America's notorious rabble-rouser has launched an all-out attack on religion. Unfortunately, not everyone is in on the joke.

This article is from the October/November issue of Radar Magazine. For a risk-free issue, click here

Much like Jesus, who once laid down his hammer and headed off to preach in the countryside, Bill Maher, unapologetic cynic and sensualist, may at age 52 have finally responded to a higher calling. Instead of wandering for 40 days and 40 nights in the desert, Maher spent the early '90s doing guest shots on Murder, She Wrote and Married with Children, until Politically Incorrect provided him with a national pulpit.

And just as Jesus was once rejected in his hometown of Nazareth, so has Maher faced rejection in Hollywood: He was booted from ABC in 2002 for disputing the Bush administration's contention that the 9/11 terrorists were cowards; then he was booted off Craig Ferguson's Late Late Show couch for saying, in the midst of Michael Jackson's molestation trial, that getting "gently masturbated by a pop star" would be preferable to getting his ass kicked. But now it seems the wisecracking host of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher seeks something like redemption.

In Religulous, his bitingly funny and often frightening new documentary about the absurdity of doctrinaire religion, Maher travels the globe asking uncomfortably logical questions of true believers. From Florida's Holy Land theme park to Jerusalem's Dome of the Rock, Maher embarks on a mission to debunk the tenets of organized faith—and save humanity from destruction. And he does it all without the aid or comfort of Playboy playmates. Love him or hate him, the schnozzy provocateur lays out a well-crafted argument for the stupidity of faith, which will no doubt get him tarred as a heretic (or worse) the world over.

Maher's television persona—weary, smug, and confrontational—is transformed on the big screen, thanks in no small part to his collaborator, director Larry Charles, the comedy-vérité genius behind Borat and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Expect global protest and condemnation to greet the film's October 3 release. One thing is certain: If, as the L.A. Times has predicted, Religulous wins an Academy Award, God won't be getting any shout-outs from the podium.

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Religulous is in many ways a brave film. But while you spend a lot of time talking about the trouble caused by the Mohammed cartoons in Denmark, you never actually show them. Were you consciously trying to avoid decapitation?
We definitely don't want to get decapitated. That's true. I can't remember whether you even are allowed to show them. I guess you can. I don't think it was germane to where we were going, which was about the reaction to them.

So it wasn't a question of fear? You would have shown them?
Yeah, I would have shown them. But I didn't edit the movie.

So Larry Charles fears decapitation more than you do.
No. Actually, Larry is braver than I am. There was stuff he wanted to do where I said, no way. We were in Jerusalem around Christmas, and Larry wanted to go over the Palestinian side to Bethlehem. The thing is, when you go over to that side, you have to ditch your Israeli bodyguards and you're on your own. I said, "I've been on TV for 15 years, and I've always been an ardent supporter of Israel, but you know what? I won't do it." Arabs love to make political points by snatching Westerners.

Do you find the tenets of religions like Scientology any more absurd than those of Christianity?
The newer religions—Scientology and Mormonism—they had to raise the bar on crazy. Because once you've done the talking snake, and the man who lived in the whale, and God having a son who lived through a suicide mission to Earth because he's really his own father, where do you go from there? The Scientologists and Mormons answered that question with stuff that brings batshit to a new level. Did you know that the Mormons promise that when you die, you'll get your own planet? It's called Celestial Marriage. If you have a good marriage on Earth, you and your wife get to rule over your own planet.

Is there oxygen on the planet?
You are introducing logic, sir. These are entitlement programs that put Social Security to shame.

After seeing your film, I found it surprising to read that you believe in both astrology and reincarnation.

I didn't come out of the egg believing what I believe now. It was a slow evolution. I was still making deals with God when 
I was 40. It's never too late to become a rationalist. I've always said that I don't not believe in anything. Could it be that God had a boy named Jesus? It could be. But the lint that's in my navel now could be God. It could be Furby. Remember Furby? Furby could be God. As far as astrology goes, I use it as a shorthand for character traits, like I'll say, "Oh, that's a real Capricorn thing." The slim reed that would suggest there might be some merit to it is that it's about planetary positions, which could have some basis in scientific fact. Or it could be a bunch of bullshit.