Bill Maher’s bigoted atheism: His arrogant shtick is just as ugly as religious intolerance

a reply to: Scdfa

Bill Mahar is one of the most important comedians and social critics of our day, and we're lucky to have him.

Wait, Bill Mahar is a comedian?

a reply to: enlightenedservant

Well humans are the root of the problem no doubt. With that said I will modify my statement. Religion is the most destructive concept fabricated by man.

You may not like that either. People will always find an excuse to commit atrocities and rape nature. Unfortunately religion is often the most convenient and widely used excuse.

Either way...you're right humans are the problem. Too bad you decided to make wild blanket assumptions.... I didn't blame religion for every ill caused by people. You inferred that on your own based on limited information.

Perhaps you should start your own religion. I mean you did cobble together an entire narrative knowing next to nothing about me beyond an off hand statement. Sounds a lot like the behaviors of Bronze Age nomads who cobbled together a wild narrative based on limited information.

Darthfazer, I'll respond to you tomorrow. It's time for some sleep.

a reply to: DarthFazer

Whose the Zeolot?


Your going through the run of the mill hate God and religion faze Dark Fazer...you'll get over it

I hope


Ive seen it so much on forums its almost funny

It comes in all shapes and sizes.

I've been through it myself

But when I realized that religion is a very difficult system of self improvement that involves a deep commitment to advancement and doesn't really do much for the superficial but keep them in an intellectual loop of Unfulfillment

...and that faith is only a stepping stone to real knowledge

...and that it may be a lifetime pursuit to really get any success

that's the way it is

a reply to: Osiris1953

Oh whatever. You say religion is the most destructive concept. I pointed out that religion has nothing to do with the most destructive events in human history. You ignored it because you know you have no way to refute what I said. Which is pretty weak in my opinion, because you have no problem attacking religions but can't back up your words.

I would say industrialization is a more destructive concept than religion because it requires a constant supply of resources to maintain itself. This literally requires a constant stream of lumber, metals, and petroleum, among other things. Racism and nationalism are more destructive as well, and they have been the causes of untold destruction just in the last 2 centuries.

Greed, the lust for power, and the desire for regional dominance are far more destructive than religion as well. In fact, religion by itself isn't destructive at all. "Thou shalt not kill" doesn't sound destructive at all.

And no, I'd never start my own religion. I'm quite happy with the one I have

a reply to: DarthFazer

You have to make your opinions known. I don't force my non-belief on anyone, however, I do believe it is important to express oneself when given an appropriate opportunity. The religious folks in my life that tend to lash out, and be obnoxious when someone has a different opinion are those that became religious later in life, having not grown up with a particular belief set. They are often intolerable.

I appreciate agnostics, admittedly that's probably a more healthy stance than being openly antitheist.

It's hard to believe this thread has gotten to 4 pages and no one has mentioned the irony in the opening paragraph in the OP.

You know what you call someone who makes sweeping generalizations on billions of people based on the extreme actions of a few? A bigot. Bill Maher, for example, is a bigot. And if you’re a fan of his smug, dismissive shtick, you’re a bigot too.

Someone speaking out against sweeping generalizations while making sweeping generalizations...so much fun!

a reply to: enlightenedservant

A matter of opinion. I ignored nothing from your previous post. No, I'm not going to take the time to refute everything you have asserted. Even if we did an apples to apples comparison and had an epic conversation, in the end our points of view would still be subjective to our own understandings and experiences. If I knew you outside of ATS and we could sit and have a respectful, yet heated debate for hours I would jump at the opportunity. However, I do not have the time nor do I have the patience to do that in this type of forum, sorry. Years ago, when I was new here, I would have, but honestly I just don't care to these days.

I wouldn't categorize my original post as an attack as I did not go out of my way to spew vitriol or denigrate any individual who believes, just stated my opinion. If you feel it was an attack, that was not my direct intent, but I do realize that my statements are offensive to some people, but again it's my opinion, and I'm allowed to have it.

You do make excellent points. Everything you have stated would be on the list of destructive elements in society or however you want to phrase it, however I put religion on the top of my list, and from what I've gathered religion as a whole wouldn't be on your list at all. That's alright, it still means we're more or less in agreement on a great number of ills in the world. Religion often divides people, don't let in this case. I like you, if only because you are willing to challenge me. It's surprising how few people actually do..... I will write you down on the list of respected ATS rivals.

.....and this is all the time I care to spend on this subject. See you around.

Hey, OP, got a tip for you...You don't like Bill M ? Don't watch. You're welcome.

I cheer him when he calls out his fellow liberals on their hypocrisy, and I do think his views on ORGANIZED religion is pretty accurate as well.

However, his militant Atheism is off the wall. It's as bad as pushy Jehovah's Witnesses on Saturday morning.

I have a good friend that is a militant Atheist. We argue a lot about how his personal tactics are just as bad as evangelical Christians. I actually had to block his postings from my Facebook wall. He's THAT bad.

"People who believe in the little man in the sky are the dumbest forms of life on the planet"

One of my easily recalled quotes from him. There is simply no having a rational discussion about "to each his/her own" with him. He simply will not be happy as long as anyone still believes. SMH

Just as bad. 100%

7+ Billion people on the Earth. I don't listen to 99.99999% of what they say. He falls in that category of people I care to listen to. It isn't about his anti-religious viewpoint either.

a reply to: Osiris1953

I have to admit, I wasn't expecting that response. Not sure what to say. I guess we'll agree to disagree on the points of contention, while agreeing to agree on the common points? Sounds good to me.

I'm just pointing out that making religion a scapegoat doesn't solve the actual problem, which is people harming people & their surroundings. Even if all religions disappeared right now, wars, violence, rape & molestation, racism, bigotry, theft, etc would still exist just as much as before.

Militant anything may be problematic except militant feeding the poor, stopping war, violence, and injustice…and other things of course that can uplift the human condition


I wish more were militant against the above


To single out one group of human thought for abuse to me is ridiculous.


We should deal with attributes of goodness, mercy, and compassion towards the human condition of suffering which can come from any kind of school of thought religious or otherwise

I found the ending of his movie to leave me with a little insight into the nature of atheism: it's a religion unto its own. Paraphrasing, but it was something along the lines of 'get rid of religion, or die'. How similar that statement was to 'be a Christian or go to hell' has never left my thoughts on him.

He's a funny guy, but I think he's more lost than most, and it isn't because he doesn't know what to believe; it's because he's such a close minded person that he can't understand what he's doing is preaching from the pulpit to his fans just like any rabid preacher. All he can connect with is like minded individuals, and that to me is a failure emotionally and intellectually. If he wanted to help then he wouldn't be a patronizing douche to so many people and would instead actually listen, appreciate, and converse with them on the subject. Then again, he wouldn't be a multimillionaire so I can only blame him so much.

originally posted by: poncho1982
"People who believe in the little man in the sky are the dumbest forms of life on the planet"

Well when we see what has happened with several sects or denominations, noted "preachers" ect, ect and these folks remain in place and continue to get support ......some can only conclude that the lot of followers must be really dumb.

originally posted by: Logarock

originally posted by: poncho1982
"People who believe in the little man in the sky are the dumbest forms of life on the planet"

Well when we see what has happened with several politicians, noted "Presidents" ect, ect and these folks remain in place and continue to get support ......some can only conclude that the lot of followers must be really dumb.

Fixed it for you.......

See how that works?

Bill Maher is cool...and you guys just can't take it. He sh** all over religions....so what ? It's a sport...same as sh****** all over politics.

EOD.

a reply to: ManBehindTheMask

Works just as well I suppose.

Just a note. Wasn't saying that the whole of anything should be condemned by the actions of a few. However in the world we live in we still see folks following things that have long been exposed. I believe Bill is still shocked that most Catholic churches have anyone attending once they were exposed as "the world largest pedophile ring".

originally posted by: Logarock
a reply to: ManBehindTheMask

Works just as well I suppose.

Just a note. Wasn't saying that the whole of anything should be condemned by the actions of a few. However in the world we live in we still see folks following things that have long been exposed. I believe Bill is still shocked that most Catholic churches have anyone attending once they were exposed as "the world largest pedophile ring".

Fair point my friend!

Yes, well, what about the others?

Aside from the usual Bill Hicks and George Carlin, what about Robin Williams (R.I.P.), Ricky Gervais, etc.

Comedians use comedy as a vehicle for their wisecracks, but you know what? Sometimes, I think they drive the POINT home. Sorry to those offended. Freedom of speech and all that...

a reply to: DarthFazer

I don't watch his show and I don't listen to Rush Limbaugh, two side of the same coin. I don't care if you agree with him or not but that doesn't change my opinion. Fan boi gonna fan boi and I'm not gonna argue.

He spits talking points that feed to his audience. Generalizing an entire of group of people and saying that they're one way, shows ignorance and obvious hate towards a group of people. ignorance breeds hate no matter how much you claim BM as the enlightened atheist

100 million people think about that for a second