religu-LOSS: in desperate need of an editor

In "Religulous," Bill Mahr sets out to show that the fanatacism and extreme dogmatic ideology that religion fosters does more harm than good. What could've been an atheist's wet dream, or at least a thought provoking discussion, turns out to be nothing more than a jumble of wasted interviews and silly found footage.
The biggest problem with this film is the wasted interviews. Waste I say, WASTE! There is no shortage of blind faith pushing the extremes of stupidity and ignorance. That kind of footage is not hard to find. The makers of Religulous knew that and went well beyond that, actually finding a huge variety of uniquely interesting subjects to interview. They had a gold mine of interviewees; gay Muslims, ex-Mormons, a neuroscientist who studies mental illness alongside religious fervor, a Vatican priest who says it's all hoo-hah, an ex-gay, rabbis, catholic priests, regular schmoes, and the list goes on. They touch on many religions and get an extremely wide range of personalities and backgrounds, from potentially diverse views. Sigh. And what do we get out of it? Rather than probing questions or thought provoking insight, all we get is Bill Mahr arrogantly interrupting his interviewees repeating his own views.
In his interview with the ex-gay, he doesn't even touch upon any gay issues. An ex-gay! In the interview with the gay Muslims, no irony being pondered, not even a WORD from the interviews, just Bill Mahr standing there disrespectfully mocking them. The interview with the neuroscientist who asserts that his studies show that the brains of religious fanatics much resemble those that are mentally ill; what great evidence that would have been had we seen the comparisons of the brains. Instead we get a few short introductory sentences that again get cut off by Mahr. I felt shameful for Mahr's behavior with some on these other respected religious heads. The Vatican priest who says it's all a joke is one of the shortest interviews of all! Had some of the interviews been more extensive or probing, it might have been effective to punctuate the film with some shorter interviews, but with each successive interview, the only thing we reaffirm is how arrogant Bill Mahr is.
There are certainly moments of hilarity, like the religious congressman who says, "you don't have to take an IQ test to be in Congress," and there are some pretty ridiculously funny found footage incorporated which may have emphasized the point being made. However, there is no real organization to the film, and alongside the lacking interviews, the extra footage only emphasizes the lack of substance.
Even Bill Mahr, who is usually effectively sarcastically witty (if not obnoxious) in stating his point, doesn't do so successfully here. Again, what stands out is his disrespect and arrogance, showing that he's just as pigheaded as the people he tries to discredit.