Religulous

[Kodos]

Anyone going to see this? Bill Maher is a favorite of mine, so hopefully me and the wife can find someone to babysit while we go see it. :popcorn:

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I'll probably wait until video to see it. I'm a big fan of his HBO show and watch it religiously (pun intended). With that said, I'm not a big fan of plopping down money to watch a movie that is just as good at home (movie sound system doesn't improve a political analysis movie all that much :) )

[path12]

I'm definitely going to see it at some point.

[Fidatelo]

I doubt I'll ever watch it, even if I probably would be agreeable to many of the viewpoints. Ironically, I often find Maher to be too preachy, which turns me off.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'm just glad the movie is finally (presumably) going into release so I can stop seeing so blasted many commercials for it.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Along these lines, 'An American Carol' is also coming out in theaters. I'll probably wait for the DVD for this one as well.

[Schmidty]

I won't be seeing it. I wouldn't be offended by it, I just fucking hate Bill Maher. He is an absolute tool.

[lighthousekeeper]

i hope he does a sax solo like he did in DC Cab.

[Kodos]

I won't be seeing it. I wouldn't be offended by it, I just fucking hate Bill Maher. He is an absolute tool.

Schmidty ranting about something. Who would've believed it?!

[Galaxy]

I won't be seeing it. I wouldn't be offended by it, I just fucking hate Bill Maher. He is an absolute tool.

Yeah. The guy just seems to hate everything, or if you don't agree with him, your a moron. He believes he's the authority on everything.

[Kodos]

He does go pretty rough on religion, but he "just seems to hate everything" is going a bit far.

[path12]

To be fair, there's a lot to hate these days.

[Galaxy]

He does go pretty rough on religion, but he "just seems to hate everything" is going a bit far.

He just seems negative on a lot of things in a your wrong, I'm right kind of way. Maybe "hate" is too strong of a word. Of course, this movie is something I might agree with.

[Raiders Army]

Yeah. The guy just seems to hate everything, or if you don't agree with him, your a moron. He believes he's the authority on everything.

Agree plus he's a self-righteous prick.

[sabotai]

I find Bill Maher hilarious most of time, and I do like a his "new rules" most of the time, but whenever he goes into actual analysis of political or religious issues, he comes off as a bit....ignorant. And a lot preachy.

But I'll probably see this on DVD. Even when he's being an idiot, he's pretty funny.

[Kodos]

He just seems negative on a lot of things in a your wrong, I'm right kind of way. Maybe "hate" is too strong of a word. Of course, this movie is something I might agree with.

But he actually allows guests with opposing views to say what they have to say. He frequently tells the partisan audience that his show attracts to shut up so the guest can talk. That's a step up from a lot of hosts like, oh, I don't know, Bill O'Reilly, for instance.

[Galaxy]

But he actually allows guests with opposing views to say what they have to say. He frequently tells the partisan audience that his show attracts to shut up so the guest can talk. That's a step up from a lot of hosts like, oh, I don't know, Bill O'Reilly, for instance.

I agree with you on the O'Reilly part, as well a host of other talking heads on cable news. I think sabotai hits the nail on the head. I will give him props on making people laugh.

[thesloppy]

No tanx. I already live on the west coast. If I want to listen to smug people deconstruct religion, I have no shortage of free and immediate options.

[TCY Junkie]

It takes alot to break me out of character but Bill Maher is one guy I can't stand the way he acts. Hopefully it's an act.

[Poli]

For a minute there, I thought most of these comments were directed at Schmidty.

I would have agreed. ;)

[BishopMVP]

But he actually allows guests with opposing views to say what they have to say. He frequently tells the partisan audience that his show attracts to shut up so the guest can talk. That's a step up from a lot of hosts like, oh, I don't know, Bill O'Reilly, for instance.In this respect I compare him to Jon Stewart and the Daily Show. Same viewpoint, same types of guests, 10x funnier and less smug.

[ISiddiqui]

He does go pretty rough on religion, but he "just seems to hate everything" is going a bit far.

A bit, but not much ;). Maher is incredibly pompous. He'll just let you make your point before calling you a fucking moron for thinking the way you do.

[Karlifornia]

Yeah, I agree with a lot of what Maher says...but the way he does it just makes me feel dirty. I can't stand the condescending attitude. There is no way any conservative/religious person would ever have any reason to listen to him, because he's insulting.

Now, "An American Carol" is one that I'm going to have to watch, just so I can be rightfully disgusted. I don't know if I can handle 90 minutes of "Micheal Moore is a fat asshole"

[CamEdwards]

Mahrer's not my cup of tea. I'm still trying to figure out how someone goes from D.C. Cab to political commentator. Well, actually I'm trying to figure out how someone goes from political commentator to star of a wacky comedy like D.C. Cab. I'm ready for my closeup, Mr. DeMille!

[Maple Leafs]

I'm a big fan of Maher. And anyone who dismisses him as just another liberal hack isn't paying attention, he has some fairly conservative views in some areas.

If you're looking for a comic who's always liberal, you'd be better off looking at... well, all of the rest of them.

[CamEdwards]

Yeah, I agree with a lot of what Maher says...but the way he does it just makes me feel dirty. I can't stand the condescending attitude. There is no way any conservative/religious person would ever have any reason to listen to him, because he's insulting.

Now, "An American Carol" is one that I'm going to have to watch, just so I can be rightfully disgusted. I don't know if I can handle 90 minutes of "Micheal Moore is a fat asshole"

I've had the opportunity to talk with several of the folks in this movie (Kevin Farley, Robert Davi, Jon Voight) and they all seem to have a had a lot of fun making a stupid comedy. I mean, it's a Zucker film for crying out loud. It's not going to be insightful, complex, or subtle. I have a sneaking feeling it's also not going to be successful, and I also have a feeling it was probably a lot funnier to make than it will be to watch. :)

[CamEdwards]

I'm a big fan of Maher. And anyone who dismisses him as just another liberal hack isn't paying attention, he has some fairly conservative views in some areas.

If you're looking for a comic who's always liberal, you'd be better off looking at... well, all of the rest of them.

As someone who really does loathe Bill Mahrer's personality, I've never listened to him long enough to know his opinion on various issues. Just out of curiousity, in what areas are his views fairly conservative?

[Maple Leafs]

As someone who really does loathe Bill Mahrer's personality, I've never listened to him long enough to know his opinion on various issues. Just out of curiousity, in what areas are his views fairly conservative?
He tends to want small government. He doesn't trust the government to do much of anything, and wants them to generally stay out of people's business on issues like gun control and social programs (and gay marriage, and drugs... like I said, it's a mixed bag.)

He's also very strongly against the concept of moral relativism. He does a bit about Islam and how we always have to say that their culture is just "different". "No, not just different... sometimes one side is better", and then a list of ways that US values are better than Islamic ones. Not purely conservative, at least politically, but definitely not in fitting with the typical fuzzy liberal stereotype.

He could also be described as anti-feminist, in the sense that he thinks men aren't allowed to be men anymore. Again, not necessarily conservative politically, but not something that a Berkley grad student is going to stand up and cheer for.

[Warhammer]

Bill Maher was much funnier when he was on the way up, rather than the pompous jerk he is now. Politically Incorrect, when it first came on, was some of the best television had to offer. However, he is much too in to himself now for me to watch.

All that said, I do agree with some of his view, and I disagree with others.

[Vegas Vic]

He tends to want small government. He doesn't trust the government to do much of anything, and wants them to generally stay out of people's business on issues like gun control and social programs (and gay marriage, and drugs... like I said, it's a mixed bag.)

He's also very strongly against the concept of moral relativism. He does a bit about Islam and how we always have to say that their culture is just "different". "No, not just different... sometimes one side is better", and then a list of ways that US values are better than Islamic ones. Not purely conservative, at least politically, but definitely not in fitting with the typical fuzzy liberal stereotype.

He's kind of a hybrid libertarian/liberal, which is a really odd combination when you think about it.

[Drake]

The religious angle is Maher's achilles heel. For whatever reason, it's too raw for him, too personal, and he becomes almost completely incoherent when he lets it dominate his normally incisive reasoning.

It's actually sort of funny. He's just as weak in the blinded by his anti-religiosity as he claims the religious people are by their religions. As soon as he starts asking (essentially) "How can a smart guy like you be religious?" (as he does with some of his guests), you can almost see his brain shutting down and his prejudices taking over.

Like most people who go gonzo over tolerance and open-mindedness, all he really ever means is tolerance and open-mindedness about things he believes in...which is why he's an entertainer rather than a legitimate political philosopher.

That said, I generally enjoy his schtick. I'll probably wait for this to come out on DVD.

[BishopMVP]

Bill Maher was much funnier when he was on the way up,Isn't that true of almost every comedian? Letterman, Chapelle, Lewis Black, even personal favorites like Daniel Tosh or Colbert, it seems most comedians have a certain amount of funny things to say and start running out of new material after awhile. Outside of Chris Rock, how many have put out 2-3 specials and are still as funny as they were in the beginning?He's kind of a hybrid libertarian/liberal, which is a really odd combination when you think about it.I think that's actually a pretty popular combination amongst the younger, college-educated generation, and even many on FOFC would probably fall into that definition. Socially liberal but anti-government/free choice in most spheres.

[Karlifornia]

Isn't that true of almost every comedian? Letterman, Chapelle, Lewis Black, even personal favorites like Daniel Tosh or Colbert, it seems most comedians have a certain amount of funny things to say and start running out of new material after awhile. Outside of Chris Rock, how many have put out 2-3 specials and are still as funny as they were in the beginning?I think that's actually a pretty popular combination amongst the younger, college-educated generation, and even many on FOFC would probably fall into that definition. Socially liberal but anti-government/free choice in most spheres.

I agree with everything you said in this post.

[RendeR]

While at times I think he goes a little too over the top with the "dumb it down for the masses" which is essentially when he sounds rather ignorant, most of the time I think he's right on with his comments, and honestly, its beyond time people got insulting with politicians and the government in general.

Is he pompous. insulting, arrogant and overbearing? Sure....he's a fucking COMEDIAN, he's supposed to be =) The fact that he's actually intelligent and knowledgable about the topics he tackles on his shows? Thats just icing.

[Karlifornia]

While at times I think he goes a little too over the top with the "dumb it down for the masses" which is essentially when he sounds rather ignorant, most of the time I think he's right on with his comments, and honestly, its beyond time people got insulting with politicians and the government in general.

Is he pompous. insulting, arrogant and overbearing? Sure....he's a fucking COMEDIAN, he's supposed to be =) The fact that he's actually intelligent and knowledgable about the topics he tackles on his shows? Thats just icing.


I guess this is true. Sadly, wearing kid gloves is probably what's allowed many dumb things to happen.

[CamEdwards]

While at times I think he goes a little too over the top with the "dumb it down for the masses" which is essentially when he sounds rather ignorant, most of the time I think he's right on with his comments, and honestly, its beyond time people got insulting with politicians and the government in general.

Is he pompous. insulting, arrogant and overbearing? Sure....he's a fucking COMEDIAN, he's supposed to be =) The fact that he's actually intelligent and knowledgable about the topics he tackles on his shows? Thats just icing.

Some comedians (Will Rogers comes immediately to mind) were able to capture a much bigger audience by being the opposite of pompous, arrogant, and overbearing. Insulting, sure, but always directed with humor and warmth towards the Politicians.

[st.cronin]

Bill Maher is almost as funny as Bill Belichek.

[Galaxy]

I'm a big fan of Maher. And anyone who dismisses him as just another liberal hack isn't paying attention, he has some fairly conservative views in some areas.

If you're looking for a comic who's always liberal, you'd be better off looking at... well, all of the rest of them.

To me, it isn't about his views, but how he approaches them. He self-righteous and arrogant in how pushes them and attacks those who disagree with them.

[stevew]

He might be a funny comedian, but I really only know him as a self righteous asswhite wanna be political comentator and I can't stand him.

Same with Stewart and Colbert.

[Radii]

I was surprised at first to see the quick comparison between Stewart and Maher. My take on the two:

Even though I almost always agree with Jon Stewart's views, he sometimes makes me uncomfortable with his treatment of people who he disagrees with, and occasionally acts like one of those people that I wish wasn't on the same side as me. Most of the time, however, I just find his take on the world hilarious.


Bill Maher is, in my experience, so aggressive and obnoxious about the things he believes are right, I cannot stomach watching him long enough to figure out if I agree with him or not.

[Swaggs]

The religious angle is Maher's achilles heel. For whatever reason, it's too raw for him, too personal, and he becomes almost completely incoherent when he lets it dominate his normally incisive reasoning.

It's actually sort of funny. He's just as weak in the blinded by his anti-religiosity as he claims the religious people are by their religions. As soon as he starts asking (essentially) "How can a smart guy like you be religious?" (as he does with some of his guests), you can almost see his brain shutting down and his prejudices taking over.

Like most people who go gonzo over tolerance and open-mindedness, all he really ever means is tolerance and open-mindedness about things he believes in...which is why he's an entertainer rather than a legitimate political philosopher.

That said, I generally enjoy his schtick. I'll probably wait for this to come out on DVD.

I agree with your take almost 100%.

I find Maher funny when he is topical. I think his current event monologues are awesome, but the fact that he is so intolerant towards religion tends to annoy me enough to not be a fan.

[samifan24]

On Sept. 19, the WSJ ran this article (hxxp://online.wsj.com/article/SB122178219865054585.html) on atheism vs. organized religion, which features Maher prominently.



Look Who's Irrational Now
by Mollie Ziegler Heminway

"You can't be a rational person six days of the week and put on a suit and make rational decisions and go to work and, on one day of the week, go to a building and think you're drinking the blood of a 2,000-year-old space god," comedian and atheist Bill Maher said earlier this year on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien."

On the "Saturday Night Live" season debut last week, homeschooling families were portrayed as fundamentalists with bad haircuts who fear biology. Actor Matt Damon recently disparaged Sarah Palin by referring to a transparently fake email that claimed she believed that dinosaurs were Satan's lizards. And according to prominent atheists like Richard Dawkins, traditional religious belief is "dangerously irrational." From Hollywood to the academy, nonbelievers are convinced that a decline in traditional religious belief would lead to a smarter, more scientifically literate and even more civilized populace.

The reality is that the New Atheist campaign, by discouraging religion, won't create a new group of intelligent, skeptical, enlightened beings. Far from it: It might actually encourage new levels of mass superstition. And that's not a conclusion to take on faith -- it's what the empirical data tell us.

"What Americans Really Believe," a comprehensive new study released by Baylor University yesterday, shows that traditional Christian religion greatly decreases belief in everything from the efficacy of palm readers to the usefulness of astrology. It also shows that the irreligious and the members of more liberal Protestant denominations, far from being resistant to superstition, tend to be much more likely to believe in the paranormal and in pseudoscience than evangelical Christians.
Corbis

The Gallup Organization, under contract to Baylor's Institute for Studies of Religion, asked American adults a series of questions to gauge credulity. Do dreams foretell the future? Did ancient advanced civilizations such as Atlantis exist? Can places be haunted? Is it possible to communicate with the dead? Will creatures like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster someday be discovered by science?

The answers were added up to create an index of belief in occult and the paranormal. While 31% of people who never worship expressed strong belief in these things, only 8% of people who attend a house of worship more than once a week did.

Even among Christians, there were disparities. While 36% of those belonging to the United Church of Christ, Sen. Barack Obama's former denomination, expressed strong beliefs in the paranormal, only 14% of those belonging to the Assemblies of God, Sarah Palin's former denomination, did. In fact, the more traditional and evangelical the respondent, the less likely he was to believe in, for instance, the possibility of communicating with people who are dead.

This is not a new finding. In his 1983 book "The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener," skeptic and science writer Martin Gardner cited the decline of traditional religious belief among the better educated as one of the causes for an increase in pseudoscience, cults and superstition. He referenced a 1980 study published in the magazine Skeptical Inquirer that showed irreligious college students to be by far the most likely to embrace paranormal beliefs, while born-again Christian college students were the least likely.

Surprisingly, while increased church attendance and membership in a conservative denomination has a powerful negative effect on paranormal beliefs, higher education doesn't. Two years ago two professors published another study in Skeptical Inquirer showing that, while less than one-quarter of college freshmen surveyed expressed a general belief in such superstitions as ghosts, psychic healing, haunted houses, demonic possession, clairvoyance and witches, the figure jumped to 31% of college seniors and 34% of graduate students.

We can't even count on self-described atheists to be strict rationalists. According to the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life's monumental "U.S. Religious Landscape Survey" that was issued in June, 21% of self-proclaimed atheists believe in either a personal God or an impersonal force. Ten percent of atheists pray at least weekly and 12% believe in heaven.

[B]On Oct. 3, Mr. Maher debuts "Religulous," his documentary that attacks religious belief. He talks to Hasidic scholars, Jews for Jesus, Muslims, polygamists, Satanists, creationists, and even Rael -- prophet of the Raelians -- before telling viewers: "The plain fact is religion must die for man to live."

But it turns out that the late-night comic is no icon of rationality himself. In fact, he is a fervent advocate of pseudoscience. The night before his performance on Conan O'Brien, Mr. Maher told David Letterman -- a quintuple bypass survivor -- to stop taking the pills that his doctor had prescribed for him. He proudly stated that he didn't accept Western medicine. On his HBO show in 2005, Mr. Maher said: "I don't believe in vaccination. . . . Another theory that I think is flawed, that we go by the Louis Pasteur [germ] theory." He has told CNN's Larry King that he won't take aspirin because he believes it is lethal and that he doesn't even believe the Salk vaccine eradicated polio.

Anti-religionists such as Mr. Maher bring to mind the assertion of G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown character that all atheists, secularists, humanists and rationalists are susceptible to superstition: "It's the first effect of not believing in God that you lose your common sense, and can't see things as they are."

Ms. Hemingway is a writer in Washington.

[Galaxy]

But it turns out that the late-night comic is no icon of rationality himself. In fact, he is a fervent advocate of pseudoscience. The night before his performance on Conan O'Brien, Mr. Maher told David Letterman -- a quintuple bypass survivor -- to stop taking the pills that his doctor had prescribed for him. He proudly stated that he didn't accept Western medicine. On his HBO show in 2005, Mr. Maher said: "I don't believe in vaccination. . . . Another theory that I think is flawed, that we go by the Louis Pasteur [germ] theory." He has told CNN's Larry King that he won't take aspirin because he believes it is lethal and that he doesn't even believe the Salk vaccine eradicated polio.

This is a great example of his arrogant, self righteous attitude. He attacks the government for invading on people's lives and decisions, but he's a hypocrite.

[Maple Leafs]

Like most people who go gonzo over tolerance and open-mindedness...
Again, Maher may be gonzo for a lot of things (including the sound of his own voice), but tolerance and open-mindedness aren't among them. He'd probably argue that US society is already too tolerant and open-minded about most issues.

[Maple Leafs]

To me, it isn't about his views, but how he approaches them. He self-righteous and arrogant in how pushes them and attacks those who disagree with them.
I can certainly see how people would think he was pompous or self-righteous. Those qualities don't really bother me in the context of what he does, but I can't argue that they don't apply to him.

I should also note that we don't get his show in Canada, so outside of a few youtube clips I rarely see it. I'm basing my views more on his specials and books.

[sabotai]

"He proudly stated that he didn't accept Western medicine. On his HBO show in 2005, Mr. Maher said: "I don't believe in vaccination. . . . Another theory that I think is flawed, that we go by the Louis Pasteur [germ] theory." He has told CNN's Larry King that he won't take aspirin because he believes it is lethal and that he doesn't even believe the Salk vaccine eradicated polio"


Bill Maher is one of those nutjob antivaxers?

*sigh*

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Meh, I agree with very little that Bill Maher says most of the time. With that said, I'm a big fan of his show as I get a lot of starkly contrasting views. I think it's important to listen to all views even if you don't agree with them to at least try to understand the logic behind them.

[Kodos]

Bill Maher definitely hates pharmaceuticals. He also believes that much of the food we eat is poisonous (over the long term) due to all the chemicals, drugs, antibiotics, steroids, etc. that are involved in our food industry. I think he has a pretty good case about that stuff. He does go a bit nuts in railing against all non-recreational drugs.

[Young Drachma]

He's kind of a hybrid libertarian/liberal, which is a really odd combination when you think about it.

Left-libertarianism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-libertarianism)

[Maple Leafs]

Meh, I agree with very little that Bill Maher says most of the time. With that said, I'm a big fan of his show as I get a lot of starkly contrasting views. I think it's important to listen to all views even if you don't agree with them to at least try to understand the logic behind them.
You're talking crazy.

The Internet was invented so that we could only hear arguments we already agreed with, all day long. Please stop with the 1950s "listen to all views" nonsense, grampa.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

You're talking crazy.

The Internet was invented so that we could only hear arguments we already agreed with, all day long. Please stop with the 1950s "listen to all views" nonsense, grampa.

If only I could convince my wife that it's the 1950s and that she should act like June Cleaver and be submissive to my needs. :)

FWIW, I have the same love/hate relationship with Rush Limbaugh. I listen to him once every week or two to see what he's saying, but I don't agree with much of his ramblings either.