Religulous

I know most of atheospace has already seen Bill Maher's anti-religious diatribe but as far as I'm concerned it was worth waiting for. A glorious 101 minute sneer & sniggerfest. How did Bill find so many idiots I wonder? Did he interview them first and pick only the stupid ones? Or are all religious people stupid? Or am I being overly subjective and only perceive religious people to be stupid when they are talking about their IMF and, after all, that was what they were in the film to do? Perhaps that is it. I can recall one exception in the film; a jolly old RC priest interviewed in Rome who seemed to be taking his religion with some scepticism and god was not mentioned.

I have a few friends who are religious but seem perfectly normal in their everyday lives. They probably know my views and, of course, the subject of religion is avoided. The Cof E clergymen I have encountered also seem very sane, decent chappies but again they rarely mention god outside church. Indeed one sometimes gets the impression that belief in god is completely optional for C of E membership, although this happy compromise is in risk of being undermined by the obnoxious Alpha Course. I remember seeing the Archbish RW being interviewed by Richard Dawkins. His statement of belief seemed so ethereal that I was unable to reach any conclusion about his mental capabilites

The Alpha Course

I have just passed the time of day with the local vicar, a very pleasant chap, who was in the process of hanging a banner outside the vicarage announcing; "The Alpha Course. Explore the Meaning of Life". I thought Monty Python had already covered this subject quite satisfactorily but, assuming the intention is to take it a tad more seriously, haven't they jumped the gun a bit? I would have thought at least 2 introductory courses are required. Firstly to establish what is the meaning of "Meaning" in this context. Secondly to determine if life has to have any meaning over and above the vague waffle usually aimed at providing comfort to the intellectually challenged.

I am very tempted to enroll.