We’re really excited about this one. Someone has finally acquired US distribution rights to the Larry Charles/Bill Maher anti-Religion documentary. From what I understand footage from the film was shown at Cannes in an attempt to nab a buyer. The footage was said to be amazing, but most studios were afraid to make a move due to the controversial nature of the doc. Not much is known about the film. This is Charles first project since directing Borat. Maher promises that “this movie will make you laugh so hard you’ll pray for it to stop.” Lionsgate hopes to expand into 1,000 screens with this release which makes me wonder if it is expected to have that much mass appeal. The film has been hyped as “Borat” meets “Fahrenheit 9/11.”
When it was first announced, the documentary was described as “examining the presence of religion in many of the big news stories of recent years, from Muslim riots over cartoons to the Ten Commandments in front of courthouses, a born-again Christian in the White House and Scientology in the birthing room.” “Is religion an obsessive-compulsive disorder?” asks Charles, who bills his movie as “Bill Maher vs. the Anti-Christ (or is Bill Maher the Anti-Christ?)”
Maher is notoriously not a man of faith. Maher routinely refers to religion as a “neurological disorder.” But many people have incorrectly credited Maher as an Atheist.
July 13th, 2007 at 6:31 am
I understand how people can say that religion can produce the most intolerant kinds of people. The thing is though, I know a few religious people and they’re some of the nicest people I’ve known. I don’t think that to have a completely objective view of anti-religion is healthy. To classify anyone as religious as having “a neurological disorder” insults people such as Ghandi, Mother Teresa, and even Martin Luther King Jr. I’m all for exposing the negatives of religion, but you can’t say that anyone who has religious convictions has something wrong in their head.
July 13th, 2007 at 7:25 am
Nice. Finally a movie that insults me and just about everyone in my family and most of the people I know (not to mention the 95% of the planet who believes in some sort of deity) for going to church on Sundays!
Ok, Ok, I haven’t seen the movie yet obviously, but it’s “anti-religion.” What else do I really need to know? I’ve heard Maher insult me on a weekly basis with his bilge for a mouth on his TV show. Think I’ll skip this one.
July 13th, 2007 at 7:40 am
For what it’s worth, I generally have had the opposite experience with religious people. The most awesome, coolest, and nicest people I’ve known throughout my life, overall, were decidedly not religious, and many were atheist and/or agnostic. Conversely, while many of the people I’ve known who were believers were “nice” most of them weren’t exactly accepting of belief systems that didn’t match their own, and the more religious they were the more this held true, to the point of their being very close-minded and intolerant.
Calling Ghandi, Mother Teresa, and Martin Luther King Jr. “religious” too easily lumps them in with anyone of faith, and the implied suggestion is that all “religious” people are to be admired and followed, which is of course a dangerous and looney generalization. I would call these people “spiritual” before I would call them religious. Fervent religious adherents have developed a well-deserved reputation, in my opinion, for intolerance and close-mindedness, and each of these well known figures was anything but intolerant and close-minded.
I also strongly object to the all too common occurrence of equating religion with morality. They are not the same and one does not follow from the other. I am atheistic-agnostic but I’ll put my morals up against those of any religious person any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
Just my opinion, based on my own experiences.
July 13th, 2007 at 7:42 am
Andrew James wrote:
“Ok, Ok, I haven’t seen the movie yet obviously, but it’s “anti-religion.†What else
do I really need to know?”
Obviously nothing. Good luck to you with the rest of your life with that attitude.
July 13th, 2007 at 8:06 am
What attitude? I’ve seen Bill Maher enough times to know exactly what his opinions are on people I’ve lived with my whole life. I’m not particularly religious or spriritual at all, but because my grandma believes in God and I bring her to church on Sunday we’re both delusional and insane according to him. That’s an insulting viewpoint to most of the country and the world.
July 13th, 2007 at 11:16 am
Bill Maher is a freaking jerk and I thought so even before reading this post.
Vic
July 13th, 2007 at 12:01 pm
I wasn’t using Ghandi and the rest as a reason to respect all religious people. I was simply saying that we can’t use the same brush to paint all who are religious.In the same way you can’t use the same brush to paint people of ethnicity and race as all the same. Both in a positive context as well as a negative. So I do agree with you in that we can’t view all religious people as good, but we can’t view all as bad also.
July 13th, 2007 at 12:13 pm
Let’s crucify him!
July 13th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
Guys guys guys1 this is not a movie anti religious people, it’s anti religion. there’s a big big difference. believeing in something on a personal level is one thing, the people who head churches and instigate divisive movements is something completely different.
July 13th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
and if you’re moderate in your views and don’t push your way of life as the “only” way, like extreme muslims and christians, than you should see the film..if you are extreme in your views, then this movie is the least of your worries! HAHAHA
July 13th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
Big Noober, I think you’re right, but it goes both ways. People who try to push their religin on others might be viewed as extreme. But don’t you think telling the world that “religion is bad” is just as extreme… not to mention kind of stupid. Though you never hear about it, religion does FAR more good in the world (well, at least in N. America) than it does bad.
Why not just let people believe what they want? Why push stuff on them or criticize and make fun of them for believeing that they’ll go to heaven when they die?
Personally, I’d rather have a bible salesman come to my door than someone like Maher. Both are annoying, but at least one is pushing something positive while the other is just there to put people down to prop himself up.
July 13th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
Hey Drewbacca..agreed, religion does a lot of good, no doubt man. unfortunately, most of the people that are out on the streets doing good are not the people speaking the loudest, meaning they’re not representing their religions in the news etc..which means, in my opinion, the leaders that do have the spotlight, and are pushy, push their agenda into focus without focusing on the good that religion does, which is very detrimental to 1. religions roll in society and 2. the fine reputation of people of belief
if i’m right here..and this is simply an assumption, that this movie is going to focus on the loaded agendas of the leaders of religious movements rather than the people..meaning it will hopefully shine a light on the differences of every day believers and those speaking for them.
heh..i don’t want salesmen or bill at my doorstep..i wouldn’t mind a pizza man though
July 13th, 2007 at 11:41 pm
This is what I’ve been waiting for!!
I’ve had religion shoved in my face during childhood and had to tolerate so much “fiction” called Christianity and worse yet some commutes to work I’ve had hardcore preaching so loud it goes makes it’s way through my noise cancelling headphones.
I say let’s knock some sense into these hardcore religious folks by the way of heavily marketing anti-religious documentaries!! Science provides medical breakthroughs, we better humanity and ourselves by correcting each other mistakes and in general move humanity forward!
But honestly why can’t people accept the possibility that christianity, islam, etc ***could*** be built on a lie…. what’s the difference of some guys who made up a story hundreds of years ago be any different to Ron Hubbard making up a story to create Scientology 20 years ago?
Sorry for going all Richarrd Dawkins on you all but thrashing Maher who speaks with “FACTS” lined with humor to get his point across deserves some respect!
July 14th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
Religion blows. Spirituality is not a positive character trait. Because someone has faith in some anitquated superstition, that means they’re inherently a good person? Puhleeez.
Religion is silly. People spouting off about jesus, allah or whatever should be embarassed.
People need to point out how silly religion MORE often. I can tolerate religion, believe in whatever sky god or gods you want to, Just don’t expect me to take it seriously or not giggle when you talk about it.
I believe in being good to my fellow humans because that’s how I want to be treated. No eternal paradise or torture awaits anyone. That people expect either is absurd and pathetic.
July 14th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
the only thing sillier than religion is the people trying to get rid of it.
another pseudomentary (produced by homosexual godless secular jews) steering the public to pasively follow their plan to slowly eradicate christianity and islam from society. didnt the jews already try this with tom hanks and james cameron?
fucking zionist idiots and their propagandist movies/tvshows/blogs..
.. christianity and islam are here to stay forever
and theres nothing you bergs can do about it.
July 14th, 2007 at 3:15 pm
rosenbloom…you’re a biggot. should people associate religion with hatefulness? if we listened to you as a religious representative, you’d clearly make us believe that your religion, whatever it is, is based on being a biggot.
Steve C…most unhelpful as well..it’s a waste of time to attack people of faith…some of our most brilliant minds have faith, so keep the discussion positive, or you’re simply another extreme faction.
July 14th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
well said Noober.
I AM NOT a particularly religious person. But I decided long ago that there must be something in the afterlife or a god of some sort. If you believe that when you die you die and there is nothing afterwards, life is pretty pointless isn’t it?
Nothing makes any difference in this life if there is nothing afterward. So I feel sorry for those that go through life and just skoff and make fun of others because they “know” their life has no point anyway.
Stece_C wrote:
“I believe in being good to my fellow humans because that’s how I want to be treated.” - - yet you just said you laugh and make fun of people who feel better about themselves and the world in general by believing in God. Hmmmm.
July 15th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Andrew James wrote:
“I AM NOT a particularly religious person. But I decided long ago that there must be something in the afterlife or a god of some sort.”
Based on what? A gut feeling? Evidence?
I am not saying there is no higher power / force / deity. Proving something doesn’t exist is a logical impossibility; therefore, the burden of proof is on those who say it exists. Insisting there is a god is no different than insisting there is a bigfoot / yeti / loch ness monster / unicorn in the wild. Lots of people believe. No evidence to support it. I’m not opposed to accepting the idea that a “god†or some higher intelligence exists and it created everything we see in the universe. When the Pope or whoever comes forward with proof of a god’s existence that can be tested and verified to be true using the scientific method, I’ll be glad look at it. I’m still waiting. I believe that is the only rational response to anyone making fantastical claims without offering credible evidence.
Personally, I believe the existence of a single deity is unknowable and unprovable and that a single deity creation story is very unlikely to be the case. I do accept the *possibility* that a greater force of some kind exists. But religions — all of the arguing over a singular “God” in man’s image with a “special list of ten things he does not want you to do” [(c) George Carlin] — *is* pathetic, especially when wars are continually fought over it. At this point in time here is the best-case scenario for the religious: your god or some form of it exists but all evidence to date suggests your god is *at best* missing in action and does not care one whit what we’re doing down here. The very fact that human beings can and do commit atrocities on a daily basis towards one another and towards the planet we share, and have done so for all of recorded history, means your god is batting .000 when it comes to walking the walk. He sure talks a good game though doesn’t he? Oh wait, those words are in books written by men, edited heavily throughout history to suit their whims, and used daily to try to scare the masses into behaving the way they want them to behave to ensure their own place at the top of the power structure in society. I am not impressed.
It seems reasonable to me that if an all powerful god gave you a brain and a capacity for logic, reason, and questioning, that he / she / it would expect you to use it to the betterment of yourself and to your existence, or at the very least to your continued survival against external threats, and he / she / it would not expect you to use it to pray every day that he / she / it do something for you. People from all walks of life across the globe conduct billions of prayers every day, and still there is no record of a single prayer answered that can be proven to be from an all-powerful god of any kind. Do peoples’ “prayers†sometimes come true? Sure. But that is not proof of divine intervention; it is statistics and probability. The bell curve: brought to you by science and human observation.
I would think that if the christian god or the muslin god existed it would have certainly by now made its existence known beyond a shadow of a doubt. Given all its vanity, past grandstanding in the form of (reportedly) unnatural disasters, and strict rules laid down for humanity I find it extremely curious “god†doesn’t weigh in a lot more often (read: at all). The holy texts from these two belief systems are adamant that their gods are loving and just but yet have strict rules for the conduct of their believers, with very harsh punishments for non-compliance. If these rules are broken on a daily basis, and they are, I would think it far more reasonable to assume that the ruling god would put its figurative foot down to get people to behave, if it cared to. Hasn’t happened yet. Noah’s flood? The parting of the Red Sea? The seven plagues? Sodom and Gomorrah? ? All can be and have been explained by our modern understanding of science. Watch the History Channel sometime.
If your god is a loving god, why the need for threats? Why the vanity? That is to say, if you are an all powerful god why is it so important to you that these tiny little flawed creatures on one small planet in one *very* remote corner of the universe continually validate your existence and your split personality approach to cosmic-scale judgment by believing ancient stories in a book written and edited for you by men? I’m not supposed to question these huge gaping holes of flawed logic and reasoning? I’m *not* supposed to ridicule people for pushing this horseshit onto everyone else without a leg to stand on?
You can hate on me all you like, but I submit that superstitious religious beliefs are *damaging* to society and to humankind as a whole. Arguing that religion does a lot of good in the world, such as Drewbacca suggested, is a flawed observation at best and flat out wrong in reality. *Good people* do a lot of good in the world. Good morals and strong character come from within, and there is no evidence to suggest it comes from a god or even from having belief in a god. You can attribute your morals to any external entity or event you like; it doesn’t make it true that it came from a higher power, only that you were influenced by outside events and ideas as practiced by other people. There is no reason to believe good morals and strong character come from a deity until we have testable, verifiable evidence that it does. As I’ve said before, I’m open to the idea. I am *not* open to those who try to force their ideas onto me or others, especially without proof to back it up. As I’ve said before, I’m atheistic-agnostic and I’ll put my morals up against those of any religious person any day of the week and twice on Sunday. I base my morals on logic, reason, my own sense of fairness, and a desire to become the best person I can be, not from whatever political agenda is currently being pushed by a church leader with pews to fill.
I don’t believe “religion is bad.†I believe bad people are bad and that religion or any other idea based on a belief easily can be distorted into some pretty fucked up rationalizations and used to justify some pretty abhorrent policies towards others. I believe this is the essence of what Bill Maher is saying, and I say this after having been a fan of his for years now and finding myself agreeing with better than 90% of what he says. When Bill Maher says religion is childish, he is not insulting your grandmother who goes to church every Sunday, Drewbacca – how can you take it personally when he doesn’t know you or your grandmother? He is criticizing the middleman: the religion itself and especially its leaders who claim to speak for “God†and expect their followers to accept their doctrine without question. I think he is right on the money, until evidence comes along to suggest otherwise.
The rational response is not to believe the fantastical until evidence showing otherwise is presented and it is examined, tested, and verified. Humankind has developed the scientific method to propose a hypothesis and to confirm its validity before trusting it to become the basis for future endeavors. This is how progress is made, and it is how we increase our understanding of the universe. Religion demands that people have unshakeable faith in what the religious leaders are pushing despite any new information that becomes available. I agree 100% with Steve C: “believe in whatever sky god or gods you want to, Just don’t expect me to take it seriously or not giggle when you talk about it.”
Big noober wrote:
“Steve C…most unhelpful as well..it’s a waste of time to attack people of faith…some of our most brilliant minds have faith, so keep the discussion positive, or you’re simply another extreme faction.”
That is a valid point except that most people of faith, brilliant minds or not, far too often irrationally cling to their faith at all costs and refuse to examine or to even question the sources and validity of their assumptions. That is no way to become a better person. That is no way to become a better christian or muslim either.
And every time I see a non-believer ask for proof the knee jerk reaction from the believers (not Big noober specifically; I’m just addressing his choice of words) is that their belief is being “attacked.†Attacked, questioned… choose whichever word best suits your purposes, but what is really happening is that the believer expounds on his or her belief and asks others to believe it, and the non-believer asks for evidence/proof. If by asking for evidence/proof of your claims you feel you feel you are being “attacked,†I’m sorry, no, you have emotional issues you need to address. But my response is still the same: pony up your evidence or stop trying to push these very old ideas on me. Coincidentally, the scientific community has the same approach to fantastical claims in their own fields of inquiry such as perpetual motion machines, creation of energy, matter traveling faster than speed of light in a vacuum, etc. They demand evidence that can be examined and tested for validity, as they should. Religions deserve no special exemption from these expectations.
There will likely always be extreme factions on both sides of the god / no god debate and a majority of aloof people in the center than may lean one way or the other but don’t really care much either way. But some of us are tired of being mercilessly persecuted by an irrational majority of fervent religious believers that has continual fits that they can’t force every last one of us to accept their childish, unproven salvation story. Some of us don’t buy it, *at all*. No, I’m not going to go away. Don’t like what I have to say about your fantastical beliefs? Then stop trying to convert me and everyone else to something for which you can provide no credible evidence. If you *really* had faith in that bible you wave around, you wouldn’t feel the need to try to convert anyone. You’d do as Jesus reportedly did: spread your philosophy by saying “here’s what I think” and by being a good person. There are *far* too many devout religious people trying to push their beliefs onto everyone else by changing societies’ laws to suit their own worldviews, and this is happening worldwide. Christians and muslims are the biggest offenders, probably because at this point in history they are the two biggest competing religious belief systems by far. Maybe two thousand years from now the Scientologists or the Flying Spaghetti Monster adherents will be the dominant belief structures and their tyrannies towards the minorities will be no different.
Andrew James wrote:
“If you believe that when you die you die and there is nothing afterwards, life is pretty pointless isn’t it?”
Logically that makes no sense. If you believe there is no afterlife it is more logical to conclude that your life is even more precious and that it’s even more important to live every day with meaning and purpose and to try to become a better person every day, because your time on earth is all you have. I submit that it is the religious believers we have to be worried about. I don’t read about atheists or agnostics in the newspaper everyday blowing themselves up for a god’s approval and a prize of 72 virgins in heaven. No, extremist muslims do that. Those people are crazy and don’t value life at all; they are 100% committed to the idea that their earthly existence is to serve their god and to die if necessary to promote their god’s agenda. The rest of the muslim community is complicit in the muslim extremists’ actions if they don’t get out their bullhorns and soapboxes right now and shout down the crazies among them. In my opinion, there is nowhere near enough outrage in the muslim community over how their supposedly peaceful religion has been co-opted by dangerous fanatics. I can safely say the same for the christian community while we’re at it.
The only difference, in my opinion, between extremist muslims and extremist christians is that the extremist christians don’t kill themselves to advance their cause. That’s probably a smart strategy if your goal is to increase your numbers and your power and influence in the world. I’m very sure that’s why the catholic church bans birth control for their members and encourages them to breed like rabbits. (My personal experience: every catholic family I knew growing up – and there were a lot of them in my town — had at least five kids, and many had more than five. I see similar numbers today in families of coworkers.) It’s too bad overpopulation is now causing a pollution and natural resource problem but they don’t give a shit – after all this is a battle for the souls of humanity we’re talking about. Stem cells? Same thing – it’s about power and control and their previous out-dated policies have boxed them into a corner and they can’t afford to look like complete hypocrites. Despite the fact that stem cells by themselves will never result in human life they maintain a hard-line policy banning their usage on “moral grounds,†ignoring the very real evidence that suggests stem cells could go a long way towards reducing humanity’s suffering from various diseases. And these are the people from whom I am supposed to take my moral guidance? Are you kidding me?
Personally, I find many churches’ policies to be politically motivated in nature and morally repugnant in practice, and I’m going to say so to anyone who is willing to listen. Big noober would have me go to the moderate center of the discussion so I don’t hurt anybody’s feelings. Fuck that. That is exactly how extremists gain power in the first place, by getting their nemeses to “shut up,” as Bill O’Reilly would say. As an atheist-agnostic who believes we should always be skeptical and always examine new evidence, I am in the minority in the world at this present time. Defending myself is not adding to the problem, it is reacting to the tyrannical majority in a rational and intelligent way. When the approximately 90% of humanity that claims they believe in “god†backs off and stops trying to indoctrinate me and my loved ones without anything to back it up, I’ll move on to something more constructive. Gladly. Believe me, it pisses me off that I have to defend myself on a daily basis. Last month I got screamed at by an old man in a suit downtown, literally standing on a soapbox waving a bible in my face, telling me and everyone else within earshot that we’re going to hell if we don’t accept Jesus. My initial gut reaction is that he should be taken down with a tranquilizer dart and put in a padded cell until he can interact with others without verbally assaulting them. But I like the idea of free speech so I tolerate his soapbox rant as long as he is not hurting anybody. But *don’t* expect me not to tear his arguments to shreds when he doesn’t have a lick of proof to back up what he’s pushing. If he were selling sugar pills as a guaranteed weight loss solution people would demand that he be stopped from defrauding people. Somehow the mythical “god†story gets a free pass.
Drewbacca wrote:
“Personally, I’d rather have a bible salesman come to my door than someone like Maher. Both are annoying, but at least one is pushing something positive while the other is just there to put people down to prop himself up.â€
My door is open for Maher. See above about the raving religious lunatic, who by the way was there to put people down to prop himself up.
Andrew James wrote:
“Nothing makes any difference in this life if there is nothing afterward. So I feel sorry for those that go through life and just skoff and make fun of others because they “know†their life has no point anyway.â€
I feel sorry for those who devote a lifetime of time and energy to obtain an imaginary god’s approval out of fear of retribution and desire for materialistic wealth in “heaven.†You tell me: which behavior makes more sense?
Here’s a sad comeback I hear regularly from fervent believers: “You don’t believe in God? You better be right!†Wow, that’s the best they can do, try to scare me into hedging my bets? Even they don’t really believe what they’re saying; they’re just looking for validation. Sounds like something a six-year-old would say. Yes, these people are childish.
We’re not accomplishing anything with this argument with respect to each other. Absent some external event that brings credible evidence of “god†you will likely never convert to my way of thinking and I will likely never convert to yours. But don’t expect me to sit silently while you trash my position and inflict fear, uncertainty, and doubt on my loved ones who may have not given these issues much thought. At least my position is based on logic and reason and not on some book of fables written by dozens of human beings over many decades, translated (badly) through several languages, and edited by the winners of wars to suit their need to exert behavioral control over their subjects.
To those who have responded so far with whom I am clashing: I suspect many aspects of our beliefs have more in common than not. The “devil,†as they say, is in the details.
To those fervent believers who shout down those of us who don’t share your beliefs: You don’t want to hear from non-believers? Fine. I’ll back off when you do. Remember, you’re in the majority here when it comes to belief structures. That means you have the responsibility to practice what you preach, including tolerance, compassion, and forgiveness that your bible tells you to propagate. When the minorities are attacked they defend themselves. What — this surprises you?…
July 16th, 2007 at 10:50 am
Bill Maher for president!!! Ha! Bill Maher spits nothing but %100 truth. Sit down and talk to someone who truely believes in a god (espesially a christian) about life and existance.
July 16th, 2007 at 10:54 am
Bill Maher for president!!! Ha! Bill Maher spits nothing but %100 truth. Sit down and talk to someone who truely believes in a god (espesially a christian) about life and existance. THEY ARE CRAZY!! Are you gonna tell me theres some sort of diety or spirit or big white guy in a robe governing existance? Finally people are starting to wake up and think for themselves. Not letting the church do it for them.
If you don’t like what I said, fogive me! lol
July 16th, 2007 at 10:56 am
Sorry bout the double post. I put my head down to pray and accidently hit return.
July 16th, 2007 at 11:01 am
Chris, you seem to have a lot of time on your hands. Thanks for twisting my words into “I insist” there is a God and that I need “god’s approval out of fear of retribution and desire for materialistic wealth in heaven.â€
Not at all what I said. But you wrote nicely and gave your opinion clearly.
Good job.
July 18th, 2007 at 5:59 pm
Drewbacca wrote:
“Chris, you seem to have a lot of time on your hands.”
I make time for things that matter to me, including engaging in discussions such as this. In my opinion, religious leaders and (some of) their dedicated followers, for better or for worse, are driving policy on many issues in the world today and are disproportionately dominating religious-themed discussion in virtually all mainstream media — TV, talk radio, newspapers, magazines, books, and now internet forums – and are effectively relegating opposing viewpoints to tiny backwaters where the masses will never hear from them. I don’t like the direction in which we are collectively headed, so I make time to articulate my admittedly less than mainstream views when these discussions come up on web sites that I frequent.
I’m sorry if the true believers feel the need to shit on atheists for questioning their belief in “God†and see such questioning as hateful or condescending, but it’s a reasonable question, one I intend to keep asking. I’m tired of tip-toeing around irrational people who think I’m a crazy heathen to be pitied because I don’t go to church and do what the pastor tells me to do (including give money to the church, on which they pay zero taxes that benefit society as a whole but do pay $660 million dollar settlements for sex-abuse cases: http://tinyurl.com/yrx3ed. I’m glad all your tithing is going to such worthy people, folks.)
Drewbacca wrote:
“Thanks for twisting my words into “I insist†there is a God and that I need “god’s approval out of fear of retribution and desire for materialistic wealth in heaven.†Not at all what I said.”
I don’t believe I did at all. Why would I when you identified yourself as “not particularly religious or spiritual at all?†I addressed specific points made by several posters on this thread, including a few from you, but much of the time I was speaking in general. I apologize if you thought I was lumping you in with the true believers with whom I take issue. That was not my intention. It *is* my intention to respond to those who say I shouldn’t call religious people on their beliefs that are based on no evidence, as if their beliefs were beyond reproach.
Drewbacca wrote:
“But you wrote nicely and gave your opinion clearly. Good job.”
Thanks. That’s all I was trying to do. All I ask is that people think about their beliefs and continue to question their sources and validity in light of new ideas and new discoveries. That isn’t an affront to “God.†It’s quite possibly our entire purpose for existing in the first place.
Or maybe not:
“If plastic is not degradable, well, the planet will simply incorporate plastic into a new paradigm: the earth plus plastic. The earth doesn’t share our prejudice towards plastic. Plastic came out of the earth. The earth probably sees plastic as just another one of its children. Could be the only reason the earth allowed us to be spawned from it in the first place. It wanted plastic for itself. Didn’t know how to make it. Needed us. Could be the answer to our age-old egocentric philosophical question, ‘Why are we here?’ Plastic… asshole.”
– George Carlin, “The Planet is Fineâ€
March 24th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
hey guys i’ve been reading some of the anti-maher comments and i have to say, i honestly do not understand how any rational person could disagree with what maher says about religion. and by the way he isnt doing this for self promotion(well atleast not anymore than anybody pushing something they believe in does) but he is doing this because he feels religion is entirely destructive to the human race, just as i do. There is nothing good about basing your life on a 2000 year old science fiction book that advocates murder, bigotry, slavery, genocide…the list goes on. Anyways, if you believe in a talking snake, that a man lived in a whale, that people lived to be 900 years old, that a guy split the red sea, and that a guy named jesus died for your sins, flew up to heaven, and was resurrected from the dead 2 days later then i hate to tell you but you believe in fairy tales. jesus and santa clause are the same thing. grow up.
August 24th, 2008 at 10:06 am
would some kindly tell me the title of the movie? I can’t believe a documentary about religion has taken so long to come out. Right-wing Christianity is poison! It’s unanimous, single-minded, fools that follow it are nothing more than annoying horse flies. Contemporary tighty-righties are obsesed with the intimate lives of others, like gay people. It’s their unity in spirit. If gay marriage were legal, they wouldn’t have the power to control. They’re terrified to lose this unity in a spirit of hate, and some of them are so blissfully ignorant, they don’t know what they’re doing. Right-wing Christianity is a cult that must be shamed, and stopped. It’s no different than the KKK, who is also a Christian organization. Right-wing Kristians are lunatics!