by Marianna Lamare

Created on: November 19, 2008

Mr. Maher, I find your lack of faith most encouraging. Your narrative film about the hypocrisy of organized religions was most poignant. Most people who claim to be agnostic or even atheistic, along with conscious true 'believers', are doing the right thing: questioning. It is the blind faith you depict in your movie that has started wars and created vast divisions amongst people.

If we cannot raise our fists and stand before God demanding an authentic answer, then we are in real trouble. Your movie falls short in one area, although I realize you are presenting your own quest for answers. It is my belief that the problem is based on one simple problem: the literal translation and application of stories that are basically mythological in origin.

Human projection of what we cannot accept in ourselves seems to be the biggest problem with 'evil'. It seems that creating religions has been a way for us to protect ourselves from the very thing that troubles us the most: our own darkness that creeps into the altar in spite of all we do to shelter ourselves from it (such as priests molesting young altar boys, etc.)
It's so much more comfortable to blame 'them', and separate ourselves from the 'bad guys', than embrace our own totality as a whole, complete person.

I would like to bring one other consideration to this feast of healthy questioning, and that is of the concept that mythology initially played a huge role in the religious stories and the metaphorical aspect of such stories has most dangerously been excluded from the picture. Perhaps this insight may prove valuable to you, Mr. Maher, in your journey to find the truths scattered in the ashes of our wars of religion.

The fact that modern day people believe the things in the bible actually happened has been our greatest stumbling block. Metaphorically speaking, these parables, stories, legends, myths, all have profound insights into the human psyche and those very messages imbued therein are lost on those who take them literally. Jonas trials, Ruth's persistence, and Jesus' crucifixion all have meaning in terms of the heroic journey within ourselves.

How we conquer fear, face our inner demons, and discern which inner voices are in control are all played out in countless civilization's myths. Through these stories, we gain insight into our own struggles and how we can go about battling our own demons, or befriend them, so that we can live an integrated life, conscious of our own strengths and weaknesses. As Beowulf admitted,

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>