Before we get in to this blog entry, please accept my apologies - I am far from a religious scholar and my knowledge is limited to Judeo-Christian traditions and teachings, with a healthy dose of many First Nation/Native American belief systems. Sadly, I have not read the Koran, the Torah, The Book of Mormon or other books of that nature, so my views may be limited.
As some of you may know, I am a big fan of Bill Maher…well, I have always been a big fan of his t.v. shows (Politically Incorrect, both on the Comedy Channel and, later, on ABC and now Real Time with Bill Maher). His stand-up? Honestly, I could take it or leave it. But I do think he is quite smart, very funny and I tend to agree with his politics far more often than not, which is a bonus.
Anyway, so The Old Man and I rented Religulous and watched it last night.
Now, I struggle with my own spiritual beliefs. I am avidly anti-Religion, because I think of religions more as political forces than anything else and I’m sure we can all agree that religions have been the cause of more discord, war, torture and abhorrent behavior than any other organization in the history of man. Therefore, although I was raised a Baptist, I have run-away from any organized religion since I was old enough to figure that out, which was about the age of 12.
I also think that subscribing to an organized religion is cheating. I think it is our job in this life to figure this stuff out and if you just let someone else do all the work and believe everything he tells you, you are lazy and that’s a complete cop-out. I also think that a whole lot of people seem to attach themselves to religion out of fear – the end of days are coming and you don’t want to go to hell, now do you? So you’d better be good…I mean, is the fear of going to hell really a reason to be a good person? And don’t you think God knows what your motives are?
As some of you may know, I am a big fan of Bill Maher…well, I have always been a big fan of his t.v. shows (Politically Incorrect, both on the Comedy Channel and, later, on ABC and now Real Time with Bill Maher). His stand-up? Honestly, I could take it or leave it. But I do think he is quite smart, very funny and I tend to agree with his politics far more often than not, which is a bonus.
Anyway, so The Old Man and I rented Religulous and watched it last night.
Now, I struggle with my own spiritual beliefs. I am avidly anti-Religion, because I think of religions more as political forces than anything else and I’m sure we can all agree that religions have been the cause of more discord, war, torture and abhorrent behavior than any other organization in the history of man. Therefore, although I was raised a Baptist, I have run-away from any organized religion since I was old enough to figure that out, which was about the age of 12.
I also think that subscribing to an organized religion is cheating. I think it is our job in this life to figure this stuff out and if you just let someone else do all the work and believe everything he tells you, you are lazy and that’s a complete cop-out. I also think that a whole lot of people seem to attach themselves to religion out of fear – the end of days are coming and you don’t want to go to hell, now do you? So you’d better be good…I mean, is the fear of going to hell really a reason to be a good person? And don’t you think God knows what your motives are?
That does not mean, however, that I do not believe in God…I just don’t know what kind of God I believe in. As I said, I think about it a lot, trying to define exactly what I believe. I think that’s part of the Human Path we all take.
I do not believe in hell, by the way. I do believe in evil, but do I think God punishes people in that way? No, I don’t. I mean, think of the people we would most like to see in hell - child molesters, Hitler, Omar al-Bashir – those people are sick. There is something wrong with them. I just don’t think God would punish people for being mentally ill, no matter what they did. Although I do believe in evil, as I said, I haven’t come face-to-face with a person who I think truly embodies that. But then…I have never met Dick Cheney in real life; perhaps I would change my mind if I did.
I do believe Jesus was a man who really did live and really was crucified as a heretic. Even if you do not believe in the Bible, he is also mentioned in the Koran and several other history books of the time, so it is hard to deny he existed (although you can deny it since most of those history books were written like a hundred years after his death). The concept of Jesus as divinity, though, is something I sometimes struggle with, also. I also have a really hard time with the concept of Him also being God. Perhaps I am dense, but honestly I just don’t get it. Whether you believe He was divine or not, though, I think he was One Awesome Dude whose life and teachings should be a model for us all. We can, after all, learn even from fictional characters.
Any thinking person, I’m sure, has to take a look at the Bible and just shudder at the inconsistencies in its morality (Lot handing over his daughters to be raped, when he was supposedly the only good person in Gomorrah? Isaac sacrificing his son?) and the utter ludicrousness of much of its stories (a man living inside a whale for three days? Adam and Eve talking to a snake and then populating the world, meaning their children then had children with one another? The list goes on forever). Not to mention the fact that modern science has refuted much of what traditional Christians hold to be truths – that we all descend from two naked people cast out of the Garden of Eden, that the world has only existed for like 10,000 years or whatever.
The Bible was written by men. In my opinion, these were men who had their own prejudices, goals, ambitions, etc.; flawed men who lived a couple thousand years ago. There is a lot of good stuff there and a lot can be taken from it, but I just don’t take every syllable as literal truth.
That said…while my logical mind struggles with these things, I have had some extremely odd experiences in my life which make me not just believe but to know that this life we are living now is not the end of it.
Long time readers may recall that…I see dead people.
Either that or I’m nuts, in which case none of this probably matters anyway.
In the film Religulous, Bill Maher travels the globe in an effort to make sense out of the many religions around it. He interviews many people of different faiths, visits churches, mosques and synagogues; he even visits theme parks which celebrate Christianity (*sigh* only in America, folks). Of course, he is a man of opinions and his opinions are extremely evident throughout the film. He may say he was not making an anti-religion movie, but…um…yes, he was. He highlights the hypocrisies and the inconsistencies found in every religion and I have a hard time believing that the ratio of nut-jobs to the reasonably sane he interviewed was quite as off-kilter as is shown.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Let’s face it – nut-jobs are far more entertaining that the reasonable. And I appreciate the fact that Maher just says he has no idea what comes after this life. I mean, duh. None of us, in spite of what we may believe, really know anything, do we? I for one have never been dead, so how could I know for sure? And yet, so many people seem so scared to admit that fact.
The movie was quite funny. It was also very thought-provoking and I actually learned a lot – such as the fact that the Hindu tradition has a few gods of their own who actually did many of the exact same things that Jesus was reported to have done – only a couple thousand years earlier. Interesting coincidence, what?
Will people be offended by this movie? Sure, some will – people who are so insecure in their own beliefs that they can not enter in to a conversation with somebody who does not share them. Maher interviewed many such people in the film. But there were many others who engaged in conversations with him, vehemently defended their beliefs and explained them intelligently. I think any movie which provokes such conversation and thought is highly worthwhile. And so, I recommend it highly.
I do not believe in hell, by the way. I do believe in evil, but do I think God punishes people in that way? No, I don’t. I mean, think of the people we would most like to see in hell - child molesters, Hitler, Omar al-Bashir – those people are sick. There is something wrong with them. I just don’t think God would punish people for being mentally ill, no matter what they did. Although I do believe in evil, as I said, I haven’t come face-to-face with a person who I think truly embodies that. But then…I have never met Dick Cheney in real life; perhaps I would change my mind if I did.
I do believe Jesus was a man who really did live and really was crucified as a heretic. Even if you do not believe in the Bible, he is also mentioned in the Koran and several other history books of the time, so it is hard to deny he existed (although you can deny it since most of those history books were written like a hundred years after his death). The concept of Jesus as divinity, though, is something I sometimes struggle with, also. I also have a really hard time with the concept of Him also being God. Perhaps I am dense, but honestly I just don’t get it. Whether you believe He was divine or not, though, I think he was One Awesome Dude whose life and teachings should be a model for us all. We can, after all, learn even from fictional characters.
Any thinking person, I’m sure, has to take a look at the Bible and just shudder at the inconsistencies in its morality (Lot handing over his daughters to be raped, when he was supposedly the only good person in Gomorrah? Isaac sacrificing his son?) and the utter ludicrousness of much of its stories (a man living inside a whale for three days? Adam and Eve talking to a snake and then populating the world, meaning their children then had children with one another? The list goes on forever). Not to mention the fact that modern science has refuted much of what traditional Christians hold to be truths – that we all descend from two naked people cast out of the Garden of Eden, that the world has only existed for like 10,000 years or whatever.
The Bible was written by men. In my opinion, these were men who had their own prejudices, goals, ambitions, etc.; flawed men who lived a couple thousand years ago. There is a lot of good stuff there and a lot can be taken from it, but I just don’t take every syllable as literal truth.
That said…while my logical mind struggles with these things, I have had some extremely odd experiences in my life which make me not just believe but to know that this life we are living now is not the end of it.
Long time readers may recall that…I see dead people.
Either that or I’m nuts, in which case none of this probably matters anyway.
In the film Religulous, Bill Maher travels the globe in an effort to make sense out of the many religions around it. He interviews many people of different faiths, visits churches, mosques and synagogues; he even visits theme parks which celebrate Christianity (*sigh* only in America, folks). Of course, he is a man of opinions and his opinions are extremely evident throughout the film. He may say he was not making an anti-religion movie, but…um…yes, he was. He highlights the hypocrisies and the inconsistencies found in every religion and I have a hard time believing that the ratio of nut-jobs to the reasonably sane he interviewed was quite as off-kilter as is shown.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Let’s face it – nut-jobs are far more entertaining that the reasonable. And I appreciate the fact that Maher just says he has no idea what comes after this life. I mean, duh. None of us, in spite of what we may believe, really know anything, do we? I for one have never been dead, so how could I know for sure? And yet, so many people seem so scared to admit that fact.
The movie was quite funny. It was also very thought-provoking and I actually learned a lot – such as the fact that the Hindu tradition has a few gods of their own who actually did many of the exact same things that Jesus was reported to have done – only a couple thousand years earlier. Interesting coincidence, what?
Will people be offended by this movie? Sure, some will – people who are so insecure in their own beliefs that they can not enter in to a conversation with somebody who does not share them. Maher interviewed many such people in the film. But there were many others who engaged in conversations with him, vehemently defended their beliefs and explained them intelligently. I think any movie which provokes such conversation and thought is highly worthwhile. And so, I recommend it highly.
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