I have to say that I'm really tired of hearing "people of faith" bitch and moan about how repressed and maligned they are. Take for instance this exchange between Bill Maher, Andrew Sullivan, Salman Rushdie and Ben Affleck from last Friday's Real Time with Bill Maher:
MAHER: And I have to tell you, what offends me the most about this nomination is that there is no diversity of religion in this country. George Bush does have a diverse Cabinet when it comes to race. They've done a pretty good job: Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, so forth. But, you know, I don't think race makes someone as diverse nowadays as how you think about religion. And there's no secular voice. There's no voice of me in this Cabinet. Everyone who gets appointed has to be not just Christ-y, but "Super-Christ-y," [laughter] "Double-Dog-Christ-y," "Twice-Born Christ-y." [laughter] And you know what? That - people of faith - and when I hear "people of faith," I think, well, those are people who suspend rational judgment for nonsensical bullshit that they believe. Where is the - where is the diversity of the people who think like myself and perhaps you. [applause]
RUSHDIE: And me, yeah.
AFFLECK: I think that's oversimplifying it and probably a little bit insulting.
SULLIVAN: Thank you, Ben.
AFFLECK: I mean, it's - you know, people of faith aren't stupid by dint of their being of faith. I mean, I just disagree. I think that's stupid, in fact, to suggest that. I think that, you know, ultimately, you have--
MAHER: I think there's a mental block.
AFFLECK: Well, there may be on some ends of the extreme of whatever religious spectrum you want to look at. But there's certainly a gamut. And just saying, well, if somebody is religious, whether they're Jewish and go to temple or Orthodox Jew or Christian that goes to church once a week or four times a week or believes that every word in the Bible is literal, or like the president thinks - "well, it's not all literal but I believe in it" - doesn't inherently make them stupid.
MAHER: Really? If you believe the words of the Bible literally; if you believe the world is 5,000 years old, that's not stupid? [laughter]
AFFLECK: I think most religious people, like, don't think that Jonah lived in the belly of a whale for 200 years. But the ones who get the attention--
MAHER: Oh, oh, in America they do. [laughter]
AFFLECK: No, I don't - I think you're wrong.
MAHER: No, no, there are statistics. Like I just read this, like, 45% of the people believe the Bible literally.
AFFLECK: Well, that's because you ask somebody in a survey, "Do you believe in the Bible?" And they go, "Well, I got taken to church or to the temple or to mosque, if it's about the Koran, or whatever it is, and this is what I'm taught to believe in and this is what I'm taught is good." And they say, "Do you think this book is good?" And they go, "Yeah, I believe in it."
MAHER: As a child. As a child.
SULLIVAN: Bill, I'm a person of faith, and I rather resent being called stupid.
MAHER: I'm not calling you stupid. I'm saying--
SULLIVAN: Yes, you did. [laughter]
MAHER: No, I'm saying it's a mental block. Because I know intelligent--[laughter]
SULLIVAN: I'm saying you have a mental block when it comes to people of faith.
MAHER: No, I had a mental block when I was a child when they taught me this nonsense. And when I got to be an adult, I got over it. [applause]
OK Ben and Andrew, you guys resent being called stupid? You say that the people at the extremes of the religious spectrum are in the minority, and that the vast majority are innocents undeserving of such ridicule?
Well screw you both.
I am a gay man and for years I have watched these "people of faith", that you claim are on the right fringe of the religious spectrum, take over and become unopposed spokespeople for "faith" and "family values" in this country. While the "majority" have remained silent, the "extremist minority" has been spreading their vile, hateful and repressive version of "faith" across the United States and the world.
Also, because they control the GOP, they also now dominate the 3 branches of government in this country, and have been working to blur the lines between church and state and turn their intolerant policies into law.
So where is this "majority" you talk about? Why haven't they publicly opposed this onslaught of extreme religious conservatism? Why haven't they confronted their priests, their chaplains, their rabbis and their mullahs? Why haven't they appeared in the media denouncing the direction in which the extremists are leading their faith? Where is the outrage?
The truth is that they have done nothing. They have sat idly by as their religion has been hijacked. They are guilty by ignoring the consequences and by willingly allowing it to happen. And by allowing it to happen they are, in fact, stupid.
It's time this "majority" you speak of stands up and liberates their religion from it's hijackers, the Dobsons, Robertsons and Falwells that are currently in control.