I am always amazed at how willing Bill Maher is to put himself out there, as he did in his recent documentary about the state of world religion named Religulous. The first thought I had after watching the film was that it was strange that Bill decided only to discuss Western religions. Buddhism, Hinduism and all of the other top ten world religions weren’t mentioned at all. For a movie that’s all about getting perspective, leaving out seven of the top ten world religions seems, well, irresponsible.
That said, Bill did a great job of pointing out the obvious flaws in Western religions. He discussed the lack of secular evidence for the existence of Jesus Christ and pointed out some obvious contradictions in the Bible, such as the four different versions of the birth of Jesus. He states throughout the movie that he takes the position of “not knowing,” but Maher’s tone quite often makes it very clear that while he may not have an answer, he is sure that the other person is wrong and silly for believing in something that he doesn’t. This has the effect of upsetting people without gaining anything.
Perhaps a more nuanced approach would be more effective. I have found that it’s almost impossible to convince someone with faith that their beliefs are founded in fiction. They have to come to that conclusion themselves, and all you can do is support their learning process. Faith isn’t inherently evil, but in the context of religions belief I think it does more harm than good.
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