Maher, known for his stand up shtick and HBO show, set out to make a film that exposes the fallacies of religion. To do that, Maher embarked on a cross-country trip where he and his crew make frequent stops at chapels and churches. Maher takes believers to task about the core of their creed including the original sin, the trinity, the virgin birth and the divinity of Jesus. His purpose is nothing more than to show the absurdity of these concepts and their utter irrelevance in our modern world.

He also tackles religion and politics in Islam as well, albeit Maher levels his hardest punch to Christianity. To make his point about how religious people are simply insane, he plays a very funny clip of President Bush in which he says, "I believe God wants everybody to be free, that’s what I believe. And that is part of my foreign policy."

In a New York train station, Maher interviews Dr. Andrew Newberg, author of "Why We Believe What We Believe," and asks this question, "So you agree that even if a billion people believe in something, it could still be ridiculous?"

To which Newberg replies, "How we define what is crazy or not crazy about religion is ultimately up to how we define crazy."

This quote seems to be the theme of "Religulous," a coined word that combines ‘religious’ and ‘ridiculous.’ Maher peppers his many interviews with religious figures and believers with carefully selected snippets and sound bites that either contradict or poke fun at his interviewees. For example, he interviews an Imam who quite confidently stresses that Islam is a religion of peace. A quick insert shows an angry crowd of Muslim protesters with a sign that reads, "Kill those who say Islam is intolerant."

In Amsterdam, Maher visits a gay bar where he meets two gay men who define themselves as ‘Gay Muslim activists.’ Maher snidely remarks, "Gay Muslim activists? That is a rare job description. You guys have big ones!"

While filming inside the Vatican, Maher and his crew are rudely kicked out of the premises and end up outside, interviewing a catholic man. Maher asks, "If Jesus were alive today, would he live in a place like this?" The man shakes his head, "Of course not!" Maher tells the man that Jesus actually figures sixth on the list of people Catholics turn to for prayers. "Is this really Christianity that Jesus taught?" he asks.

Maher is the son of a Jewish mother and a Catholic father. He was raised Catholic, and maybe that is why he comes down real hard on the faith. He treads gently with Judaism and the closest he comes to criticizing it is when he shows an Israeli inventor who devised a gadget that helps the faithful circumvent Sabbath phone use prohibition. He also interviews anti-Zionist Rabbi Dovid Ysreal Weiss and ends up walking away from the interview as the Rabbi stands his ground and does not let Maher bludgeon him with his trademark verbal quips (and for a moment the viewer feels as if Maher finally met his match and was bested).

The biggest problem with "Religulous" is evident from the tone set by the filmmakers from the start (the director, Larry Charles, is the author of Borat). It really does not take itself seriously. It is hardly an authoritative academic study of whether religion is fact or fiction, but rather a blunt condemnation of religion as absurd and crazy. For proof, Maher shows the wayward actions of some of its followers as well as the outlandish concepts of faith itself. Even the people chosen for the interviews are not academics or scholars, but rather regular people that Maher exploits to vent his anti-religion grudges. He routinely interrupts them, throws funny gotcha lines at them and then amplifies the comedic effect by inserting funny clips that make the interviewee sound either stupid or plain wrong.

Religion is a worthy subject of study, and much has to be said about the stark difference between what faith preaches and what many of its adherents practice. And that is the point "Religulous" misses. By insisting that religion is a fallacy with no place in modern life, Maher and Charles have done nothing but try to impose their secular point of view on the viewer. "Religulous" thus loses its credibility and comes across much like a clown act that tries to pass for serious drama.