Religulous: celluloid atheism

On October 3, the “new atheism” enters the world of film. Thanks to Bill Maher, Larry Charles (who directed Borat), and the documentary style of Michael Moore, audiences will be able to enjoy Religulous, a movie with taglines like: “Do you smell something burning?” and “Heaven help us.” After dominating the world of print, in both fiction and non-fiction forms, it seems only natural that “fundamentalist atheism” will seek to dominate the big screen.

The film’s official site includes a link to Disbeliefnet.com, clearly in opposition to Beliefnet.com. The site publishes a blog called The Heretic Press, and a rather creative page called the Blasphemy Box. There’s plenty of humorous irreverence here, and as any faithful Christian knows, there’s a lot about modern religion to poke fun at and even disparage. As Barth rightly noted, religion is the central mark of the fall. So to the atheists I declare: deconstruct away.

As a faithful evangelical Christian myself, I know I’ll be in line to see this movie.