Religulous: Blasphemy At Its Best?

By Connect2Mason Reporter Emily Culley

"Religulous" comes from combining the words “religion” and ridiculous,” according to Bill Maher, who is the brains behind this bizarre documentary. Maher's objective within this documentary is easy and simple: to figure out concepts behind religions and some of the problems or conflicts that have come about in the recent years with the power struggle between human rights and religion.

Through out the documentary Maher constantly ridicules the religions, its followers and its figures. On one level, Maher forces you to respect the interview subjects for being as devout as they are with their religions. While on a completely different level, Maher shows how illogical their reasonings are; in some cases, he goes as far as to make a mockery of them and their religion.

Maher will make you laugh, piss you off, misinform you, correct himself, and repeat as needed. Don't get me wrong, the documentary is downright blasphemous in the eyes of religious people, nor does it come to a concrete message at the end of the film, which, in my opinion, is the major downfall of the documentary.

While it was informative throughout, the ending was somewhat anticlimactic, leaving me with the impression that Maher learned absolutely nothing on his journey - other than new ways to piss off religious people.

Grade: B-