DVD of the week

Ludicrous Religion: In the newly released DVD, Religulous (R), satirist Bill Maher and director Larry Charles offer up a compelling and irreverent view of religion in the modern world.

In the documentary, Maher literally travels the world and goes head to head with plenty of ex-Mormons, religious scholars, U.S. senators, gay muslim activists, rabbis and authors to get to the heart of what is religion and why should we even care about it?

Maher, who is half-Jewish and half-Catholic and who has long been anti-religion is sometimes too flippant and simplistic for his own good but he does really make some excellent points and insights; none of which are new by the way but presented in a new way in Maher's inimitable style. He delves into how religion has been passed down through the years, the many faces of religion and how religious people are misinformed, misinterpret the writings of holy books and are often misguided. Another focus of the movie is how religion can be blamed for many of society's ills, which is true in many instances but not all of the ills we see.

I think the funniest and most shocking moment in the film would have to be when Arkansas senator Mark Pryor is sparring with Maher and actually lets slip that one does not need to take an IQ test in order to be a senator. Wow!!!!! So, I wonder, what does that say about him?

In the film Maher is a combination of Michael Moore with his pushiness and arrogance and Bill O'Reilly with his continuous interruption of the people he's interviewing.

Whether you're an atheist, agnostic, fundamentalist or somewhere in-between, this won't offer any new profound insights but will make you think.

peace,

paul