Religulous

Comedian Bill Maher raises a lot of questions in his hard-hitting, confrontational, sometimes funny movie, "Religulous," which ended its four-week run at the Terrace Theater last week.

Ultimately, the film is not really about what motivates most religious people, or what purposes religion serves, or why human beings have adhered to some form of it over the centuries, or why it causes some people to do such marvelous things while prompting others to commit horrors.

In the end, the movie is about Maher and his incredulous comedy.

To help emphasize his point, the filmmakers, including director Larry Charles, who has worked on the HBO show "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and directed "Borat," cleverly edited in scenes from old TV shows and movies, clips featuring politicians and sundry well-timed comic images.

"If there's one thing I hate more than prophecy, it's self-fulfilling prophecy," Maher says early in the film. Religion is an "invisible product" that's "too easy" to buy. "It's a dissonance in my head. I have to find out, I have to try."

So the crew travels to Raleigh to speak with worshippers at the Truckers Chapel and to the Ezra Center to speak with prosperity preacher Jeremiah Cummings.

The filmmakers travel to the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky., and to the Holy Land Experience in Orlando, Fla. They go to Washington, D.C.; Salt Lake City; Amsterdam, Netherlands; Jerusalem; Rome; and various hot spots of religious zealotry.

Maher works hard to show us how ridiculous he thinks adherents to Christianity, Judaism and Islam are, arguing that religion leads to intolerance and violence, and that it's absurd to adopt a literal reading of the sacred texts since so much in them is patently impossible.

Despite the ridicule and ranting, Maher manages to touch on some potent themes and large concerns, enough to inspire The Post and Courier to organize a public round-table discussion. We wanted to know what learned people of faith (clergy mostly), scholars and secular humanists thought of "Religulous" and the issues it raises. We wanted to give those who represent not the radical fringe but the mainstream a chance to voice their views. In other words, we wanted to do what Maher mostly failed to do: take faith seriously and discuss it respectfully.

Assembled for the discussion were six clergy (a Southern Baptist, AME minister, Orthodox priest, Presbyterian minister, Orthodox rabbi and Episcopal priest), one religion professor, one observant Muslim who is a medical doctor with a minor in Islamic studies and one secular humanist. The conversation was lively and thoughtful.

The Rev. Joe Darby said he hated the movie. Faith and reason are two distinct languages, he argued. One believes not because religion is some empirical force that can be measured, but, rather, because it pulls you into a nonmaterial realm that appeals not to reason, but to spirit and the human capacity to promote good.

The Rev. Canon Michael Wright said that his faith tradition (Anglican/Episcopalian) was not represented in the movie. For that matter, he thought no one from any mainline tradition was given a voice; the movie focused on those who reside along the fringe of faith. Wright said that, for him, paradise is not only some otherworldly place one strives to enter after death but a reachable state that all living people can achieve now. One can get a taste of heaven here on Earth by living well and doing good work, he said.

Abdulrahman Alhashemi said that Islam, which means "peace," is meant to be tolerant of others. To prove his point, he cited the Quran.

About 60 spectators attending the event witnessed a vigorous discussion during which they heard about the Jewish imperative to repair a shattered world, recurring religious themes throughout history (including certain key Jewish and Christian stories that have appeared in other cultures) and the challenges faced by atheists and agnostics, which make up at least 16 percent of the U.S. population, to claim legitimacy.

The movie was among the Top 10 most viewed so far this year, judging from box office receipts, according to Michael Furlinger, owner of the Terrace Theater on James Island.

He said the Terrace was the only commercial theater in the state screening "Religulous" and that several people traveled to Charleston to view it. Some came from Savannah, others from Hilton Head Island, Furlinger said.

Mostly, audiences seemed to consist of skeptics willing to go along with Maher's rants, he said, but at least a few viewers were more skeptical of Maher than of faith. A few clergy showed up, he said. (perhaps those who were to participate in the round-table discussion).

Furlinger was certain before the run that he would receive complaints or worse for screening a movie that dared to question the existence of God and motives of religious people.

"There have been no complaints, none," he said. "It's shocking to me."

Reach Adam Parker at aparker@postandcourier.com.