Room Service|Work Smarter, Not Harder|Sweet on the Tea|Yeah, But It Was Tons to Read|F-Bombed Out

Chris Ray 10/02/2008 3:38:00 AM

I have a few comments I wanted to share on Bill Maher�s philosophy on religion and his new �religious� film after seeing him on The Daily Show (Read at your leisure, or not at all): 1.I agree with him that faith should not make us immune to questioning or exempt from logic. This is a major problem today and stifles the economy of ideas that allows truth to flourish. 2.I agree with him that many religions are ridiculous, and over the top. Really, only one can be true. 3.I disagree with him on the notion that Christianity is as goofy as Scientology. If there was a God in the spiritual realm, and he wanted to connect with his creation, the way Christ lived would mirror this, and it would make sense that if he loved us, he would come to be with us. 4.He asked why God in all his power, does not just come down and say �look, here is the deal, I am God, this is the way.� I find it interesting that this is actually what Christ said, and he did amazing things to back it up. The truth is most people would still struggle with belief, and with giving up what they would have to give up to serve him. 5.He said that Christianity and other religions have started wars. Throughout history, man did not need any help with this. Whether it was for something they believed, someone they loved or against a foe, man found and still finds a reason to fight. In fact, religion (true religion) is responsible for ending the inquisition, slavery and moved many nations to promote laws of equality and personal liberty. On this point, we all know countless stories about people like Mother Teresa who have helped so many. How many great atheists can we name who have served mankind in this capacity? 6.Bill Maher attacked Sarah Palin as someone who actually believed the Bible literally. That is funny, because that is the definition of a Christian in many ways. This sounds like a witch hunt. What if she believed something else? Would he care? I would rather have someone who believes in the sanctity of life with their hand on our nuclear codes than someone who believes this life is it, and that nothing really matters anyway. 7.He said all religion was created when man did not know where the sun went, or why lightning strikes, etc�, then claiming we do now��it is 2008.� He is right. It is 2008, but do we really understand these things? We are building expensive atom-smashing machines to find out how the universe started, and we are going to therapists, constantly seeking purpose, and sure, they can tell us how electrons move, but do they know where they came from, and Why they move? Despite our pride and comfort in modern knowledge, do we really actually know that much more? 8.He is asking a lot of questions, but does not seem ready to hear any answers. This is disingenuous. He is going to a truck stop ministry to ask deep theological questions, knowing full well, this will serve the purposes of his movie; making religion look simple and meant for the simple-minded. There are actually answers to many of his questions available from people who have spent lifetimes looking for answers and not just trying to make a point by asking endless questions, or to sound cool on a comedy central show. However, he acknowledged that he did not want to take away anything from the prisoner that says all he has is Jesus. The truth is, he does. He says �when that is all you have to hold on to�it makes sense.� What does Bill have to hold on to? When you really look at our lives, what do any of us have to hold on to other than some hope outside the dying things and bodies we are stuck in? This movie could have been interesting, posing serious questions to find the truth. Instead, it is a massive effort to destroy others� hope by a bitter and lonely man. I hope he finds what he is looking for.