The Movie--The Invention of Lying

I have been preoccupied with some family matters and have not been able to post much in the last couple of months. Hopefully, I will be back to daily posting now.

Last night I watched the movie The Invention of Lying starring Ricky Gervais. For a brief synopsis of the movie see this link.

The movie is set in a world where no one has ever lied. One day Gervais character, Mark Bellison, realizes that he can lie. He is the only person who can. As his mother lay dying, she is very scared and depressed about the idea that after death there is "eternal nothingness". Mark in an attempt to make his mother feel better tells her that there is paradise waiting for her after death in which she will be together with all of her loved ones for eternity.

When word gets out that Mark Bellison knows what happens to you after death, a huge crowd of people assemble on his front lawn to find out more. He comes out and addresses them. He tells them there is a "man in the sky" who controls everything. This man will take us to heaven when we die as long as we don't commit more than 3 bad things in our lives. The people are very happy to find out that there is life after death.

Now, this movie is pretty lame and certainly not worth the cost of rental, however, it does provide some interesting insights into the religious cravings of mankind.

I think it illustrates why religion is so popular with people.

1. People desperately want to believe that there is something after death. They want to believe that they will be reunited with their loved ones.

2. People want to believe that there is some purpose in life.

3. People want to believe that there is someone in control of this universe and that this someone will eventually make all wrongs right.

For these reasons, religions are very popular and will probably never cease to exist.