I highly recomend Bill Mahres Movie Religolous. I saw it yesterday in Little Rock, Only one theater played it. It was very very good. How anyone could believe in a god is beyond me.
Bill Mahres Religolous movie
by dogon 2 Replies latest social entertainment
-
-
OnTheWayOut
Thanks for the heads up. I will check it out.
-
TJ - iAmCleared2Land
Agreed! I first heard about it earlier this week on NPR (listen to the story here), read about it online, and snuck out of the office for a few hours this afternoon to go see it.
Well, I won't give it a "review"--you'll find plenty of those online. But I can say that the only thing that would have made Bill Maher's Religulous (a telling play on the words "Religion" and "Ridiculous") better is if he'd grilled some JW's on their beliefs, too.
Notwithstanding that omission of laden opportunities, Maher's satirical look at the world's religions, as seen through the interview-driven corners the adherents themselves back themselves into in response to Maher's questions, is outstanding.
Rated "R" for subtitled language and a briefly depicted scene from Mormon theology of God (as a physical man from a planet orbiting the star Kolob) having sex with Mary to conceive Jesus.
Maher travels the world to take us on personal visits with politicians, religious leaders, followers, scientists, and others; he gains unprecendented and unrehearsed access to these individuals, which makes the interviews raw, entertaining, and totally "off the cuff"--which is evident when some of his participants get uncomfortable and leave, rather than confront the uncomfortable questions about beliefs to which they have no answers, but to which they nevertheless cling.
Subtitles and "zinger" shots intersperse with the interviews, giving us comic relief and an insight into the thoughts going through Maher's mind as he listens to the answers some people use to defend their beliefs, regardless of how irrational he believes them to be.
Even without an analysis of JW beliefs, this film is worth seeing. It helps one to see how religion is affecting mankind at all levels--from politicians that believe in the "end times" and feel that the world will end (so why should they bother to try and fix it?) to people who believe that a man is Jesus Christ, returned in the flesh, just because he says he is. From Christians to Muslims to Jews, and Mormons and others, Maher visits them all.
As a recently or long-departed Witness, I think you'll find the film enlightening... and his final appeal, at the end of the film, may finally spark some to think about their position, and possibly help start some much-needed changes.
For more information on this film, see this Wiki entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religulous
To find a showing near you (this film is in selected theatres only, for a limited time), click here.
Official movie site with trailers: http://www.religulousmovie.net and http://disbeliefnet.comP.S. -- the movie's site, www.disbeliefnet.com, DOES have some information on Jehovah's Witnesses, including that famous picture of Jehovah's "righteous rage against mankind" at Armageddon.
http://disbeliefnet.com/article.php?page=up_and_coming_religion