By Gardening Grandma
Rosh HaShanah had been over for a few hours when I found myself at the Emelin Film Club  for a preview showing of Bill Maher's Religulous.

Most of the time Maher, who didn't know about his mother's Jewish faith until he'd already decided to leave Catholicism behind, spends a lot of time on Jesus and Christianity, but gives Islam and Judaism short shrift. And of course, the only people he interviews--regardless of their faith--are those who are on the extreme edge. So there's not a Jew without payes in the movie.

I'd been looking forward to seeing the movie, but I expected more than some laughs - no matter how good they are. I thought there might be some new insights, some hope that the movie would make fanatics think harder about their actions.

Instead, it's Maher doing Maher. He is stuck in his view that organized religion is both absurd and terrifying, and, by ignoring anyone who isn't fanatical about their faith he deprives himself of understanding the role religion plays for the majority of people living in the 21st century.

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