My Response to ‘Religulous,’ Part 1
Author: Andy Robbins
Bill Maher is the host of a new documentary movie called, Religulous, which marries the word religious with ridiculous in an all-out full frontal attack on the beliefs and values of those who hold any religious convictions. You can view the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nahmIajIzfA and a YouTube response to the film here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImcOSa4frKA
Maher pretty much lumps all religious groups into the same category, portraying Christians, Jews, and Muslims alike as brainless weirdos who have no ability to think rationally. So because Maher and those who share his opinions have chosen to be so bold as to assume this attack mode, suggesting that Christians and Jews are a threat to the sanity of our society, I think that it is reasonable and fair that I speak up in defense of myself and those who believe like me.
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I want to make it clear that my purpose here is not to prosyletize. What I wish to do is promote intelligent dialogue. I do not disrespect those who believe differently than I do. I have never wished to ram my convictions down anyone’s gullet. But since it is increasingly clear that society wants to ram their worldview down mine, isn’t it reasonable that I ask those who may share Maher’s views to at least look at both sides before you judge me and my fellow Christians? I want to tell you WHY I believe like I do, and demonstrate that Christianity is a faith for rational people and critical thinkers. So please hear me out. I think much of this will make sense to you.
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I am the first to acknowledge that there have been a lot of weirdos and charlatans who are religious, or who appear to be religious. And I also recognize that there are charlatans and weirdos in every facet of life – law enforcement, government, medicine, education, the arts, etc. But the weirdos and charlatans in these areas do not negate the importance of these entities in society, just as the religious wackos do not negate the claims of Christianity and its massive postive influence on society (I’ll elaborate on that point in a later post).
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In his film, Maher portrays Christians as people who do not know why they believe as they do and who cannot defend their faith. Yet most of the people I have ever met who practice nearly any religion, including New Age, cannot intelligently articulate WHY they believe like they do, but largely rely on their own feelings and opinion and not hard facts (i.e. “I believe such and such because I just FEEL that…”).
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I agree that most American Christians have not read enough of their Bibles to know why they practice what they practice, and Maher’s street interviews expose a few of them. But my primary issue with the movie is that it is horrendously slanted because Maher makes no attempt to show those in Christian circles who are off-the-charts intelligent – those who practice law, who are physicians, scientists, artists, professors, politicians, and entrepreneurs – and who know what they believe and why they believe it and can articulate it intelligently, and who can demonstrate the sound reasoning behind their beliefs. No, Maher would have no part of them. His movie shamelessly promotes his worldview on his terms, and he will have it no other way.
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So in this and the posts following are just a few short responses on some of the issues that Maher and others like him use to call into question the legitimacy of the Christian faith in particular.
“Religious People are Close Minded”
With due respect to Maher and those who share his views, that criticism is a bit like the pot calling the kettle black, because in my experience most (not all) of the people who have ever engaged me in debate over religious matters wish only to do all the talking and recoil if I attempt to share my views. I’m not implicating everyone who disagrees with my views, but I’m just sharing my experience. I have been in perhaps hundreds of religious discussions with non-religious people. A few of those people have been very nice and most others have been combative and adversarial, but there has never been a single time when I have been in a religious discussion with someone where my counterpart seemed to care what I thought and offered something like, “So… tell me why you believe like you do.” It seems like everyone just assumes to know what I believe and why I believe it and are interested only in attempting to show me why I’m wrong.
I, for one, have investigated most of the world’s main religions in more detail than probably 99.9% of the American population, which really isn’t saying a whole heck of a lot. And I am therefore a Christian because it is the only faith that makes rational and intellectual sense to me, whereas atheism, deism, agnosticism, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and Universalist/Unitarianism have never resonated with me because I have never been able to reconcile any of these other beliefs with rational thought and historical/scientific scrutiny. But lest I get ahead of myself, that’s a discussion for another post.
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It is difficult for me to imagine how someone who is not even willing to engage an intelligent Christian in a meaningful exchange of ideas can accuse Christians of being close-minded. On numerous occasions I have quietly and respectfully sat across the table from someone who is opposed to my beliefs and listened to him or her rant and rave about why I am wrong and he/she is right. It has often been difficult to get a word in edge-wise. A respectful offering of my thoughts was not allowed without a combative and close-minded response. Yet I am the one who is supposedly close-minded. Again, I am not generalizing. I am just sharing my experiences.
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Maher, likewise, along with numerous others, believe staunchly that how they feel about religion and spiritual matters is absolutely correct. Yet I have never heard anyone intelligently defend his/her anti-Christian beliefs with any compelling facts. If a scientist attempted to defend a scientific hypothesis with some of the weak, circular reasoning that I have heard some people use to defend their spiritual (or lack thereof) convictions, they would be thrown out of academia. Yet they hold to those beliefs as if they were proven with 10,000 double-blind placebo controlled peer reviewed trials, and they are not open to any concepts that come from the Bible. Yet I am the one who is supposedly close-minded.
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While I know my language is revealing how incredulous I am at all this, I really do try to respect those who differ with me. I know some people do have some intelligent and reasonable objections to what I believe, and I am not opposed to discussing those objections. But I am not one to force my beliefs on anyone, and I like to live by the axiom, “live and let live.” Sure, I would like to see more people share my views, but all who are reading this are like that as well. If you are a liberal, you want more people to be liberal so that you can live in the kind of society you think is best. So how is that any different than me wanting more people to see things my way so that the world can become a place that I believe it will become by more people observing Christian principles — a place of love, peace, mutual respect, and justice for all people? (Of course, my concern for people’s eternal destiny motivates me as well, but that is another matter.)
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Perhaps Maher and others believe that I am close-minded because I believe a certain way and will not compromise my values with those with whom I disagree. But Maher and those who believe as he does are not willing to be persuaded by those with whom they disagree either, and that is supposedly an expression of open-mindedness. Pardon my frankness, but how does that make sense? Our society supposedly values open exchange of ideas and tolerance toward those who hold different views than ours. As it appears to me, that tolerance is extended to just about everyone but Christians. I would hope that those who truly are open-minded and intelligent enough to investigate both sides of any issue would be willing to respectfully accept the invitation to discuss this issue with a spirit of mutual respect.
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Well, enough for now. In the several posts following I am going to address critcisms such as “Religious people are weak-minded and base their beliefs on fairy-tale ideas,” and “religion is a source of war and atrocities,” and “Christianity is just one of many ways to God,” and others. I welcome your RESPECTFUL feedback (badgerings will not be posted or responded to), and hope that you can take in these arguments with an open mind.