Bill Maher hates your (fill in the blank) religion

In Bill Maher's new documentary, "Religulous," the film's protagonist--Maher himself--feels the same way about the film's subject matter at the beginning as at the end: In other words, he thinks religion is a big crock of spit. You know irreverence is the order of the day when Maher, reacting to a smooth-talking black preacher's boast that he got a great deal on his $2,000 suits, drolly observes, "I find it interesting that you're a Christian, you used to be a Muslim but you buy all your clothes like a Jew."

"Religulous" doesn't open until Oct. 3, but after seeing the movie I couldn't wait to grill Maher about how he managed to get so many deeply religious figures to actually talk to him, since it's obvious to anyone whose ever watched Maher's act (on "Politically Incorrect" or HBO's "Real Time With Bill Maher" or in a comedy club) that he wasn't much of a believer. In many ways, the film is a comic bookend to Sam Harris' "The End of Faith," a humorless best seller that views religion as a bastion of superstition and moral hypocrisy. Although Maher embraces Harris' belief that religion is a destructive force that has brought great pain and suffering into the world--at one point he calls it a neurological disorder--Maher is always searching for the humor in every situation. A longtime acolyte of George Carlin, when Maher confronts a religious zealot or hustler, he prefers mocking over scolding.

Rolling his eyes, often full of derision, Maher gets in his licks with everyone, from a guy playing Jesus at a Holy Land theme park in Orlando to Muslims at a gay bar in Amsterdam to a rabbi who advocates the dissolution of Israel (he wears a card with the slogan "A Jew Not a Zionist"). As everything from "The Gong Show" to "Borat" has proved, real people and situations are often undeniably funnier than anything scripted by the best comic minds. In Holland, Maher is in the midst of questioning a somber Muslim cleric when he's interrupted by the cleric's cellphone, whose ring tone is Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir."

So how did Maher manage to get all these people to actually talk to him? Since "Religulous" was directed by Larry Charles, who also did "Borat," I suspected that subterfuge and trickery were involved. I was not far wrong. Here's how Maher pulled it off:

On how he got people to talk to him: "It was simple: We never, ever, used my name. We never told anybody it was me who was going to do the interviews. We even had a fake title for the film. We called it 'A Spiritual Journey.' It didn't work everywhere. We went to Salk Lake City, but no one would let us film there at all."

On the element of surprise: "Larry Charles' theory is--just keep going till they throw you out. I guess he learned that on 'Borat.' The crew would set up and at the last second, when the cameras were already rolling, I would show up. So either they'd be seen on camera leaving the interview and lose face or they'd have to talk to me. It was like--'And now here's ... Bill!' You could usually see the troubled looks on their faces. At the Holy Land theme park, the PR woman freaked out and finally told us to leave. She was definitely not a happy camper."

On his encounter with Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor, who tells Maher he believes the biblical account that Earth was created 5,200 years ago: "He's not going to be happy with this movie. I suspect he's going to say that the editing is not favorable to him [laughs]. And he's not completely wrong about that. But we didn't make anything up. When I told him I was worried about people [with such literal interpretations of the Bible] running the country, he's the one who says, 'Well, you don't have to pass an IQ test to be in the Senate.' "

Tomorrow: Bill Maher tells us what he really thinks about religion.

photo of Bill Maher and Larry Charles by Alexandra Lambrinidis/Lionsgate

Comments

[MikeL]

@Dave
Nice Post!

My thoughts are that if the majority of people in one society hold to a particular belief system (doesn't matter what it is), it means that there is less disagreement / conflict and that in general the society will be more STABLE. It doesn't make the belief system right, it just means it will persist for longer and therefore be self-reinforcing. The presence of multiple belief systems in a society, or the coming together of multiple societies, leads to more disagreement / conflict and has a DESTABILISING effect.

The lack of any belief system in a society is not intrinsically stable. This is why I believe atheists will always be a fringe group, whether they are in a position to declare or not.
Good luck Bill!

[Sophie]

I'm glad the atheists I know are not nearly as idiotic as Bill Maher fans posting here.

[Syn Holliday]

Yes Bill the Pill, if you don't believe in God, you're sad, alone, and unloved. Money and fame at the expense of others? Where is the gun being held to people's heads to entertain in his stuff. You're a bit of a drama queen, don't you think?

[jamie]

Bill Maher is a bright guy who is capable of writing devastatingly funny comedy bits.
The fact that, today, he deals almost exclusively in partisan mockery of caricatures of republicans seems to me to be a great waste of talent, and an ineffectual use of that talent as well. He has his cable shows where he can be mean to silly little Young Republicans, but has he added ANYTHING meaningful to the dialogue in the past 7 years despite his greatest efforts? He pales next to Louis Black, Jon Stewart and dozens of others. His bits are anger bits and even the median left-leaning American is a positive person and is not into the kind of negativity that is Maher's current stock in trade.

Imagine Bill Maher under a President Obama. He'll be unemployed.

[CFB]

The commenters on this thread are a perfect illustration of why the Los Angeles Times is going bankrupt.

[Jonah]

John 3:16 says it all. I hope Bill comes to know the Living God someday before he dies in spite of mans many religious mistakes...

[gator]

bill maher is just another jackass liberal who has made all of his money off of the stupid ass liberals that pay attention to him. he has never had or ever will have a real thought about anything. this idiot probably believes in evolution, but i'll bet if he is ever in a dire situation he wont be saying oh darwin help me. he is a hypocrite and should be kicked off of tv.

[Lynette]

I cannot wait to see this movie. It is comforting to finally see a backlash to all the religious fanataticism that has gone on in this country for the last 20 + years. The rise of Christian fundamentalism and its marriage to the government has done more to turn back progress than any other force in this country's history.

[Tia]

You know what's sad? There's no individualism anymore. If you don't think/believe what I believe, then you're a bigot and your heart is fill w/ hatred. What ever happened to having a mind of your own? I AM proud to be a Christian, but unfortunately Christianity has been tainted by GLAMOUR and DECEPTION. Why? Because they wanted to be accepted by the masses, they wanted Christianity to look appealing to grow the Christian community. I can't speak for other religions but I know that's NOT what God intended for it to be. Agreement doesn't equal Respect, so just b/c I don't agree with you beliefs doesn't mean I can't respect you as a human. That's a quality we've lost. We've become an immature nation, if you don't do this then you're stupid (very ELEMENTARY)

[Marty]

As Bill's hero George Carlin said.."I was a practicing Catholic until I reached the age of Reason.(about 10)
Let's take the message learned from the classic film "Inherit the wind" The bible tells us to think, but most believers only parrot and accept. Think of all the errors in the bible and the absurd theories. Methusaala lived 900 years? God parted the red sea to save a few hundred Jews but didn't lift a finger to save 6 million from Hitler? What if the DaVinci code was really true? How many christians would leap to their death off tall buildings before the religious leaders created a B.S. excuse or smokescreen. Welome to the dumbing down of America the only nation in the world that is growing in religiousity faster than the terroistst muslims. We are the laughing stock of the world