Bill Maher’s Christmas message

Yeah, yeah he’s an atheist, whatever. Listen to what he has to say. He’s right. For those who are celebrating the holiday, I hope all will take this heart. What I like about the Eastern Orthodox, Christmas is treated like a “holy day” not a mere holiday. We can learn from them and Bill at the same time. The North American religion is truly “greed” and it seems The Great Recession has  not altered people’s mentality. One can hope and pray that there will be a change of heart.

Rabbis take on Religulous

On this blog you have seen Robert Morey’s and Father Robert Barron’s critique and rebuttals to Bill Maher’s 2008 documentary movie Religulous. Now you will hear some Jewish Rabbis make their own critique of the movie. I hope you will find their conclusions and statements as just as riveting and fascinating.

Some updates, some introductions and some Bill Maher clips!

 For those paying attention, I have a new link to Hirsan Ali’s short movie Submission (2004) in my December 3, 2007 post.  It seems to be a fact of life on cyberspace that links whether videos,websites or blogs are here today and gone tomorrow. If you haven’t seen Submission, here’s a golden opportunity and you can make at least some comparisons to radical Islam and Armstrongism.  I have deleted the December 28, 2008 post on my “World Premiere” of Jesus Camp. The original site that carries also does no longer exist.  I have founded a new site here that has the whole hour and a half movie online in it’s entirity. For those who want Bill Maher’s reaction to the movie, I will give you this link here. As I said, this is the next generation of the religious right. Be scared, really scared.

For some time, I read occasionally an blog called OrthoCuban from “Friar Orthoduck”. He has really good topics. One post which I really liked was his one on Ordoliberalism which is a different capitalistic model from the laissez-faire model that the U.S. has been accustomed to. He recently has a post comparing the views on original sin from the Western and Eastern Churches. Though I have considered myself a “post-evangelical” protestant Christian, I have leaned to the Eastern Orthodox view in which I written a few posts like this one, in which a person who was highly schooled in Augustinian theology was giving me some corrections about the information I was trying to present.

You know that I had to bring in a Bill Maher clip (or two). Sorry I don’t have his recent comedy routine “But I’m Not Wrong” in it’s entirety but I have a clip on my current affairs blog, where tells off the nutbar Teabaggers in the U.S. really good! For those who may be offended, lurk somewhere else. This is an old clip way long before Bill Maher’s new found “apatheist” conversion. I don’t agree with everything said but I respected his previous belief that he acknowledged the existence of God but shunned the middlemen, the bureaucracy in the way. That remains my belief today, whereas Bill during when the recently passed decade of the 2000’s progressed, evolved into an apatheist (certain evangelicals will assert he’s an atheist anyway, no difference). I have another clip where he suggests that religion get regulated. Actually, I would like to see “cults” regulated. Of course, a great place to start with the ultra conservative XCG splinters, the Jehovah’s Witnesses and even that famous UFO cult that is mentally imprisoning many famous people. Yes, I am with Bill that we should be more skeptical (well actually he said cynnical) with organized religion. The other option is to leave your brain at the door and take everything what they say is infallible. Sorry, been there and done that! This old dog isn’t playing that game anymore.

From Bill Maher back in ’03

Where he rightly exposes the farce of multiculturalism (big M that is) and moral relativism.

Some more Bill Maher

On his favourite subject: religion along with friend Richard Dawkins. You may not be an apatheist like Bill or atheist like Dr.Dawkins but they got a point.

A Christian Mafia????

Again, this is no way is a joke and the concept should frighten the living you-know-what out of you. On HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, one man’s experience (Jeff Sharlet) with this fraternity called The Fraternity should definately open your eyes and raise some cause for concern. I would dare to say that this man’s testimony makes a Steven King  novel look like a peaceful nightime story.

Mike Huckabee challenges Bill Maher on Religulous

 

I don’t get Fox News in my cable system here in Toronto, Canada but I know that former U.S. presidential canidate and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has his own show on the network. Here he engages in a civil discussion with Bill Maher about his recent documentary Religulous. I have always liked Governor Huckabee and I will dare say it is lazy, irresponsible and non-thinking to categorize him as simply as just another right wing religious nut. Frankly, I find him a lot better than Sarah Palin hands down (at least he respects critical thinking, Governor Palin does not). Enough of politics, here’s his challenge on Bill Maher’s Religulous.

Bill Maher corrected by Andrew Sullivan

 Me and Joe finally seen Bill Maher’s movie Religulous last weekend. Yes, as I predicted, Joe truly had a feast.  Though true believers (and I use that in a negative connotation) would rebuke me for seeing it, I also enjoyed it and I did think at times Bill was asking some good questions (they may be uncomfortable questions—but I say TOUGH!), though he may have been sarcastic at times (you can see the glum faces with some of the interviewees with his quips!). I give this movie two thumbs up. Does Bill go to far at times? Probably. Some of  you who may object to Bill Maher completely may feel a little elated watching this, a clip from September 20th’s episode of Bill Maher’s show on HBO Real Time (I don’t want to rub it in James Pate’s face, as of recently we in Canada now have HBO Canada which has Bill’s show but I don’t have HBO Canada!). Andrew Sullivan, a libertarian-conservative bloggist and a gay Roman Catholic (now I have Darren something else to jump about!) gives a piece of his mind telling Bill Maher that it’s imperative that he needs to distinguish bad faith and good faith and to stop lumping it together in a bigoted fashion under no uncertain terms. Sorry Bill, Andrew is right and I even went far to back up Andrew Sullivan on his Facebook fan site.

Oh yes, I am seeing it this weekend!

Bill Maher’s documentary Religulous, of course—which debuts this Friday in the theatres! Me and my friend Joe (a former Worldwider) is looking sooo forward to see this movie! Some ultra conservative true believers will question why I am seeing such a movie that borders on blasphemy according them. Again, these people have purposely missed the point. Bill Maher has consistently said he is not against the concept of God—but of organized religion. Also Bill Maher has long since argued that organized religion has become a bureaucracy or a middleman to God. I have never agreed with everything that Bill has to say about religion but I can only credit him of making me and many others “think”. When I met Tony Campolo when he visited Toronto in 1999 at the People’s Church, I agreed with Tony Compolo’s conclusion that Bill Maher is a very intelligent person. Dr.Campolo has many times have been on Bill’s previous show Politically Incorrect. Here is some youtube.com clips from CBC news that discuss his movie and two clips from ABC’s The View in which Bill Maher appears on talking to the regular panel.  To Bill Maher fans I can only say, “enjoy”, and make it a point to see “Religulous”.

 

Finally…the movie trailer of: Religulous!

 

I have been a long time fan of comedian, satirist and commentator Bill Maher who hosts HBO’s Real Time ( a show that I have to see on Youtube.com in Canada OR listen to it on HBO online. The only time Canada will get HBO is that Canada is going to have to join the U.S. to get it, but again that’s another topic for another time and possibly my other blog). I enjoyed him on ABC’s Politically Incorrect during it’s run from 1997-2002 and made sure I taped it on my VCR if I couldn’t see him when he was on midnight because of a work shift that I had at that  time or I had to go bed for a job that began in the morning, but it was always worth it! He was the big brother I never had in the sense that he had little patience for religious fantacism, Christian phariseeism and legalism and religious stupidity in all faiths. In some ways I wish he was there during my years in Armstrongism and punching a few black eyes (metaphorically and physically) to those who thought I was an object to be used. Also, Russ of I Survived Armstrongism does remind of Bill Maher (that’s a supremely high compliment Russ!) —well of course, they are both left of centre libertarians and both have little patience of moralizing busybodies who want to delve in everybody’s private lives.  Yes, I know  Bill is a newly converted  “apatheist” meaning he doesn’t give a rat’s behind whether there is or isn’t a God—we all need to do good for the sake of doing good. Some Christians of a more traditional old school approach believe  I should not be supporting this man or seeing his upcoming movie come October called Religulous. Well, as a person of faith, I firmly support Byker Bob’s rightly strident disappointment where some Christians take pride that one should leave their mind at the door or lose 50 IQ points and become blonde. If it takes an apatheist like Bill to expose their nonsense, I am all for it! These people are not doing nor helping mankind any good.  Plus with Bill Maher, I learn something new from him all the time (though he may piss me off on occassion). Without further blather, here is the trailer of his new documentary (coming in October)—Religulous!