In Canada we always balance our fascism with our polite open-mindedness..lol Atheists also have rights to show our view of society which includes religion....

Booo Whooooo, it's a darn movie. Go do something better with your time than protest a god darn movie.


It doesn't make sense how people can be so dumb, probably because they believe in god, LOL

lulz...

I thought you handled that interview quite well Peter, I didn't hear or see any aggression at all. In fact I think if more journalists handled their interviews this way, be it with someone of fame or not, they'd be more likely to elicit these kinds of positive, productive responses. And thank goodness for canadians, the only people on earth capable of peaceful protest (i think we can thank the canadian brew makers for that... and the fact that they have hockey to take their religulous aggression out on).

Aren't the protesters kind of making Bill's point? Personally I'm looking forward to seeing this one, and undoubtedly having to search for it here in the heart of the bible belt.

People are retarded.....When Dogma was coming to our small town. The catholics protested it coming and tried to stop it from even showing. thank goodness the theature owner didn't give a shit!

The problem is not with people being atheists or believing in a god. The problem is that Bill Maher is MORE than an atheist: he hates religion and despises those who are religious.

That's much different than being an atheist.

If he wants people to respect his beliefs, he should respect the beliefs of others. That's the whole basis of our country.

he never once says he hates religion, he just doubts it and asks people to justify it. He doesnt despise those who are religious he just questions their values and uses facts and evidence to support his arguments which many religious people of many religions struggle to do.

"If he wants people to respect his beliefs, he should respect the beliefs of others. ."

i find it incredible that you wrote this as you are basically stating that you dont respect his beliefs.

Your an unbelievable idiot!!

@ All relgious people

This film is presenting a well reasoned, albiet humorous, argument towards your ideals and belief systems. So if you don't have the balls to argue back and just stand there like a bunch of brain-washed pions chanting "Pray for Bill" then you're only proving his point. If he's wrong... prove it. If you can't... then maybe you should rethink your belief system. That is, if you have the cahones to do that.

@ J.D.

Basis of our country?

Human Rights is the basis of our country. If you're suggesting that only religous people, or more specifically christians, fought for those rights in 1776 and participated in creating our country... then you sir are a fucking moron.

i thought the "interview" was handled quite well. you asked good questions and actually allowed the guy to respond.

though the protesters are not as witty or famous as Maher, they're much kinder. what Maher doesn't seem to realize is that a person will not listen to you if you mock them to their face. there is a great case for a principled, civil pluralism, one that the protesters seem to have embraced, but Maher's fundamentalist reaction (on display in just about every comment he makes about organized religion) is not going to get us anywhere. he's free to say what he would like, just as the protesters are, but in the end his movie will be about as effective as their "pray for bill" chant. he will get his already established audience (who apparently have not realized that the Enlightenment got us almost nowhere in terms of solving global issues) to agree with him hook line and sinker (wihtout even thinking about it, sort of like religious fundamentlaists) but he will cause nearly all religious people to plug there ears to some of the important things he is saying. the first step in avoiding the next apocalypse is sitting down with someone that disagrees with you and telling them that you respect them and would like to hear what they think. i'm afraid that making money on the jokes you tell at their expense is not going to push the conversation forward. this should be a funny film, but will fall short of making any meaningful contribution in the long run.

Yes he hates religion, something that isn't a person so that shouldn't be a big deal. He does not hate people that are religious, he is just sick and tired of religious freakos getting into positions of power and running our country as if everybody believes in it. It is absolutely no different that if a hindu were to win the presidency, and then make laws based on hinduism, christians would be pretty annoyed and say that they shouldn't have this going on because they are christian, they shouldn't have SOMEONE ELSE'S BELIEFS IMPOSED UPON THEM. Religion is preventing progress in this country, and that's all there is to it and yes I hate religion and think the people that believe in it are absolutely dumb as hell.

Bill Mahr is a tired old joke. I am so sick of hearing about him. He isn't funny and someone please show me a time when he was.

Bill's movie is ultimately a plea for us to turn away from religion
because it imposes its morality upon people, forcing them
to think according to its principles instead of their own. He has
other peripheral reasons, but this is the core.

He does this by telling us we shouldn't accept religion.

This is a good example of a "self-destructing argument".
By saying we "shouldn't" do something, he's imposing
his morality upon us by telling us what we should or
shouldn't do. This is very thing he's warning us to avoid
in religion.

he's not telling people what they should or shouldn't do, he's wants people to examine their beliefs and not just accept crazy things because a book says to. imagine if scientology was written 2000 years ago by people that followed hubbard around. the fact that it was written not very long ago with the clear intention of making money, yet people follow it, is more so point.

J.D.

While I do see what you mean. America was founded by White Europeans coming here to escape religious prosecution and then in turn used it as a tool of hate and agression towards the original people here in the first place.

I think as a whole modern America is allowed to speak it's mind whether you agree with it or not. Though, I am with the crowd saying not to watch or pay for the film. Not due to material presented in this mockumentary, but because I think Maher is one dimensional.


I'm a Rollins man myself.

BA,

That's a very interesting view on his message and I can see that.

*highfives Criminal*

I agree with you Peter, even though I don't agree with what they're trying to portray, I can accept that their protesting has good intentions from their point of view. But yeah, what's the deal of protesting when all it does is give the advertisers of a movie another bullet point when marketing for the film.

"Bill Maher's RELIGULOUS, the CONTROVERSIAL new film blah blah blah..."

@ "class of criminal"

Your apoplectic, uninformed response is what's troubling. Why do you feel so threatened by freedom of religion?

One of the main things that led to the creation of this country was religious freedom. You can be a Christian, a Mormon, an agnostic, a Muslim, a Protestant, a Jew, an atheist, etc., etc.

There is NO OTHER PLACE ON THE PLANET that has allowed for such freedom of belief. There is no other country that protect such freedom so vigorously. Do you realize that there isn't even a First Amendment right to basic free speech even in France?!

I don't care what you or Bill believe in.

The problem is that both of you seem to REALLY CARE about about what others believe in.

Mocking others' beliefs smacks of intolerance and downright hate. But hey, this movie is free speech. Go ahead and mock people. But don't get uppity when people find you to be bigoted, offensive, and intolerant of religious freedom.

And for the record, I don't even consider myself religious.

@J.D.
"The problem is that both of you seem to REALLY CARE about about what others believe in."
If someone is ignorant about something, or their belief is nonfactual, I want to correct them.
It's hard to be tolerant of things that make people intolerant.

BA Said:

"he’s imposing his morality upon us by telling us what we should or
shouldn’t do."

Really? I'm a fan of Mahr and I don't actually recall him telling me I "shouldn't" do something. And I don't believe Mahr is remotely interested in propagating his own world view ( IE. become a Atheist, it's "better").

His gig is exposing intellectual laziness.

He does it well.

JD Said

"The problem is that both of you seem to REALLY CARE about about what others believe in."

Yep. I care. When representatives of my government fail to represent me due to their religious beliefs I care. When major policies are partly (or totally) informed by a politicians belief in child-like fantasies I care.

Sam Harris sums it up nicely

"Forty-four percent of the American population is convinced that Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead sometime in the next fifty years. According to the most common interpretation of biblical prophecy, Jesus will return only after things have gone horribly awry here on earth.

It is, therefore, not an exaggeration to say that if the city of New York were suddenly replaced by a ball of fire, some significant percentage of the American population would see a silver lining in the subsequent mushroom cloud, as it would suggest to them that the best thing that is ever going to happen was about to happen—the return of Christ.

It should be blindingly obvious that beliefs of this sort will do little to help us create a durable future for ourselves—socially, economically, environmentally, or geopolitically.

Imagine the consequences if any significant component of the U.S. government actually believed that the world was about to end and that its ending would be glorious. The fact that nearly half of the American population apparently believes this, purely on the basis of religious dogma, should be considered a moral and intellectual emergency."

Protesting has never solved anything. In fact, it's free publicity!

this was a good post peter. your guerilla DIY journalism puts you right in the line of fire.

Protesting was stupid, it just brought more attention...I'm all about free speech...so...screw the idiots who made this film and yay God!

Good interview Peter

If you DON'T have freedom of religion, you have a government telling you what religion to believe.

Look what just happened in France today (a place with no 'freedom of religion' clause in their founding documents):

"Scientologists charged with fraud in France"
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL8...

I'm no scientologist, but if someone wants to believe that aliens put us here, so be it. Tell them they're wrong. That's fine.

But once you get to the point where you're trying to BAN or regulate religion -- which I believe is Maher's ultimate desire -- then you get to the point where the government is telling you what to believe.

Regardless of your beliefs (atheist/Muslim/whatever), that's bad for us all. Do you want a gov't that says: "Christianity: Good; Judaism: Bad" etc., etc.?

I would hope not. But that's the direction Bill's taking us whether he understands that or not.

@ my fellow Christians:

"Love your neighbor as yourself."
"Shake the dust off your feet."
"Be humble and gentle."
"Live at peace with all men, so long as it depends on you."

Your doin it wrong.

@ ifthenwhy

Maher takes the stand that religion shouldn't impose
its morality on others. He's made this clear 1,000
times over implicitly and explicitly.

Difference between a cult and religion? About 100 years.

Legendary Irish sit-com Father Ted says it best when it come to the intersection between cinema and faith.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Mmge8nfsyg

very, very slightly NSFW language.

Anybody actually try and research the organization making the protest?

"The Canadian Coalition for Organized Religion" yields no results on google. There are plenty of other Canadian Coalitions which would give Bill cover; suggesting this is one organization out of many.

However, isn't it convenient that the protesters started chanting during Bill's interview process and the protester during Peter's interview gave a less than enthusiastic "pray for Bill" chant interrupting his own answer, as if he was so impassioned he had to shout it out in the middle of the interview?

My first impressions are that this is a fictional organization designed to shore up interest and "controversy" over Mahr's film, to get press and to get attention.

hahaha i love reading this

i agree with some many of you

escpecially box532, religion is just a cult... people believed jim jones and charles manson were god, so i believe jesus is no different than charles manson:) just a good persuasive speaker

BA says:

"Maher takes the stand that religion shouldn’t impose
its morality on others. He’s made this clear 1,000
times over implicitly and explicitly."

So what? And? This quote doesn't support your previous argument that Maher has a "Moral" agenda.

"But once you get to the point where you’re trying to BAN or regulate religion — which I believe is Maher’s ultimate desire"

So you say. Has anyone seen Maher campaigning to "ban" religion?
Yes he makes fun of many religions, their dogma etc, but ban them? That's news to me.

Or perhaps you need to define the word "ban".

If we are talking about the separation of church and state I'm fairly sure Maher would be for maintaining and even increasing the limits of said separation.

You weren't really aggressive at all, props on the interview. It was a productive interview, and I actually respect those people. They have a valid point. They feel like they're being made fun of, and that's all they want to get across - fair enough. In all honesty I feel they're being more respectful and tolerant than Bill Maher is. Ironic, isn't it?

That said, GOD DAMN, I wish I could see this movie! Is it really not going to get any kind of wide release? I don't agree with everything Bill Maher says but I agree with a lot of it. He's great.

I think that everyone is entitled to say what ever comes to their mind, but you fuk**** Americans are fuk*** crazy...

You even bother to protest against one documentary??????

Your freedom as you call it, intents to say that your country is better than any other, the others don't mean xi***

You should all die, you are the breed of worst people of Europe, you run to there to do the same thing to the people that really owns that country.

You all should be ashamed of yourselves, go to mars and die there.

Bin, where are you when we most need you?

"Join me in the final battle between intelligence and stupidity that will decide the future of humanity. Coming soon to a house of false idols near you.

–Bill Maher"

I subscribe to that Bill.

"There is NO OTHER PLACE ON THE PLANET that has allowed for such freedom of belief. There is no other country that protect such freedom so vigorously. Do you realize that there isn’t even a First Amendment right to basic free speech even in France?!"

Again, ignorance...

Just, you, you, you, you, and then again you, and more you.

You are not the only people in the world man, you are not the only country in the world, just read a litle bit about history, not just of your country, but of the world, you opress the people, you blackmail other countrys.

And i am evan more stupid, by spending my time saying this to you.

Dont you now that many other countrys are agains America?

But thay cant do nothing becouse thay are too small!!!!!!

Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ members found themselves short about 420 children when the US Government decided that Freedom of Religion did not necessarily include the right to underage multiple marriage. Their prophet already in the lock-up, the FLDS church is not sure how much longer they will be able to re-enact Little House on the Prairie episodes.

"The problem is not with people being atheists or believing in a god. The problem is that Bill Maher is MORE than an atheist: he hates religion and despises those who are religious.

That’s much different than being an atheist.

If he wants people to respect his beliefs, he should respect the beliefs of others. That’s the whole basis of our country." Post by JD.

Why would I respect imaginary things? I respect the my next door neighbor more than Jesus because he does community service. More than Jesus has ever done in our era.

You'd be better off rewording that. Reword it to something like, "we respect you guys, and so you should respect us." When you attribute the word "belief" with atheism, it's like attributing a hair style with bald. It makes no sense and when you complain in that fashion, it just make you look like you don't have an argument so you're call foul play, but also, you can't really call foul play on this type of an issue. It's a debate.

I believe that the Christians interviewed in the movie will speak for themselves. That's the point of any documentary. Isn't it? When a true passionate believer can't tell you the difference between Anti-Christ and the devil or answer respectively similar questions??? Needless to say more...

Ignorance is bliss...

LOL

I am looking forward to this movie. It's about time that religion was scrutinized just like everything else. Put the 1000 watt bulb on it and see how it stands up. Thanks for stirring things up Bill!!

I don't get why he's getting any attention at all. He's an idiot. I mean, that's not a complaint about atheism or agnosticism--he's just an idiot.

It's like a naughty child breaking things hoping he'll get some attention--even if it is negative. C'mon people, you should know better!!

It's time religion was scrutinized?? Where have you been for the last 30 years in America?

And, by the way, religion has been put under the microscope by far greater minds than Maher. But, that would probably require picking up an actual book and not taking Maher's blather as gospel. Not likely for the ironically "intellectual" crowd Maher caters to.

Charlene....
The Bible has not been scrutinized. Not even slightly. Anybody scrutinize the claim that 600 YEAR OLD Noah built a boat and collected all the animals. It's laughable the things the bible claims. Let's not forget Adam and Eve and the evil serpent that made them eat the evil fruit....Truly Religulous!

The point of sarcasm and in-your-face criticism is not to convince adults. It's to get young people to think, and ask questions. This is because they are the people who are still forming their opinions. The death of Christianity in the west is happening not because adults are rejecting religion (though) many are; the big shift is measured by generational changes. For example, in the US people born 50 years ago are almost all Christians, yet today 25% of those under age 25 are atheist, agnostic, or "no religion". In every other Western nation, the numbers are, of course, higher (or much higher).

By getting the attention of young people, yes some will be offended. But for children raised in close-minded religious families, just finding out that there are alternatives is news that their parents don't want them to hear. For "moderates", learning that it's possible to live without religion is also a new concept. And for those from not very religious homes, a little humourous ridicule could be what they need to shed societally-ingrained deference to religious stupidity.

So THAT'S the point of using satire. To get the attention of youth, and to get them asking questions. And it's working, as any examination of the shifting statistics across the West shows. In another century, Christians will be only a fringe minority in the West - the centre of Christianity is already now in Africa, where people are ignorant and poor enough to swallow religious nonsense.

"And, by the way, religion has been put under the microscope by far greater minds than Maher."

Religion.. microscope..

Ironic!

Just saw the movie yesterday, in a Bible Belt state no less! Was impressed that no one walked out and in fact there was lots of applause at the end of the movie. For the record, my religious tradition is Catholic and my husband is a retired Lutheran minister. We both were able to laugh at ourselves and admit that in most cases Bill Mahr makes perfect sense! Yet we know some our family and friends will be horrified with our views. Easier to wrap yourself in that cocoon of "faith" than to question.