Organized religion is predicated on finding things NOT FUNNY. Humor and religion simply don’t mix. But you can’t control the minds of cynical, critical thinkers – and having a healthy sense of humor is a big part of critical thinking. It’s the same for all authoritarian systems, though: once the masses start laughing at you, you no longer have the same power.

Th Monty Python film Life Of Brian doesn’t mock Christianity, but lots of Christians thought it did – without actually seeing it – and got very angry indeed upon its release. Many of them still are. In the USA we tried to ban it. It never got a full theatrical release, and in some parts of the country it actually was banned. I first saw it at a small college theater at the UC Riverside in the early 80s.

It’s been 40 years since Life Of Brian was released. It couldn’t get made today. The funding would certainly have been pulled just like it was back in 1974, and the George Harrisons of the world are all gone. Add to that the full-frontal nudity. It would never stand a chance in the USA.

Two things Umerkins in particular cannot handle: parody in general; and making fun of religious people. Note the difference. Life Of Brian makes fun of BELIEVERS, not religion. But of course most religious people are really just too fucking stupid to understand these concepts, let’s face it. One can have faith without the shackles of organized religion. Life of Brian merely points this out in a brilliant, humorous way.

The authorities wanted to protect people from something most would have found harmless, and possibly even funny.

Religions love sheep. They even refer to their followers as a “flock” for chrissake! Humans have evolved over millions of years to develop critical thinking. Why not use it, rather than allow bigoted, entitled, one-dimensional old white men to determine your behavior? Why not follow THE GOURD?

We were lucky to be blessed with stuff like Life Of Brian back in the day; it was pure magic. It’s laughable that people were out protesting and banning it. Perhaps not the greatest movie of all time – maybe not even the best Monty Python film – but it’s an important film; a funny, philosophical, intelligent film – a film for the ages.

Some reasons why Life Of Brian is still relevant today:

1) A lot of people still believe that the son of God was sent to earth 2,000 years ago to save us from ourselves.

2) Many people are killed each year on the basis of their beliefs. Life Of Brian teaches us that we should not take the fairy stories so seriously.

3) The collective lack of a sense of humor regarding things that upset us is just as bad now – if not worse – than it was back in the 1970s.