America's corrosive culture wars, in which evangelical Christians are never far from the front line, are about to be reignited by a Borat-style take on organised religion.
A new "documentary" by the man behind the Borat movie - and made using the same hit-and-run techniques - will open
in New York next month. Provocatively titled Religulous (think "religious" and "ridiculous"), it will mock the beliefs of the world's major religions, recruiting unwitting assistance from the ranks of the faithful.
The project inspired protests at its premiere at the Toronto film festival this month, and American satirist Bill Maher and director Larry Charles have been accused of misleading participants. Maher has conceded that several sleights of hand were necessary to persuade people to perform.
"It was simple: We never, ever, used my name. We never told anybody it was me who was going to do the interviews. We even had a fake title for the film. We called it A Spiritual Journey. It didn't work everywhere. We went to Salt Lake City, but no one would let us film there at all."
Unlike Borat, which simply sought to satirise, both Charles and Maher - former host of the talk show Politically Incorrect for Comedy Central - have made clear that, while they were looking for comic potential from their engagements with believers, their ultimate aim was not to poke fun but to demolish.
"I want to destroy more than debunk," said Charles. "Just destroy the whole system."
Maher was equally blunt: "I was raised a Catholic. But by the time I became an adult, scientific thought and rational evidence led me to believe otherwise."
While Maher has claimed he has an "ecumenical approach" to mocking literal beliefs, so far it appears to have been the Catholic church that is threatening to take the most offence, perhaps because of Maher's connection.
Bill Donahue, the president of the Catholic League, said: "He [Maher] can say all he wants about being ecumenical, but it's only one religion he really has it out for, and it's the Catholic religion."
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