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Religulous on DVD

If you missed it in theaters Bill Maher's documentary Religulous is on DVD this week.

It was the highest grossing documentary of last year and I enjoyed it in theaters. If you hate Bill Maher you may have even more fun MST3king it.

Comments (6)

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Kuranes said:

It's very funny, and often right on target. Unfortunately, there are so many religious nuts out there that he could only skewer a few of them, like the man who claimed to be the Second Coming and announced that wealth is a sign of God's favor. Guess Jesus, as one of the homeless, didn't measure up the first time. I'm hoping Maher does a sequel.

Liz said:

I find that he comes across just as strong and intolerant as most of the fundamentalists that he tries to poke fun at. His hard-line intolerance strikes me as just as bad as those he berates. As a Unitarian Universalist I am a religious liberal but find him to be just as difficult to listen to as the right wing fundamentalist. I believe that each person has the right to search for what is right and true for them, their own personal truth. Being treated with the disrespect I see Bill Maher show to those he disagrees with does not appeal to me.

I did find some of his comments and jokes to be funny. But found him difficult to take seriously due to his incredible intolerance of others.

namtac said:

I haven't seen the movie yet. But I saw his interview about it on The Daily Show. I wonder - is Maher intolerant of religious *people* or religious *beliefs*? If he finds the idea of talking snakes with legs and men surviving in the stomachs of big fishes ridiculous, can you really blame him?

Joe Killian said:

I think you have to sort of be careful how you use the word "intolerant" in this context.

Maher isn't lynching religious people, harassing them in the workplace or pushing for legislation that would outlaw their religion or make it difficult for them to practice it. He works with and has personal relationships with religious people. simply doesn't agree with their position and doesn't give their opinions about cosmology any more weight or respect than he would their political opinions or their opinions about sports.

When these other things are the subject of comedic needling we laugh openly and readily. When it's religion people get squeamish. It's another example of the odd privileging of religion in our culture.

Kuranes said:

If disagreeing with others makes one intolerant, who isn't intolerant? I think Liz is no more tolerant of Maher than Maher is of fundamentalists. Why should she be? If some deluded Mexican thinks he is the second coming of Christ (and getting rich off convinciong other fools), why not make fun of it? Not every idea is worthy of respect just because somebody believes it.
Are there no truths except "one's own private truth"? Can we exempt ourselves from the law of gravity? Are there no public truths? Liz thinks there are: for example, Thou Shalt Not be Intolerant.

Liz Grimes said:

I find his treatment of others that disagree with him to be rude and disrespectful. That is a form of intolerance. What I am saying is that for there to be discussion and understanding both sides need to be willing to truly listen to each other.

I do watch Maher and find him to generally be very funny. But when he is interacting with people of different beliefs I find his treatment of them to be rude and disrespectful. I have no problem with basing comedy on beliefs and ideas. I have a problem with treating people badly and making fun of people.

We all have areas in our lives where we are intolerant. Rude treatment of individuals are one area where I have great difficulty being tolerant.

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