My opposition to religion is not something I seek to hide. I am contemptuous of any idea or set of ideas that is totalitarian. I don't want to be told what to think, when to think it or how to think it; I don't want to be told that someone, whom I didn't know, died for my supposed sins and now I have to worship him. And nor do I believe in fairy tales burning bushes or men on flying horses. I think it is all nonsense and detrimental to modern societies because it prevents us from thinking rationally and doing the work WE need to do to make our one and only home--Earth--a more peaceful and prosperous place.
I agree with Bill Maher on most things, although his attempts at humor lately have become very grating. His jokes and skits have started to fall flat more often now; and Maher, instead of rolling with it or saying "Bomb-o" a la Johnny Carson, chooses to attack his audience because they choose not to laugh at some lame (un)wisecrack.
On Saturday's show, however, Maher said this:
Jews have, I think, 155 Nobel Prizes, Muslims have two. That seems like kind of a big advantage for team Hebrew.
Does that sound familiar? It should. From 2012:
As you come here and you see the GDP per capita, for instance, in Israel which is about $21,000, and compare that with the GDP per capita just across the areas managed by the Palestinian Authority, which is more like $10,000 per capita, you notice such a dramatically stark difference in economic vitality. And as I come here and I look out over this city and consider the accomplishments of the people of this nation, I recognize the power of at least culture and a few other things
That was the president who never was, Mitt Romney, during a trip to Israel in July 2012. Romney was rightfully attacked for his nasty, ignorant comments, but there's been very little criticism of the liberal talk show host and comedian who uttered similarly nasty words.
It could be that Americans in general have a deep seated opposition to Islam, because, according to a recent Pew Study, Muslims have the lowest positive ratings of any group, including us dastardly atheists.
Nevertheless, it's important that left-wing bigotry gets called out just as much as right-wing bigotry or any other form of hatred.