I like the opening of Psalm 53, "Fools say in their hearts, 'There is no God.'"  I think that is something to keep in mind when looking at the arguments of atheists, of which, from what I understand, Bill Maher counts himself as part of their number.

      The nature of faith is such that it is a gift from God.  A believer cannot help but believe in God.  That is what psalm 53 is getting at.  When one contemplates the mystery of reality, most people do not simply say that it was an accident...or that it always was.  What I am hinting at here is what some people term a "natural religion."  Revealed religion says a lot more about the nature of God; but just from the viewpoint of the basic question, "Why is there something rather than nothing," people of intellect can be drawn into a so-called natural belief in God.

      What Mr. Maher tries to do in his film, "Religulous," is to make religion look ridiculous (hence the title, a combination of those two words).  And from what I hear about the film (I have not seen it), he does a pretty good job!  What he exploits are people who don't really talk from a theological point of view about their faith.  Here, I think of one excerpt I heard--he asks his mom about why she taught him the faith and took him to church (Catholicism, I do believe).  She gives a general response of "Well, we thought it was good for you."  Well, many things are good for us: exercise, balanced diet, rest.  But to talk about faith and religion and keep it on such an ordinary level does disservice to the import of faith.

       The better answer would be, "We believe this to be true, that's why we passed it down to you.  We shared this faith with you because it will be the most important part of your life.  It may not bring you riches; in fact, since it is true, it will bring you the cross.  But it will bring you the joy of believing.  One's relationship with God is of the highest import in life.  This is not like picking a school or a vocation--it is not any particular good but THE Good; this part of our life concerns what has been called the ULTIMATE CONCERN (see Tillich).  And because it is so important, we cannot be silent about it."

      Do you see how that differs from the innocuous, "it was something good for you"?

      What I offer above is what would be called an "apologetic," a defense of one's viewpoint when it is challenged.  And that is what is needed to see a film like "Religulous."  If people mistakenly go see this film to see what religion is truly about, then they can be misled and lose their faith.  However, seeing this film to learn about religion would be as unwise as looking to a creationist to teach you about evolution.  It is a parody with its own agenda--and Bill Maher's agenda is to ridicule religion.  But, as I point out above, I would question if what he ridiculing is the heart of religion. Rather, he is ridiculing people who have trouble articulating their belief OR practice religion for the wrong reasons.  The heart of religious practice is interior belief, which brings me back to my opening psalm (perhaps we might call it an "opening psalm-o in defense of belief!). Psalm 53 says it is not the fool who truly believes, but that atheists such as Mr. Maher are the real "fools."

       So, when it comes to your question about watching this film, I offer the following advice.  You cannot watch such films mindlessly; you must watch it with a critical eye that asks questions.  I suspect many of his theses can be refuted or given a different perspective by informed believers.  So, if your faith is strong, I think it can watch such a film with a critical eye.  And seeing such a film can be good practice, since you may run into an atheist who will question your belief.  By knowing "their game plan," you can think through your own "apologia" (defense).  But if a person's faith is weak, then it may be best for them not to see it so as to not be led astray.

        This will probably not be the last anti-religious film.  But the call from I Peter 3:15b-16a will remain: Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence.

Grace and Peace,
Fr. Chris

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