First of all, in the day, I was a faithful Bill Maher viewer with his TV show,
Politically Incorrect. I even attended a live taping of the show! But soon, the show got predictable – it really became too PC for me.
Now Maher has a movie out where he states early on that he would, “really like to understand,” religious people – that’s what he says…
The movie opens with Maher standing on an archaeological site in Israel he calls Megiddo. He is standing on the very place where the Bible predicts the final battle to end the world and the spot where Jesus will return to earth... (He says that’s in the book of Revelation, but he also interprets the Bible in a lot of unique ways throughout the movie.)
The bulk of the movie is a dig at the Christian faith, of which he said he had his upbringing in the Roman Catholic Church; an upbringing that evidentially did not finally give his family any spiritual identity (worshipping "masturbation" was more suitable for defining Maher’s identity), as a result, the Roman Catholic Church receives repeated mocking (Except when he can find a Roman Catholic priest who would also mock religion, then he is happy to associate with a Catholic. Convenient).
The dirty trick of the movie is the editing techniques employed. Admittedly, this is where most of the humor lies. But whether it’s the “cut and paste” reconstruction of interviews to make people look dumbfounded, or the insertion of humorous (but sometimes vulgar) movie clips at just the right moment, it’s very apparent that Maher is not trying to “understand” the religious, he is really trying to make them look asinine.
Although, Maher does recount times in his own life when he “made a deal with God" -- to help him through some rough patches (once as a teen, once as a 40 year old); this type of admission indicates that Maher does in fact, relate to the inner longings of the soul -- even if he now discounts it. Still, Maher recognizes that this kind of “inner conversation” is a facet of the human condition. Regardless, he still embarks on a crusade to promote “doubt,” and the Gospel of, “I don’t know.” After all, religious faith is a “shamelessly invented standard you can’t support empirically.”
According to Maher, none of the Biblical authors were “eyewitnesses” (despite the fact that the texts say they were written by such), the Bible is “fictitious” (as he tours the various locations mentioned in the Bible which actually exist today – and as he describes their history just as the Bible says…), it's OK to interview individuals who lack any acceptable credentials (although the short segment with Francis Collins has Collins confronting Maher by saying, “With the standard YOU want for the evidence for belief, you won’t be able to prove ANYTHING.”) And the whole story of Jesus is a recapitulation of the Egyptian god Horus (which must be found on a magic website somewhere that will undoubtedly accept all ancient Egyptian writings as gospel; but not the literal Gospels themselves.)
Furthermore, Maher interviews, or makes sport of, all the usual suspects: The “faith healers,” the “health and wealth” preachers, Old Testament legalists, “Christian Nationalists,” the profiteers of “Bible entertainment,” Scientologists, Mormons, “tongues” speakers, Hallucinogenic devotees, Muslims, and those peculiar dogmas of the Roman Catholic Church (why he doesn’t bring up Fatima, I’ll never know!)
And to these groups and beliefs I say, “Fine, make them look foolish – because I think they are foolish too.” But I know that Maher has it out for
ME. I believe in things that are considered foolish, “
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18); and, “
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” (Romans 1:16).
And here is the crux of the issue isn’t it? What is Maher willing to believe and to what extent is he willing to preach it?
While trying to assert that America was not built upon a Christian worldview by quoting some Founding Fathers, he seems to ignore the vast weight of that Christian worldview in other writings of the Founding Fathers, like for example, the Declaration of Independence, which declares the foundation for “...the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God.”
While questioning a Jew for Jesus' salvation as being such a wonderful thing, Maher asks, “Then why don’t you kill yourself?” Shouldn't we respond to Maher in a similar manner, “If doubting is such a wonderful thing – why don’t YOU kill yourself and remove all doubt?” (Unless doubting is a smokescreen for avoiding the consequences of what you believe… Maybe you should doubt THAT most of all!)
While Maher doesn’t like the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, Jonah and the “whalefish,” any of the Old Testament prophets, 8 of the 10 Commandments, the Virgin Birth, or Jesus and his “suicide mission,” he would still like for God to be obviously clear in making a presentation to the world so that he could personally believe.
While Maher is repulsed by the “jealous" God of the Bible and equates this concept with an immature character flaw, Maher wants to equally deny every faith tradition -- but his own!
Maher wraps up his movie full circle back at Megiddo. And from this ancient pulpit, he prophetically proclaims, “Religion must die for people to live.” “The only virtue of faith is ‘not thinking’.” “Religious people are dangerous because they think they have all the answers, even as they push their own agenda.” Better yet, “Anti-religionists are rational,” "I have mental power and faith in it," and “Doubt is the foundation.” Again, why doesn’t he doubt all of this?
The movie ends with what must be a parody of the hell, fire, and brimstone preaching of the evangelistic days of old, because if anyone knows how to preach the consequences of false belief, it is Bill Maher! The final scene is an Armageddon-like conflagration able to strike fear into any doubter of Maher’s message!
Did Maher just work out his pathology to become the total representation of what he actually hates? I’m really trying to understand it.
I think it's called projection, and I saw it all on the screen!
