Religulous

In his quest to demonstrate the blatant hypocrisy and archaic principles of almost every religion under the sun, comedian Bill Maher crosses the globe to ask people questions he already knows the answers to. With logic and reason as his guiding principles, Maher's journey to determining what compels people to embrace religions is funny but flawed from the get-go. As an atheist, he walks into interviews and discussions with political and (traditional to fringe) religious leaders, scientists and experts, as well as lifelong believers and recent converts with the smug satisfaction of someone superior to all of his faith aligned subjects. There's little in the way of absolute proof or fact that can penetrate someone's utmost belief in a higher power, just as no one will ever shake Maher's resolve that religion is the stuff of fairy tales that no self-respecting adult should possibly take all that seriously. Hence, the arc or primary conceit of this spiritual travelogue is doomed from the start — none of us are going to learn anything in particular from this road to nowhere, a film that begins and ends with Maher in Megiddo, Israel, where the Book of Revelations states that Armageddon will occur. Between his opening and closing remarks, which were likely filmed on-location on the same day, Maher and director Larry Charles enable people to speak about their respective faith and illuminate just how irrational, counter-intuitive, superstitious and, in the case of space-based systems like Scientology and Raëlism, inherently preposterous their core beliefs really are. "The plain fact is, religion must die for mankind to live," Maher concludes, suggesting that yearning for an after-life borne of apocalypse is self-fulfilling prophecy, bolstered by man-made game changers like wars, climate change and nuclear technology. "Religion is dangerous because it allows human beings, who don't have all the answers, to think that they do." Countering stubborn faith with obstinate doubt, Religulous revels in infinite, philosophical quandaries, content to admit it might be wrong, as long as you do too. Plus: commentary.