#BillMaher's arrogant shtick is just as ugly as religious intolerance. http://t.co/HaSxbzy70E
— AlterNet (@AlterNet) April 14, 2015
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 schtick, you’re a bigot too. On Friday’s “Real Time,” Maher, who has been openly atheist his whole career but has been increasingly vocal against organized religion in recent years, squared off against Fareed Zakaria, who gave a powerful rebuttal to Maher’s reiteration of the “Islam is the motherlode of bad ideas” assertion. “My problem with the way you approach it,” Zakaria said, “is I don’t think you’re going to reform a religion by telling 1.6 billion people — most of whom are just devout people who get some inspiration from that religion and go about their daily lives — I don’t think you’re going to change religion by saying your religion is the motherlode of bad ideas, it’s a terrible thing. Frankly, you’re going to make a lot of news for yourself and you’re going to get a lot of applause lines and joke lines.”
One of the aspects of religious faith (or lack of same) I find most disturbing is the degree to which it drives so many otherwise intelligent, lucid people to become intolerant and dismissive of those who happen to think and/or believe differently. I find this attitude to be far more prevalent in Right-wing Christians (the reason I refer to them as the American Taliban), but being a jerk isn’t necessarily limited to the hyper-religious. Bill Maher is a perfect example of the sort of intolerance those who don’t believe in a Higher Power are capable of. Not so very long ago, I admired his intelligent, thoughtful commitment to the idea of being good without God. If he’d left it there, all would have been good with the world…but he couldn’t leave well enough alone. That’s when his arrogance and intolerance for those with the temerity to think differently came to the fore.
Over the past year or so, Maher has decided it would be a GREAT idea to tell the worlds’s 1.6 billion (give or take) Muslims how truly bad and misguided the teachings of their religion are. While he may in fact be correct, the arrogance of his assertion is as self-evident as it is obnoxious. What I find truly disturbing is the degree to which he uses his television show as a platform to spread his intolerance. In so doing, he’s opened the floor up to those who’d argue that when it comes to intolerance, “both sides do it.”
As the threats terrorism and right wing Christianity have risen in the past few years, Maher’s aggressive brand of atheism — also popularized by the likes of Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris — has gained a strong following among a certain type of self-professed intellectual. Maher has famously said, “Religion is dangerous because it allows human beings who don’t have all the answers to think that they do” — which is pretty funny, given the know-it-all arrogance of the anti-religion big leaguers like Maher himself. As Zakaria very eloquently pointed out, that stance has given Maher more power and reach than he’s ever had in his long career. But whatever you believe or don’t, if you’re selling blanket intolerance, you don’t get to call yourself one of the good guys. You shouldn’t even get to call yourself one of the smart ones.
I understand that religious faith informs the lives of many of my fellow bipeds…and that can be a good thing. Religion in its purest form is about love, tolerance, and acceptance- and who can argue with wanting to make the world a better place? If your faith gives your life meaning and/or purpose, if it makes you strive to be a better person, then good on you. I admire people who personalize their faith and genuinely try to lead lives that reflect the teachings they profess to believe in.
Then there are those who use their faith as a bludgeon with which to club those they deem “less than” into submission. I have a brother whose Old Testament cafeteria Christianity and absurd Far Right-wing beliefs have made him an example of everything wrong with modern religion. He’s comfortable judging me by his self-superior moral standard, and he’s found me wanting, which has virtually destroyed any chance of having a relationship with him. That’s his choice, and while I grant him his right to his beliefs, I refuse to allow anyone to denigrate me because I don’t hew to their code. This is a worst-case scenario of the destructive power of religion when it’s in the hands of someone who employs it for the wrong reasons and violates my own personal cardinal rule: Don’t be a dick.
This is unfortunately exactly the sort of thing Bill Maher is coming to be known for. He could use his platform as a means to explain his views, which is what he’s done in the past. Recently though, he’s turned into a real dick, proving himself to be every bit as intolerant as those he berates for their intolerance. In so doing, he’s demonstrated that there are times when an atheist can be every bit as intolerant and dickish as a cafeteria Christian.
Can’t we all just get along??
