Instead of the Oscars (cause really I generally just watch those for the clothes and those pictures can be found via the internet), the hubs and I watched Religulous last night. Now I'll admit to some fear cause Bill Maher is a smart guy but he can come off like an ass at times. Religulous was a nice surprise though.
In this documentary, Maher goes around interviewing folks about religion - all kinds of religion. For the most part, he manages to straddle a line and keeps it respectful if skeptical. I did cringe at a few too easy potshots though.
I did like his point about how atheists are a silent party and we need to speak up. I often times will allow people to assume I'm Christian in order to avoid either a philosophical argument or a crusade to save my soul. Those situations can really suck, and I've gotten a bit gunshy over them. Instead, I just smile and uncommittedly change the subject. That seems to be the cowards way out. I'm going to be better about stating my beliefs when someone unthinkingly makes some wrong assumption about my religious views. I won't be argumentative cause that's just obnoxious. Instead of uncommittedly changing the subject, I think from now on I'll just politely and gentley correct any wrong assumptions and THEN change the subject.
Then possibly that person will think twice about assuming anything about anyone the next time. Was that rambly enough for you? 7 stars.
1 comment:
hey - i just clicked on your blog because your name is claire too (i was leaving a comment @ i suwanee too), and then read this. i've actually been meaning to see this and have it added to my netflix queue so i'm glad to hear it was interesting.
have you read charles dawkins' god delusion? that's another one that really makes you think - one of his main points is that religion is actually harmful. ANYHOW, that book is fabulous if you have any interest you should read it!
and i'd love to hear how it goes actually telling people you're an atheist - i sort of avoid that topic, too.
Post a Comment