Being from Alabama and also being “left” of center I have found Mahr to have devolved into a silly and sarcastic person. I at one time found him funny but he has no balance and attacks those different from him with bareley concealed anger. Snide remarks about Alabama and the south without really knowing the people or the places he attacks. I’m no fan of george bush and I’m certainly not a right wing zealont but I do think I’m fair minded and treat people the way I would want to be treated. I am so sick of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and the bullies and hawks who have never taken up arms themselves for this nation. Yet what does the left offer? Smirks and snide dummies like Mahr and Keith Olberman who have become the very thing they profess to hate.

Interesting comment above by Mr. Snead of Alabama. I appreciate his fairness and willingness to see flaws right and left. I think it sad that he himself engages in a similar non sequitur in name calling and vilifying Limbaugh and Hannity (hated by the left) using the “logic” that they have never taken up arms in the U.S. military.

It’s unfortunate, but not surprising, that Bill Maher chose to make a mockery of Dr. Collins. I heard Dr. Collins give a great talk on science and faith last night and what impressed me most about him, besides his obvious intelligence and list of accomplishments, was his great humility. He talked about many things, but never beyond his capabilities. Bill Maher would be wise to do the same. I’ve heard that Kerry Kennedy’s new book on Catholicism includes an interview with Bill Maher. Does she think that somehow Maher exempts her from one of the “religulous”?.

Maher is a comic. People are treating him far too seriously. I always give agnostics and atheists Raymond Smullyan’s marvelous book called “Who Knows?”, and then I find that I can have an intelligent discussion with them.

I saw this movie this afternoon, and I agree this was one of the lesser segments that could have ben greater. Granted, Maher was looking for an easy joke to tie a complicated topic together. I expect his rambling was a product of have the seed of a good concept but no idea how to make it work. This was one of a few weak segments. But the good segments were so good I think the movie was worth my time and money – I rarely pay retail for movie tickets- preferring our $1.50 theater a few weeks later. But I count this as $7.50 well spent.
Don, I also like Smullyan’s work and have given a few copies of his books away. There is a guy I would like to spend some time with.

Collins was a bad match for Religulous, because the theme of the movie doesn’t lend itself to the best use of time with Collins; complementary belief in God and evolution. I was personally anticipating Maher, as an agnostic, would have been very interested in hearing Collins’s views on belief in God and evolution, as was I. So it was a bit of a let down for me that Maher completely avoided the subject.
Not to say Maher isn’t interested in a complementary belief in God and science, just that my anticipation was set with the introduction of Collins, and that anticipation went unfulfilled.
I have to say the Collins interview was a missed opportunity, and I would still love to see Maher interview Collins on belief in God and evolution.

Thanks for posting this Steve.
One has to wonder what makes Bill Maher tick. A silly man, hero to millions of silly people. One day he’ll wake up, old and wrinkled, look at himself in the mirror, and cry at the utter waste he made of his life.

These comments are fascinating.
I don’t think that Maher will “cry at the utter waste he made of his life,” as Reaganite claims. But then, that’s just Reaganite being Reaganite. Maher is an entertainer and a comedian, and he has spent his life doing what he enjoys. To call him a “silly” man is “silly” itself. He is always looking at a satirical way of approaching subjects on his show, but there is a great deal of “seriousness” in everything he does. For someone to fail to acknowledge this shows either he/she hasn’t spent much time watching Maher’s show, or has an ideological axe to grind him/herself.
After seeing the film this afternoon I felt that it was a pretty hilarious romp on religious stupidity and hypocrisy, of which there is plenty of in our land (and in the world). His choice of targets was more about shock value and comic effect than it was about getting a “fair and balanced” look at these big questions he was asking. He avoided people like Taylor Field, a devout Christian who has spent his life helping the poor in NYC, and focused instead on people like Jesus Miranda, who claims he is the descendant of Jesus and who has made a fortune at playing this role. And Maher’s peroration got very dark and “preachy,” which ruined the light-hearted tone of the rest of the film. So it wasn’t a perfect film. But he does ask many excellent questions, and I think the film as a whole is entertaining and should help spark some much-needed discussion. Everyone should see it – especially those who consider themselves “religious.”

I saw Religulous last night. Excellent subject matter. Stellar entertainment. No other comedian could have pulled off such a serious subject with that kind of delicate balance between gravity and wit. He used humor to disarm people, who were then left to question their own peculiar and ridiculous miscalculations. It seems that his goal is just to open peoples eyes and ask them if they care that they are being shepherded off a cliff. It can’t hurt to ask, Right?

An atheist’s critique of Religilous:
http://www.peaceinearth.com/?p=18

Sure Maher was deceptive. It’s the norm in this mockumentary game. I’m not here to defend that. But I do have to point out that he made Collins look bad and it was perfectly justified. If Collins wants to believe in God and evolution that’s fine (in fact, as I’m sure he’d appreciate, his belief in a God is partially rooted in his genetic makeup). But why does he insist on believing in this mythical Jesus figure and all the strange religious trappings of the Catholic Church? There’s no good reason a scientist like him should, and Maher nailed him on it.

Dr. Collins argued for the historical validity of the gospel story’s supernatural claims in near absolute terms. Mr. Maher merely asked him to back up that assertion given his own understanding there was no evidence. Collins was perfectly incapable of adequately rebutting Maher’s doubt, confirming that Collins claim was a lie he told even to himself, i.e., that Collins faith did not stand on evidence, contrary to his original assertion, it instead stood on mere faith alone.
This segment of the interview is very worthy of inclusion into the movie given it’s my perception this sort of dialogue is very representative of evangelicals, which also runs directly counter to the methods of science. As a leader within the scientific community, Dr. Collins should know better than to misrepresent the basis of his faith and promote an explanation with no empirical evidence to support it. In addition it’s newsworthy that even a scientific leader succumbs to religious faith without possession of evidence.

A person who has had a genuine born again experience cannot be both;
a creationist and or an evolutionist, there ceases to be a pick and choose, you have to believe in creation according to the genesis account[no big bang also]you can be very professional and elite in life and still not know Jesus Christ as the author of your salvation, he either made you into a different person or you remain the same unchanged religious person.

On a recent award show Maher showed his true colors, his pp, so to speak; pissy petulance! His “wonderful” documentary had not made the final cut. Was it the “Emmies”? Hey Bill, how about a little grace, charity, magnanimity,love,chivalry? And…they need not come from a God, but they do grow out of contemplation, virtuous action and informedness.
Sincerely, FredworkingtobeFred

Francis Collins is brilliant, but he is a scientist and not a New Testament expert. There are thousands of experts who could give good evidence for the historicity of the Gospels, but Bill did not talk to them. His expertise lies in the ability to believe in both God and evolution (I personally believe both). I think that if we do not acknowledge that evolution is not incompatible with Christianity, then there will be a lot more ignorant folks in our faith.
I’m a Christian and I admit that I do not have certainty in what I believe, but atheists don’t either. That’s where faith comes in. You make a conscious decision to believe one this or another based on experience, personal preference, etc. I do have a great deal of evidence that shows belief in God and Jesus is very justified, even though there is never certainty when it comes to this kind of history (and yet we still believe in Julius Caeser and Alexander the Great).
People rarely believe one thing or another because of intellectual evidence (or lack thereof). Bill Mahar is no exception, and he sees what he wants to see in the religious community. it is a lot easier to argue against a group if you characterize them as ignorant. Christians do the same thing with atheists, and the best way to have dialogue is to avoid these sweeping generalizations.

I had my testimony and lost it on here somehow; anyway, people like bill mayer has a long way to go to un-convince me of the saving grace of Jesus Christ[30 years saved].

@Michael Heath
Actually, there is quite a bit of evidence for the New Testament’s historical authenticity. Email me if you want it.

So a scientists also believes in creationism. The scientist bases his religious beliefs on the Bible and says creationism is scientific. When questioned why he doesn’t use the scientific methods to examine his religious beliefs that’s an attack? He’s unable to justify his most strongly held beliefs and that’s somehow not fair?
As far as the bible being accurate, it’s not at all:
For people with such “extreme beliefs” it is actually funny to see that the bible is bugged beyond belief from the beginning to the end.
• What is meant by what is written there? (“Son of a carpenter” means actually “Philosopher”)
• Is the translation correct? (In many cases there are gross inaccurancies, like translating “You shall not murder” as “You shall not kill”)
• Was the translation altered on purpose (For example replacing both “God” and “Jesus” by “Lord” to push the doctrine of trinity)
• Is the overall meaning translated correctly? Nope, look at all the translations of Daniel 1:9.
• Are there no contradictions? Although all contradictions can be explained away, an unpleasant taste stays when 1 source says “2 persons” while the other says “1 person”
• Is the writing correct? (In some cases there are spelling errors that can aberrate the meaning)
• Is the scripture by the one or is it a fake (many Paulus letters are said to be complete fabrications)
• Is it actually written somewhere what the priest says? (“Abortion” is not mentioned once in the bible)
• How reliable are the sources? Paulus was a murderer and the other writers didn’t witness Jesus with their own eyes. (The gospel was written 100+ years after Jesus). Don’t forget that early Christians were thrown into the arena to be eaten. This is usually interpreted as “They died for their strong just belief” but you can also argue “They were freaking terrorists trying to subvert the country”. Thus you are reading texts written by guys like like Osama bin Laden. A doubtful source for truth.

Unfortunately, macroevolution and Christianity are incompatible beliefs. Macroevolution relies on the death principle (over billions of years), to produce the diversity of species. Christianity says that most species, and certainly man, existed before death came into the world. “The wages of sin is death”, and we are only saved from that fate by the redeeming work of Christ on the cross: “but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus”.
Now, microevolution happens every day, and is not incompatible with Christianity. Bugs develop resistance to pesticides, birds grow longer or shorter beaks to adapt to thier food supply, and we can select varieties of wheat to have bigger yeelds. But bugs do not turn into rats, beaks do not become elephant trunks, and wheat does not turn into corn. Their are limits to change in the biological world, and even Francis Collins should be honest enough to admit that. But he has books to sale, and he has to meet with the president, and he has a billion dollars of research stimulus to handout, so it’s in his best interest to compromise the truth.
As far as the historical accuracy of the Bible, there is no book of ancient orgins in existence today which has more textual support and secondary source valiation than the Bible. People want the Bible to be not true so that they can have sex with whomever they want, believe whatever they want, and behave however they want, and still feel good about themselves.

It’s obvious why he used that piece. It shows that even “smart” people who are religious have no idea why they believe what they do. The just do, in our view, because their hallucination/delusion is so strong and resistant to outside influence. The historical evidence that the bible is true is the most important issue to a scientist. Jokes!

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