Bill Maher takes on organized religion in Religulous

Hilarious Heresy

Political satirist Bill Maher crucifies religious dogma

Mainstream religion has taken a thumping recently, from Christopher Hitchens’ lacerating diatribe God Is Not Great to the excoriating attacks on Islam by disaffected Muslims such as Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Canada’s Irshad Manji. The latest addition to this unholy pile-on comes from political satirist Bill Maher, a TV talking head whose first film is the provocative and hilarious documentary Religulous. Opening with the contention that “religion is detrimental to the progress of society,” the outspoken Maher—think of him as a lippy Jon Stewart—proceeds to travel the world in search of true believers prepared to go on camera and discuss religious doctrine.

Maher may well believe in god but has no patience for the bureaucracy of religion as it is practised by fallible humans. Skeptical, informed and highly intelligent, he runs rings around his interviewees when they spout unconsidered dogma to justify their arguments (watching Maher, you’ll be reminded of the jibe about engaging in a battle of wits with an unarmed man). From a Truckers’ Chapel in North Carolina to a mosque in Jerusalem, from a “reformed” homosexual Christian who leads a ministry to “rescue” others from the gay lifestyle to the man who plays the role of Jesus in a religious theme park in Orlando, the crusading Maher readily uncovers intellectual shallows and logical absurdities.

The film administers a few slashes in passing on serious topics such as the Catholic Church’s coverup of pedophile priests and the homophobic Christian rednecks who march around waving “death to fags” placards. And when Religulous takes aim at easy targets such as Scientology and, especially, a couple of hypocritical televangelist charlatans, it isn’t as glib as you might expect: Maher skillfully trolls for easy laughs, but there is always a serious underpinning to the point he’s making. He’s done his research and employs effective juxtapositions: after visiting a little-known creationism museum, for example, we meet an urbane Vatican astronomer who reassures Maher that a lot of religious people aren’t science know-nothings.

Some of the footage is amazing, such as the interview with a semi-articulate Arkansas senator who readily admits to being a biblical literalist. When Maher asks him if it is appropriate for someone who believes in a talking snake and a 5,000-year-old Earth to be running the country, the man replies: “You don’t have to pass an IQ test to get into the Senate.” The kicker comes with the expression on the senator’s face when he realizes what he has just blurted out.

In an amusing parallel, we first see Maher and his camera crew getting booted out of the Vatican; later, as they are filming on the expansive lawn in front of the Mormon temple in Salt Lake City, three grim-faced men sporting suits and bad haircuts bear down upon them. “They look just like Mormons,” quips Maher seconds before the camera goes dark as, once again, they get the heave-ho. And fans of irony, rejoice: the film’s two most slippery and intellectually dishonest characters are a post-modern hip-hop Muslim and an ultra-Orthodox Jew.

Directed by Larry Charles (Borat), Religulous is very similar to the documentaries of Michael Moore, especially through the use of risible movie footage—in this case from old biblical epics, gladiator movies, and even Al Pacino in Scarface—to spoof the absurdity of what some people are saying. Although things get off to a slow start as Maher delves into his personal history to give a context to his current views, once he gets going it is vintage Maher: bare-knuckled satire that makes you laugh and think at the same time. And those who admire Maher’s unscripted jabs needn’t despair—even though the maestro of mockery sometimes holds back in order not to sour an interview and have it end prematurely, his real thoughts often appear onscreen as subtitles. Notwithstanding its serious intent, this may be the funniest movie of 2008.

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(Religulous opens Friday at the Odeon)