Religulous is Stupendous

Posted by LisaMurray on November 12, 2008

One of my favorite things about working at Paramount is all the movie screenings because left on my own, I would NEVER see movies in a theatre!  (It’s weird, I know.)   I screen movies for my job but Paramount also offers screenings for employees, Paramount films and non-Paramount films.  Tonight they screened Religulous (a non-Paramount film) at 6:45PM.  So when I was done with my work I walked over to the theatre (SO convenient… no parking!  no lines!)

What makes this documentary so great is that Bill Maher QUESTIONS something that nobody publicly questions: RELIGION.  Why is it that we don’t like people asking questions about our religious beliefs?  I for one welcome people questioning my political and spiritual beliefs.  I have no problem expressing why I believe what I believe.  And not only that but I welcome questions so that I may also question my own beliefs from time to time as to not just be on auto-pilot. It’s important to question things!  QUESTION AUTHORITY.  What a great quote.  In this movie Bill Maher questions all of the major religions and even though I cringed a couple of times for the types of things he said – to people’s faces – I had to face my own fears about the issue of “questioning” and “religion” as a whole.  Even though I subscribe to the school of thought that questioning stuff is important, I found myself many times saying to myself, “but don’t question THAT to THAT person!”  Thank goodness for this film because it made me see the hypocrisy inside of me.  And if it’s doing that for ME then it’s definitely doing it for others.  If you are offended by somebody questioning your beliefs then you either 1) don’t believe what you claim to believe or fully know why you believe what you believe and the questioning only brings that reality to the surface for you – which causes distress, or 2) you are afraid to allow yourself to BE in the place of the unknown and so you cling to beliefs you adpoted along that way that offer you a false sense of security, or 3) BOTH.   Questioning things is normal and healthy.  There is no harm in questioning anything.  But there IS harm in NOT questioning stuff – especially when it comes to religion and politics.

I urge you to see this movie – whatever your religious beliefs.  Why?  Because whether you are a Christian or a Jew, a Muslim or an Athiest, we all have to live with one another right now (who knows what happens in the after-life!) and so it is important that we understand our fundamental differences – and similarities.  I was raised Roman Catholic but I consider myself a “spiritual” person and not a “religous” person.  I love my experiences with the Catholic church but for me, my God experience comes from everything – the sky, the trees, the stars, flowers, the ocean, reading about near-death experiences, animals, other people, my dreams, my mind, my intuition, children, adults, life, death, etc.  I learn from everything and to me, everything offers an opportunity for me to grow and expand my knowledge of myself and life.  I never felt 100% comfortable with religion because it never felt right to me to be part of something that denouced somebody else’s experience.  All I know is MY journey.  That’s all I CAN know.  Every person is on their own journey and everyone needs to find their own answers.  I do believe that we should all respect each other, be kind to each other, and if you don’t like someone, just walk away and don’t waste your time spreading hate.  That’s it.  That’s the “Lisa Religion”.  haha  To each his own.    So anyway, if you see RELIGULOUS, come back and leave a comment.  I’m interested in hearing from you about this topic.

So it’ll make you think, it’ll make you shake your head and… oh yeah, it’s HILARIOUS!!  (Yep, hilarious.)

For showtimes and more info, visit the film’s wesite:  http://www.lionsgate.com/religulous/