Let me preface this post by saying that, by in large, I have enjoyed Woody Allen’s body of work. Like the rest of you, I’ve laughed and laughed at his take on the human condition.

However, his most recent film, “Whatever Works,” is full of bigotry. There’s Smart vs. “Dumb” bigotry, Big City vs. Small Town bigotry, and Northern Snobbishness vs. Supposed-Southern-Lack-of-Culture bigotry.

Oh yes. There’s the mean-spirited bigotry of atheism vs. a shallow, sallow portrait of Christianity. And since that last kind of bigotry directly relates to worldviews, I’d like to expand on it.

Larry David, who stars, gives monologues on his philosophy of life during much of the movie. It’s a message of the meaninglessness of life, the absolute indifference of the universe to human aspirations, and of trying to carve some happiness by “whatever works” for you, so long as it doesn’t hurt anybody. David delivers almost all of these monologues with a smile on his face, as if he’s evangelizing for his worldview. This smile, oddly incongruous, belies his character’s contempt for anybody who doesn’t think like him.

Now, I understand that a lot of humor is based upon stereotypes and perceived stereotypes. I don’t have a problem with that.

And it’s true, there’s a lot in “Jesusland” that’s ripe for ridicule. I don’t have a problem with that.

However, this film is a dishonest pillorying of a “straw man.” The “Christianity” it portrays is a complete farce, hypocritical to the core.

Now I’m not trying to say there aren’t Christian hypocrites, blowhards, flame-throwers and the like. But there are also people who’s lives have been radically altered — for good — by an encounter with Jesus. It would have been nice if the film had allowed just a smidgeon of nuance in this area.

But it didn’t. Instead, it just serves up fundamentalist atheism.

I’m not urging anyone to boycott this movie. This is just a heads-up on the bigotry side of things. If you can stomach it, it will help you understand the mindset of the atheistic/naturalistic/materialistic/this-world-is-all-there-is worldview.

So I’m actually recommending this movie! It just might help viewers see how people like Woody Allen and Larry David view Christians. It’s not pretty; but it is instructive. And hopefully it will give you some empathy for people with that belief system.