Deeply religious people will not be swayed by the concepts and arguments presented and Maher never comes across as anything other than inflammatory, rolling his eyes and snorting when he didn't like what people said. Yet, the movie is engrossing and in the very least, incites conversation - something that he most definitely advocates.
I've had the pleasure of being exposed to a few of the worlds' religions and the thing that I most enjoyed was the common thread of community that ran through them. I've never met a person that used their religion to excuse violence, but I know they exist. It's hard not to hear and see the stories on the news. So, I have only positive feelings and memories towards past experiences with religion and religious people. Maher would probably argue that those people were just nice! Nothing to do with what religion they were. He'd be accurate there, I think.
But, at the end of the day, I don't consider myself a particularly religious person. But, I do find spirituality and morality high on my "to do" list and I consider them not necessarily one and the same as religion. And that's, ultimately, what I took from the movie. That we need to use spirituality and morality to make sure that we don't annihilate ourselves as religion seems to be indicating we do (and will cause).
Despite Maher's annoying presentation, I give this a Pass. Definitely food for thought....
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