Bill Maher has never been shy about criticizing Islam for what he sees as a propensity for violence within the faith, but now he’s apparently had enough.
“Man, I’m done talking about this,” Maher told the Daily Beast’s Marlow Stern in an interview published Thursday. “I just don’t want to keep talking about this. I’ve said my piece, now the rest of you talk about it.”
Maher’s aversion to organized religion is well-known, but the comedian has long been particularly critical of Muslims. During an interview last month, he got irritated when Charlie Rose compared Islam and Christianity.
“I think liberals should stop booing me for pointing out that Islam is not like other religions, that it’s a unique threat” Maher told Rose.
Those beliefs have come in for renewed scrutiny following Maher’s heated debate with actor Ben Affleck earlier this month, which has prompted manifold commentaries throughout media.
Just don’t ask Maher for comment. The day after that on-air blowup, Maher was asked by Salon’s Elias Isquith if he was surprised by Affleck’s reaction.
“You know, I don’t want to talk about this,” Maher said.
Milt Shook at pleasecutthecrap.com put together an excellent op-ed explaining why Bill Maher is completely wrong:
So is everyone else, Bill. So is everyone else.
In short, from the Milt Shook piece I linked, Islam isn’t the problem, it’s the abuse of Islam that is the problem. There are many Muslim countries out there that have elected a female head of state, and we’ve yet to elect a female President here in the US. Is that the fault of us being a “Christian” nation?
"Reza Aslan said:
He’s not a mean-spirited person. He’s a comedian, he’s very funny. He’s smart, he said. He’s got a very perceptive outlook on a lot of topics but when it comes to religion he, like so many critics of religion – especially Sam Harris, just comes from a place of complete amateurness.”
Most times the clown will go too far before it becomes a tired routine.
Yes, it probably is.