explain the existence of the world?  I have a couple of friends who are agnostics (they believe the existence of God can be neither proved nor disproved).  I used the evolution of computers to explain my belief in the existence of God.  Since the computer as we know it today came about through intelligent design, rather than merely springing into existence, surely life, which is more complex than any computer, couldn't have happened by accident.  They responded by saying I had a valid point, but surely Someone intelligent enough to create life would have done a far better job of it.
   Why am I asking this?  Because religion as a whole is really beginning to disillusion me.  When I had to leave Seattle 12 years ago, my wonderful minister told me I could email him anytime regarding that issue.  I've kept in touch with him, never mentioning the events until recently.  I asked him if his offer was still open, and he immediately responded with a yes.  So I explained the whole situation, including what happened before and after.  That was over a week ago, and I haven't heard from him.  Is he busy, trying to sort out my email, or did I freak him out?  Maybe there is no answer???
   Thanks - hope I'm not freaking YOU out with this!

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      RealityTalkposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      You can ask me anything. Bill Maher comes off strong, so u may not want to watch. But BM asks the questions & pts. out the obvious no one wants to answer. I think u should believe in you & everything else will work itself out. Best to u alway

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