Bill Maher, host of HBO’s Real Time With Bill Maher is a well known for his comedic political comentary and sharp, often pointed questioning of issues for both the left and right. His approach is, when at its best direct and pointed, and at its worse abrasive and insulting.
Maher’s is a self professed and unapologetic atheist and is now promoting his new film “Religulous” that is also pro-athiesm in its pointed assault on faith and faith traditions. Now, before we go any further, let me make a few things clear; I’m not an athiest, I don’t have an issue with athiests. I am a person of faith, but I’m also not one to evangelize without also having my own criticisms of religious traditions.
But Bill lost me this time. Not because he’s an atheist, but because he’s an asshole. Its one thing to be a person of faith or a person of no faith and have a belief that keeps you grounded and sane in a world that is all too often insane. It is an entirely different proposition to assail persons of faith as if to demean or diminish the role that their belief plays in their lives. Not to throw the Bible at an athiest, but there’s a line that says “Judge ye not lest ye be judged” and that isn’t just a spiritual maxim, but also a code of conduct that we can all adhere to out of courtesy. Again, there’s nothing wrong with one choosing to be an athiest, just as there’s nothing wrong with one choosing to be a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Bahaiist, or any other spiritual belief path chosen to follow. What is wrong is trying to mock those people for something that they hold near and dear to them.
Its just like homophobia.
Its just like racism.
There’s no reason why Bill Maher’s desire to propogate his belief should come at the expense of others desire to believe. Doing so is akin to street corner preaching or evangelism on public transportation. When Maher makes movies likes this or commentary as he does on his show he doesn’t come across as being some sage who’s shaken off the shackles of religion and found some greater truth, he sounds like a braying ass trying to justify to himself why he’s chosen to be an athiest.
He’s really just a left wing version of Sean Hannity, an abrasive personality that isn’t as much right or correct as he is loud and insistant.
So this Friday night, when I’m deciding what I will and won’t watch, I’m going to just go ahead and forgo Real Time on HBO because the show’s host is a buffoon. Not because we don’t share our beliefs, but because he doesn’t respect mine.
