Posted on 02/21/2005 12:13:44 PM PST by WrightOnTarget
Every time I start to sort of like Bill Maher again, he says something so completely silly that I'm deprived of the ability to pay attention to him for at least another year.
Maher recently told MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, "When you look at beliefs in such things as, do you go to heaven, is there a devil, we [Americans] have more in common with Turkey and Iran and Syria than we do with European nations and Canada and nations that, yes, I would consider more enlightened than us." Maher also expressed his belief that Christians suffer a neurological disorder, a disorder that is apparently accompanied by an uncontrollable urge to change the channel whenever a pasty political picador makes unfounded blanket statements.
It's important to give the logic involved in Maher's opinion further examination to show that Bill has, unfortunately, excluded his view from his own equation.
Under Maher's view, any religion and follower of same are to be lumped together as theological siblings. If you're a believer in God, you have a great deal in common with people who you may assume you have nothing in common with. Even murderers – so long as they too believe in a "god" – are just like you. Christians, Jews, Buddhists, etc. may assume they have nothing in common with those who worship a god who tells them to kill people – flawed and mistaken thinking that, thankfully, Bill Maher corrects.
Instead of trying to prove Maher incorrect, which would require writing a book-length response, let's for a moment take his comments at face value. If there is no difference from believer to believer, then, on the flip-side, we must also assume that nonbelievers can be lumped together with other nonbelievers, even those with whom the nonbeliever would deny commonality.
So, Bill Maher can say Christians have more in common with certain terrorist nations (because, after all, both believe in "God") than with "enlightened" places like Canada and parts of Europe. In other words, a God worshipper in Utah is no different than a God worshipper in Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's hideout. Maher's list of those who the American Christian shares a common bond with includes terrorist states and rogue nations, but nonbelievers only share a common thread with the "enlightened" Canada and selected areas of Europe?
To put Maher's "Belief in God makes you do crazy things, and not having religion means you're more enlightened" theory into test mode, let's equalize the playing field and find nations that do or have very little tolerance for religion. After all, Canada and Europe still have plenty of believers. So, let's find somewhere with no religion, or, at least someplace where its practice is forbidden, since religion seems to be the problem here.
China is officially an atheist state, so they must never do anything crazy since "God" isn't telling them to. Well ... tell that to the student protesters at Tiananmen Square. These folks were "enlightened" to death. Earlier in the 20th century, Mao murdered (excuse me ... "land reformed") millions – and all without God's prodding.
Cambodia was another fine example of nonreligious nirvana. Pol Pot murdered millions of people, "enlightening" them to an early grave. When Lenin took over Russia, God didn't tell him to forbid religion, burn the churches and kill the priests – "enlightenment" did.
You have to wonder why Maher would continue to live within the confines of an indoctrinated, zealous nation where he's surrounded by such simpleton, moronic boobs and hick, wacko "believers." Could it be that he has faith in his ability to better make a buck in America? Faith in better medical care? Faith in a better economy?
Or, is Maher simply prototypical, at least in this instance, of the Hollywood left, prattling on about all the dopes he's surrounded by in United States, but ultimately realizing he has two choices: Making a ton of money in America performing on television and stage ... or, moving to an "enlightened" country and earning 95 yuan a week performing a government-censored comedy show at the "Beijing Chuckle-Hut."
As for me, all things being equal, I much prefer to live in a nation where the majority of the citizens have the neurological disorder known as "belief in God." Faith in the existence of a supreme being, at the very least, eliminates any chance of people believing that they are God, which is often where the path to "enlightenment" leads, and the real trouble begins.
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Medved is ripping Maher on his radio show right now.
All the atheists and anti-Judeo-Christians seem to forget or simply ignore that the bloodiest regimes of the twentieth century - Nazism and Russian and Chinese Communism - were atheist. Look what happened there.
Bill Maher needs to realize his full potential and volunteer to have himself ground into Alpo.
To put Maher's "Belief in God makes you do crazy things, and not having religion means you're more enlightened" theory into ...
PRACTICE, why doesn't he emigrate to Abu Dhabi or Bahrain (or even Islamabad) and start publically pronouncing his "Good News" that "There is no Allah!" ?
That guy just ain't right.
Hollywood keeps the hits coming , as the country turns redder.
I've got a different angle to this:
Maher's TV show on HBO is starting up again soon. Anyone want to bet he pulled this off just to boost the ratings? All the folks giving him air on this are playing right into his hands. He's an oily guy who will say anything to get attention, and folks like Medved ought to know this. I just don't sense that he's a true believer in anything (except for money, of course, which he no doubt thinks nobody else deserves).
I am not giving the show a plug, either. Choke this one out, because little kids want attention any way they can get it.
How could any sane person start to sort of like that nasty little creep?
Amen to that, in the last century, communists were responsible for the deaths of over 100 million; the inquisitions and crusades numerically contrasted were drops in the buckets.
Maher does say he believes in God, what he's out to get is organized religion however. I've always thought it means more to make that leap of faith into a religion at an older age, with a little experience and you know what you're devoting yourself to. Telling your kid all of it is fact at a young age, nothing wrong with that but he can't truly comprehend yet. Kids don't even understand why not to steal from the cookie jar. :P So in a way, I can understand what he's saying, but calling religion a neurological disorder is simply Maher trolling for attention. He knows the media eats up controversial statements.
But even the archangel Michael when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses,did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him,but said 'the Lord rebuke
you! Yet thes emen speak abusively against whatever they do not understand;and what things they do understand by instinct,like unreasoning animals--these are the very things
that destroy them."(Jude 9,10)My natural self would love to
rant about the Reprobate blockhead Bill Maher.But I suspect the day will come when he crys Lord Lord! and Christ will say I never knew you.
GOOD HEAVENS!
HAVE A HEART!
Why do you hate Dogs?
What have you got against a bunch of innocent Dogs?
The poor puppies would be sick for weeks, months even! Some might never recover.
It's too gruesome to contemplate.
"Why do you hate Dogs?"
I love dogs. I don't know what I was thinking. Perhaps we could pass him off as cous-cous.
The real reason Maher was moved to cable was that his face was scaring children on network TV. Expect Maher to move from cable to Air America, once the realization sets in that ugly people are better behind the mic than in front of the camera. Other than his hideous looks, I don't know that Maher is worth discussing.
My dog would touch that.
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