Los Angeles, USA - Religion popped up during the Oscar ceremony several times, mostly in unflattering ways. Tina Fey and Steve Martin made a joke about "our religion, which we made up," which many bloggers are viewing as a reference to Scientology. Bill Maher, a vociferous critic of religion in general, told the crowd that "some day we will all have to confront the notion that our silly gods cost the world too greatly." And the most serious critique of institutional churches came from Dustin Lance Black, a gay man who, in accepting the award for best original screenplay, for "Milk," mentioned that he was raised in the Mormon Church, and then said, "I want to thank my mom, who has always loved me for who I am even when there was pressure not to" and "if Harvey [Milk] had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he'd want me to say to all of the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told that they are less than by their churches, by the government, or by their families, that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you and that very soon, I promise you, you will have equal rights federally, across this great nation of ours. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you, God, for giving us Harvey Milk."
God also got a shout-out from A.R. Rahman, a Sufi Muslim, who, in accepting the award for best score, for "Slumdog Millionaire," cited the Muslim phrase of praise, called the takbir, saying, "I want to tell something in Tamil, which says, which I normally say after every award, which is . . . 'God is great.' "