Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. I’m organizing another trip out to LA at the moment… got some interesting things to hit up, some more BOLT coverage and I’m hitting the Saturday, September 13th performance of THE FLY OPERA, directed by David Cronenberg with music and lyrics by Howard Shore… It’s gonna be awesome! At least it better be for the price I’m paying for tickets.

I leave Monday, but I have some stuff to clear out before I can hit LA with a vengeance, one of which are my thoughts on the Bill Maher/Larry Charles documentary RELIGULOUS.

I actually saw the movie over a week ago, but I’ve been putting off the review. It’s a very delicate subject, for one thing, and I’ve also wanted to accurately give an impression of the movie without stirring up a hateful back and forth in the talkbacks below. I don’t think that’s possible, at least the arguing part. This issue is too deep in the lives of every living, breathing human being, but I can hope that the hate isn’t a part of the argument.

My own religious views are a bit of a wash. I dislike extremists of any religion, but I also see the good that religion does for some people. My own family history with it isn’t a good one. My great grandmother contracted polio as a child in the 1920s and her Christian Scientist parents refused treatment for her, instead relying on the power of prayer. As a result she has been in a wheelchair since the age of 8. She’s in her early 90s now and the sweetest old lady you’d ever meet.

My great grandfather was a Baptist Minister and was probably the most repugnant person in my family tree. He cheated on his wife (his crippled wife, remember), was a mean bastard to everyone around him and seemed to relish rubbing salt in the wounds he opened.

I’m frustrated by extreme Christianity, but I’m not an Athiest either. I think deep down everybody is Agnostic. In fact, if you take the word faith literally then everybody is agnostic because if you KNOW for a fact that God exists, that there’s a heaven and hell, etc, then you do not have faith. You might believe, but nobody knows for sure what’s waiting them in the afterlife, if such a thing exists.

My best friend is a Christian and we’ve had many theological discussions since the very first days of our friendship. I’m curious about the religion and having discussions about it is something I always look forward to. The more I talk about it, the more I learn about it, the more frustrated I get with the Christians that promote judgment and hate, cherry-picking the New Testament for quotes that support their own personal hate while ignoring the main theme of love and peace that Jesus represented.

So, I was very interested in Bill Maher’s documentary. I’m an avid watcher of REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER on HBO and POLITICALLY INCORRECT before it, so I knew Maher’s opinion on religion going in, but I was really interested in seeing how he and Larry Charles (BORAT) attacked this subject matter. Was it going to be vicious? Was it going to make fun of people of faith?

It turns out that Maher isn’t out to mock people of faith, which is good. He lets loose with some jokes, naturally, but he’d be doing that no matter what the topic. Race relations, Space Exploration, Drug Legalization, Finding Jimmy Hoffa’s body… anything at all, Maher would crack wise.

What I was very impressed with was how he tried to have an honest discussion with people of all faiths, asking real questions. You’ll notice a great many take immediate offense at any questions aimed at their faith, but there are a few stand-outs that really put a smile on my face and those are the people that Maher never lost his composure with because they were willing to have an open conversation about their faith and didn’t immediately jump Maher’s shit for challenging their faith.

Maher doesn’t just put the Christians on the spot . He puts just as much, if not more, pressure on the Muslims he interviews, calling them out on contradictions in their religion. In fact, I’d say if the gloves came off at any time during the movie it was with the Muslims. Maher really does press those that he interviews who say that the Muslim religion isn’t a violent one with passages from the Quran contradicting those statements.

But he’s fair with everyone and asks honest questions on every religion. There are some choices made in the editorial (music cues, b-roll footage, etc) that add a little more humor to the movie, but also, at times, undercut the earnest tone Charles and Maher were setting. Some of it does go a little too far in making a joke out of the person he’s talking to at times and my only question is why try to make the person a joke when they’re already digging their own grave in the eyes of any reasonable person?

Honestly, though, that stuff isn’t all over the doc, so it’s barely even an issue. I only noticed it a couple of times.

My favorite person Maher interviews is a priest outside of the Vatican. I forgot the man’s name, but seriously… he was the bomb. When Maher would bring up conflicting stories in the bible, he’d just shrug his shoulders and say, “Yeah, my religion is flawed. You’re right,” and then laugh about it.

I suppose he was comfortable enough in his faith that he didn’t feel the need to reach for some obviously bogus soundbyte to try to prove his case. He seemed to recognize the bible as a series of life lessons and didn’t try to defend literal interpretations. He wasn’t uncomfortable saying that there’s something deep he feels toward the religion, something he can’t explain.

The priest didn’t get defensive, the priest didn’t get hateful. In short, the priest was Christlike when confronted with questions.

My favorite thing that Maher says in the entire documentary is that if more Christians were Christ-like then he would sign up, but unfortunately the most vocal and forefront of the religion seem to counter the entire message of their savior.

The only time Maher gets preachy is in his closing speech to camera, where he makes his case for no religion, saying we’ve evolved past the point of needing it as a manual on how to live your life. He points out the number of wars and the death toll attributed to the name of one God or another and says the only way we can survive as a people is to leave religion behind us.

Do I believe that? I’m torn. I look at my friend and how his religion is just kind of a starting off point for who he is, not something that gets in the way of critical thinking, opinion and judgment. I look at the priest Maher interviewed at the Vatican. I see people like that and how they have used their belief as a moral compass and strive to be good people, but don’t hold hatred or judgment in their hearts. I see those people and I see how religion can be used to benefit society and the people within it.

Then I see the extremists, blowing up buildings for Allah or abortion clinics for Jesus. I look through the history books and see the atrocities committed in the name of one God or another.

I guess, at the end of the day I’m more of an optimist that Maher and I can see there being a happy medium between the two.

No matter what, it’s an extremely complex issue and Maher and Larry Charles have created a fun flick that those in the middle can enjoy without a problem and anyone comfortable with their own opinions should also be able to enjoy. Maher doesn’t put on the attack dog personality except during the most extremist interviews and even then, he doesn’t attack one set of beliefs over another.

I wish there was a little bit more focus on the Mormons and Scientologists because... well, that was some of the most entertaining stuff in the documentary, but I think Maher has to save something good for RELIGULOUS 2: THIS TIME IT'S PERSONAL.

I’m very curious to see what the reaction will be out of Toronto. I have a feeling that, like in my case, Maher and Charles will be preaching to the choir up there, but when religion is the subject you can never tell.

-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com