Eternity, is defined as infinite or unending time, the likelihood one will reach the end of days and face their eternity in a place beyond this earth is a question only God can answer. The mockumentary “Religulous” starring Bill Maher was designed to strengthen Bill Maher’s ethos as a comedian yet he attempts to tackle theological questions that are beyond his understanding. His thesis directly reflects his agnostic belief that if mankind continues to accept religion without questioning it, than it should also be prepared to accept all of the prophecies of that religion including the end of times. Maher feels we should abandon religion before it destroys the world, so he tries to place doubt in the minds of religious leaders and followers in this film by refuting the word of God. Bill Maher presents a poorly-argued case in the film due to his overly inflated ethos and lack of decorum.
To begin with, this film was designed to promote Maher’s ethos as a comedian. With his
practical wisdom as a comedian Maher has made tons of controversial films over the years this
why should this one be any different, Religulous is supposed to be about religion but instead its
filled with Maher’s opinion of religion which gives us little to base our beliefs upon. It seems
like every time he is interviewing someone and they are about to make a really good point he
ends the interview and cuts straight to the Bill Maher commentary. It was like watching the
Wiley coyote chase the road runner then just as the coyote is about to catch him, the anvil falls
directly on his head. This is done mainly because it really wasn’t designed for a serious
discussion about religion. This film was made to help Maher’s ratings inflate. We al...
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... who are also not aware of why Maher wants to join them for church, that’s pretty obvious when he starts asking questions and one guy stands up and exits after stating he didn’t want any part of the interview if it was about refuting the word of his God. When the movie is over if you get to that point, it is a relief that due to Maher’s poor skills of rhetoric the world will still end because he couldn’t convince a duck to fly.
As can be seen, it takes more than a macho attitude to refute the word of God and to successfully take on the world of religion. Bill Maher’s lack of decorum and rhetorical skills are some of the key reasons why he fails to succeed in his master plan to plant seeds of deception in the minds of religious followers and destroy religion.
Works cited
Religuous .Dir. Larry Charles. Perf. Bill Maher.2008. DVD.
Throughout centuries, humans have expressed different perspectives toward a single idea. The subject of religion invites challenging discussions from skeptical minds because religion is diversely interpreted based on personal faith. The authoress sets her novel in a fictional town, Cold Sassy, where religion plays a predominant role in people’s lives. Through Will Tweedy’s narration she explores the religious opinions of the town’s most prominent citizen Rucker Blakeslee, Will’s grandpa. Although Blakeslee spent his whole life in a religiously conservative town, he has a radical approach toward religious concepts such as predestination, suicide, funerals, faith, and God’s will, thus forcing him to challenge the traditional views of organized religion.
“The O’Reilly Factor” which is aired on the Fox News Channel where he talks about political
On the one side, the vocal religious right, mainly in the US, promises Hell and damnation for those who do not believe their version of the truth. On the other side, equally extremist views, put forward by Dawkins and his ilk, further alienate the moderates. By reading the media, it would seem that there is little room for compromise between the two sides, especially when prominent politicians become involved” (Shuttleworth)
Evans, C. Stephen. Critical Dialog in Philosophy of Religion. 1985. Downers Grove, IL. InterVarsity Press. Taken from Philosophy of Religion - Selected Readings, Fourth Edition. 2010. Oxford University Press, NY.
Bernie Mac’s second Def Comedy Jam special, “I Ain’t Scared of You Motherfuckers” is a comedic work that has always made me laugh uncontrollably. Even when I was too young to fully understand most of the jokes in that particular standup routine, his physical motions, use of curses and taboo sex phrases, as well as his urban Chicago colloquialisms were enough to have tears dripping from my eyes and a boisterous sound of laughter coming from my mouth, loud enough that it would cause my mother to come into my room and investigate what all the fuss was about. Despite the obvious comedic subject matter of works of comedy done by comedians such as Bernie Mac, there are numerous underlying reasons that attribute to the humor that is expressed through our laugher and enjoyment. Through his lively stage presences and sociological motifs, Bernie Mac was able to enlighten the world on the various cultural aspects of urban life by his use of social and psychological cues that capture our attention, giving us directions on how to react, providing us with an increased social awareness though satirical methods, and making light of taboo topics regarding the themes of sex and gender roles.
Throughout his whole career, Williams was always performing standup comedy. While many stand up comedians were using the same routine for almost every show they performed, Williams was performing a different show every night. He would improvise most of his material based on his audiences reaction instead of going into the show with all of his jokes thought out. This material helped change what stand up comedy was (Lombardi). Late comedian Joan Rivers says: “My favorite is Robin Williams. There's nobody like him. His mind is just wonderful. I respect him because he does what I do. I've seen him get up at The Comedy Store, work out a whole Carson shot and then come on Carson and make it look like it's easy. He takes nothing for granted. He knows exactly what he's doing. Robin Williams is one of those people
...a tremendous amount of persuasion to tide someone away from their faith. Once again it’s just used to make a great book because it makes it stick out like a sore thumb and people usually don’t like controversy.
What would one do if you knew the world was going to end in 5 minutes? Would they do all the things they always desired to do but never got the time for? Would one get down and pray for absolution or would they sit back, relax and anticipate for the apocalypse to come. Everyone has some idea that they will be judged at the end of time of all the every day decisions that they make. There are 4 main areas of curiosity about the Last Judgment and the end of the world that this writer will familiarize you on in this paper, what it will be like preceding The Coming, When the Judgment will take place, the two types of judgment, and the conclusion afterwards.
... immensity of its horror finally makes him drop the pretense of knowing detachment he has held for so long. As he drunkenly sobs, “What’s funny? What’s so goddamned funny? I don’t get it” (Ch. 2, 23) his lurking humanity becomes evident. The subtly of interplay between The Comedian’s persona, his humanity, and even his hypocrisy strongly support his status as a living person alongside Dr. Manhattan.
Howard is invited to be on the David Letterman show and talks down about NBC. On a
...s apparently never informed of Muzamill's arrival (455, 456). Not only was it a nuisance for the researcher but upon seeing Muzamill being escorted by a Chaplain the respondents can potentially have a swayed view of Muzamill, something it seems he desperately tries to avoid. This is suggested because he refuses to partake in any leadership roles such as an Imam(456).
America and the institution of religion have long complexly intertwined histories, but no religion is more intertwined, nor has played a greater role in the foundation of America and its ideals than Christianity. The relationship between American nationhood and Christianity is so strong that it continues to seep into American culture and legislation centuries after its founding. It is for this reason that the modern evangelical Christian practice of televangelism emerged and thrived for much of modern American history, and, subsequently, became a profound and concentrated embodiment of American values and ideals. No televangelist provides a more compelling or relevant example of televangelism than Joel Osteen, the millionaire pastor and figurehead
Finally, I think that, although Adam Sandler has not been able to renew the cinematographic panorama, he has achieved to entertain with his films and sure to be remembered for
In spite of Maher defending his position, there was a particular argument that I did not agree upon. For instance, Maher quotes in the end of the film “Religion is dangerous because it allows human beings who don’t have all the answers to think that they do”. He was oblivious to the fact that god could or could not exist. Aside from his overall judgment on Christianity, Juda...
In his short story, “Conversion of the Jews,” Philip Roth illustrates a conflict between faith and reason through a young boy’s endeavors to find the truth. A thirteen-year old Jewish boy, Ozzie, habitually questions Rabbi Binder, since Ozzie’s logical reasoning frequently disagrees with Rabbi Binder’s religious faith. Consequently, Ozzie often finds himself in trouble. One day, he claims that Rabbi Binder “[doesn’t] know anything about God” and runs to the roof, refusing Rabbi Binder and the firemen’s orders to come down. Instead, before jumping down onto the firemen’s yellow net, Ozzie forces the Rabbi, the custodian, his mother, and his classmates to say that they believe in Jesus. Through Ozzie’s refusal