Dreadfully Boring

Am I Missing Something?

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

Let me prove it: Google the pagan stories he claims Christianity is 'based on'. Read about how Horus was not born of a virgin, but of Isis and Osiris, and how he was not crucified, or resurrected, and so on. Then realize that every single one of the other mythical stories he brings up has exactly the same problem. Let me spell it out:The film itself was made under false pretenses. Maher openly admits he lied constantly to people while making this film - why should you believe he is telling YOU the truth? Seriously.Maher uses comedy to smooth over his own contradictions. He preaches bigotry and intolerance while attacking Christians for being bigoted and intolerant. He does not understand the Bible. Not even close. He thinks that there is no mention of Original Sin in the book that created the bloody concept.What?Really. 'What?' is the best response to this entire film: From Maher preaching about how 'humble' and 'non judgemental' he is to him contradicting himself in literally the same sentence. Anyone who spent ten minutes fact-checking any random thing said in this film will realize that he does not know what he is talking about and quite happy to lie when he does. If you doubt this, ask yourself: how many actual Biblical experts did he interview? Zero. What qualifications in Biblical studies or history does he have? Zero. What merit does the ambush interview\hatchet job have? Zero.Every single thing in this entire film is a dupe made to dupe the viewer. Downvote me if you like, you are only proving your separation from actual rational thought.

How did I never heard about this gem before? A friend that knows I am a convinced atheist told me I had to watch this and that I would like it. 8 years after the making of Religulous I finally had someone that told me about it and oh was I pleased! I literally had a smile on my face from beginning till the end. Bill Maher asks the perfect questions to the believers of any stupid religion and their answers are just hilarious. The fact that you can see that they know they are wrong, when Bill Maher replies to their answers with a silly but true answer or question is just hilarious. This is by far the best documentary I ever saw on any subject. It's not about getting a proof about the existence of a God, but just the opposite. It's about making the people see they are scammed since centuries and they continue being scammed now. Most of them actually know it but are just too afraid of death you could make them make believe whatever you want. Some are just eternal idiots that will never change their mind about religions, but those are also not the smartest puppy out of the litter let's say. If you are like me a convinced atheist you will adore this movie. If you are a believer of whatever religion, you will be or ashamed you ever believed in those nonsenses, or it will open your eyes and you will change your mind, or you will be scandalized and will continue being a dumb sheep of society.

This starts out as any typical documentary where Bill Maher presents that he is on a journey to find the truth about the validity or stupidity of religion. By claiming agnosticism (when clearly he is not) Maher pretends to be fair by acting like he is un-biasedly going to explore religion, saying "I have to find out." Shortly afterward one can clearly see that this is purely a Bill Maher ego trip and a Borat-style type of mockumentary. He doesn't really bring any debate, discussion of issues, or scrutiny to the table. Instead he just resorts to a religious joke fest which is all very entertaining and humorous, but then the real joke is calling this an intellectual documentary on the criticism of religion.To prove his points he finds only the most extreme or corrupt religious fanatics that are even considered nutcases in their own respective religious communities. He especially loves throwing loaded questions to people who are unlearned in their religion, or others who have skewed off-base and non-canon ideas within their own beliefs. He questions laymen and doesn't once acknowledge the experts or learned crowd in religion.Some of his subjects include pastors who don't even know what their bible says, a Jew who doesn't believe Israel is currently a nation who supports that the holocaust was from God, gay Muslims, a weed smoking church, and a Jewish inventor that creates contraptions to avoid Sabbath laws. These people are all extremely obscure and on the outer fringes of these religious groups.At one point Maher even tries to argue that the existence of the historical man Jesus was up for debate. I don't know if he actually believes this or if he was just trying to fluster the interviewee and make him falter (I think the latter). But if he does actually believe this he would be laughed out academia by nearly every scholar, theist and atheist alike.Bill does make many valid criticisms of religions but the problem is he leaves no room for any real intellectual rebuttal. He is mostly catching people off-guard and asking loaded questions. He had some good points like on the U.S. not being founded as a Christian nation, or the absurd idea that "Christianity is American." But there were other claimed "facts" completely false like his information on the Horus/Jesus debate or pulling despicable Biblical stories and not really addressing what those passages were actually about. Maher also asserts that all religion is violent, when in fact just as much or more violence has been done in the name of no religion. He eventually moves on to other religions, but really never far from Judaism based ones which really doesn't touch on most of the world.This is without a doubt a very funny piece (unless you are extremely offended by it all), but it would be completely inaccurate to call it an intellectual one. It's just Bill Maher being Bill Maher. Even to the point of him bringing up other irrelevant issues like his views on the environment and nuclear applications. He didn't actually do extensive research, he's mostly just shooting from the hip and catching dumb people off-guard. The makers even cut the scenes cleverly in the interviews (weird pauses, strange faces) for extra awkwardness and comedy.The only thing this "documentary" really proved was that there are a lot of people that believe strange things some of them being very stupid. Most people watching this already knew that beforehand. At one point Maher says: "Religion is arrogant certitude," which ironically also perfectly describes himself.

For Christ's sake! Reading through some reviews here, it seems some people just don't get that even though the subject is serious, Bill Maher is a COMEDIAN. So, this is not intended to be a serious documentary, but a comedy that looks like a documentary. People who don't like this movie for its humor (because it supposedly makes fun of religious people) confirm exactly what Maher tries to say about religions and how they manipulate the minds. We shouldn't laugh about religion, because God has no humor, right? (Read the Bible and you'll know what I'm talking about.)A serious documentary, though, would come to the same conclusion as Maher, since it just can't be denied that religious people believe in FANTASY. It's grotesque, for example, that Christians ridicule the doctrines of "religions" like Scientology for being absurd, while they themselves believe in absurd things like a talking serpent or a God that has a son who is himself! Exactly this is what Maher, with humor, is trying to say: all religions teach NONSENSE.Who can deny that?How can people from one religion look at other people, from different religions, with disdain, if all religious people, no matter from which religion, equally believe in fantasy? Religions combat each other, because, as we all know, only one religion can be the true one. And here lies the biggest problem with religions, which Maher very well exposes: they are dangerous because they separate people from each other and make them hate and FIGHT, even though they think they preach "love".This is pure madness!And then there are those Christians who criticize Maher for showing Christians they say are no good examples of good Christians (literate, compassionate, etc.), which means THEY see themselves as better representatives of good Christianity. Really? They think they represent Christianity better, but nevertheless and equally believe that homosexuality is sin, the woman was made out of a rib, in devil, hell, end of the world, etc., etc., etc. So, where is the difference? Their "intelligence" doesn't seem to make them different from the illiterate Christians.Comedy or serious documentary, at the end the message would have been the same. That's why this movie is very important and everybody should see it, despite being a comedy, which was the reason I liked it so much.Note: if you want to understand, but really on the highest possible level, why religions are nonsense, read "Ethics" by Baruch Spinoza and FREE yourself forever from all religious nonsense!