That's Friggin' Religulous...

I have not seen Religulous yet but I plan to when it comes out on dvd. Until then all I have is clips on Youtube and movie reviews. I used to watch Bill Maher's show on HBO (when I had HBO) and loved his straightforward and frank humor.

---

When it comes to religion, at least for me, questions are key to further understanding God and Man. There are those that choose to stand by the answers given to them by their religious leaders and I believe that's perfectly fine as long as it encourages love and compassion for Mankind. But there are also those who will defend their beliefs and fight tooth and nail to the death instead of talking, and trying to understand why their opponents might believe otherwise. Questions are what brought me to my current beliefs, but I understand that my beliefs are just one of many and I am also willing to sit and listen to other viewpoints.

When believers focus on the true spirit of their religion much good can come out of it: Love, Compassion, Justice. And Bill Maher makes an excellent point that none of us have the answers (or even part of an answer) and that is why we must continue asking questions and learn to live with them.

And to Bill Maher's question as to why would a loving God allow pain in the world? My answer would be that I don't have an answer. So instead of spending a lifetime trying to answer that question let's come together and try to alleviate some of that pain. Can we do this without religion? There are plenty of organizations that are doing this now without the need of any religious institution, creeds, or beliefs. I don't believe you need to have faith in God to help out in a soup kitchen. It's not like if and when someone becomes an atheist they turn into this monster without any morality or compassion. I believe in God because I can take one look at nature and see an order too complex to be born out of chance. Now 20 years down the road that may or may not change but my morals, love, and compassion for my fellow Man will not change.