"We are a nation that is unenlightened because of religion…

[user4165146510]

Bill Maher Comments on Religion:
Feb. 5, 2005.

Bill Maher, host of HBO's Real Time With Bill Maher, says that all Christians are crazy and are unenlightened because of their faith. Maher made the comments on MSNBC's Scarborough Country.

Maher said: "We are a nation that is unenlightened because of religion…I think that religion stops people from thinking. I think it justifies crazies. I think that flying planes in a building was a faith-based initiative. I think religion is a neurological disorder. If you look at it logically, it's something that was drilled into your head when you were a small child."

"When you look at belief in such things--as do you go to heaven, is there a devil--we have more in common with (Muslin countries) Turkey and Iran and Syria than we do with European nations and Canada and nations that, yes, I would consider more enlightened that us."

Maher said he wasn't speaking only of evangelicals, but included all religious people. He said he agreed with Jesse Ventura "who had that quote about religion is a crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in numbers."

Because of their neurological disorder, he said Christians "do not believe in science and rationality." He went on to say the future does not belong to religion. One recalls the famous quote from the Beatles in the 60's that they "were more popular than Jesus."

According to Maher, the Bible is a book of fairy tales, calling the account of Jonah a fairy tale the same as Jack in the Beanstalk.













Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.
--Napolean Bonaparte (1769-1821)


"Religion is comparable to a childhood neurosis."-- Sigmund Freud, "Future of an Illusion". 1927


"The careful student of history will discover that Christianity has been of very little value in advancing civilization, but has done a great deal toward retarding it." -- Matilda Joslyn Gage, "Woman, Church and State", 1893


"When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called Religion." -- Robert M. Pirsig






.

[wade1226]

Wow. Thanks, Dr. Bill Maher, neurologist/tv host. What? You're not a doctor? Does this mean that I just might be able to believe in science?

What an effing moron. I guess ratings must have been down, so it was time to drum up a little media.

[The Experiment]

Maher is a pompous *******. This did not surprise me. What did surprise me was that after all these years, people still give a **** about this pud.

[Atheist_Prophet]

I agree with poster 100%

[sticklegs]

religion did hold back science in the beginining, but it does little now. This is a man who beats is girl friend and uses racial slurs against her, he is a man that calls people who serve in the millitary the low lying fruit(shouldn't it be low hanging fruit) of society. This is a very unenlightened man.

[secondsight]

I agree with poster 100%

Sure, keep following your blind guides.

It interesting too how Bill Maher is trying to divide this country. I think it would be better served for him to reach out to the other side rather than slam them with hate speech.

[enjoyincubus]

would someone please explain to me what his form of "enlightenment" means? i look at canada and europe and see nothing but socialism and hate.

if you want to see the definition of "hate" i would look no farther than europe. jews are still targets of hate crimes over there. french people still look down on germans. the british still look down on everyone. nothing has changed over there other than a decay in international significance. europe is no longer the international power that they once where.

so what charactoristics make them more "enlightened"?

[Atheist_Prophet]

Sure, keep following your blind guides.

It interesting too how Bill Maher is trying to divide this country. I think it would be better served for him to reach out to the other side rather than slam them with hate speech.

I know this sounds like a broken record, but I believe (rememeber, this is my opinion, I am not saying it is fact. Hardly anything in life is fact...Granted, I still "know" I am 100% right, just as you "know" I am 100% full of **** ) religon is used to control the weak minded masses

[Twiggy316225]

Bill Maher is the best

[sticklegs]

Bill Maher is the best

great guy

Link: http://thesmokinggun.com/archive/1111041coco1.html

Bill Maher Hit With Palimony Suit

Ex accuses HBO star of physical abuse, "degrading racial comments"

NOVEMBER 11--Comedian Bill Maher was slapped yesterday with a $9 million palimony suit by an ex-girlfriend who alleges that the HBO star subjected her to physical and verbal abuse, including "insulting, humiliating and degrading racial comments."

[MISTERDUDE]

would someone please explain to me what his form of "enlightenment" means? i look at canada and europe and see nothing but socialism and hate.

if you want to see the definition of "hate" i would look no farther than europe. jews are still targets of hate crimes over there. french people still look down on germans. the british still look down on everyone. nothing has changed over there other than a decay in international significance. europe is no longer the international power that they once where.

so what charactoristics make them more "enlightened"?

Europe is still very powerful, but I do agree, with the exception of certain things they are pretty much an unenlightened culture (by comparison). Canada is cool but they piss me off with thier "holier than thou art" additude when it comes to social and other political issues. Their country is so different than ours that the laws have to be different, yet they try to make it sound like everything could be the same. Then they get mad when they are called America Junior when someone does take a look at the similaries come on guys, you can't have it both ways.



As for the topic at hand, the guy is just trying to stir **** up because he can get away with it. Political correctness is on his side on this one.

[frog]

I like George Carlin's view on religion instead.

http://www.objectivethought.com/atheism/carlin.html

[PowerSwede]

would someone please explain to me what his form of "enlightenment" means? i look at canada and europe and see nothing but socialism and hate.

if you want to see the definition of "hate" i would look no farther than europe. jews are still targets of hate crimes over there. french people still look down on germans. the british still look down on everyone. nothing has changed over there other than a decay in international significance. europe is no longer the international power that they once where.

so what charactoristics make them more "enlightened"?

We have bigger things to worry about than Jews, the hate crimes of the neo nazis are not limited to Europe, it's an international thing.

The French and the Germans are getting along fine, so are the Brits, with everyone.

Us Europeans are surprised everytime when you guys tell us how things are over here.

I would not say that we are more or less enlightened but while the US seems to be striving towards religious influences we are striving in another direction.

[PowerSwede]

Europe is still very powerful, but I do agree, with the exception of certain things they are pretty much an unenlightened culture (by comparison). Canada is cool but they piss me off with thier "holier than thou art" additude when it comes to social and other political issues. Their country is so different than ours that the laws have to be different, yet they try to make it sound like everything could be the same. Then they get mad when they are called America Junior when someone does take a look at the similaries come on guys, you can't have it both ways.



As for the topic at hand, the guy is just trying to stir **** up because he can get away with it. Political correctness is on his side on this one.

Explain to me in what way Europe is an unenlightened culture...

[MISTERDUDE]

Explain to me in what way Europe is an unenlightened culture...

As in, they are not more enlightened than anyone else, but people (in the US) always try to say "Look what they're doing (they say the name of some country), they've got it right." Usually its about drug laws, which is ironic because many countries over there have high addiction rates. Even the Neatherlands is/was (maybe they have already?) changing their laws regarding the legality of certain drugs like Herion.

The political correctness is even worse over there, I actually talked to you about that I believe. Its just all kinds of stuff like that, their media is very one sided, it seems like there is a lot of anti-American feeling over there because of that. Its little things mostly, the whole "Jewish hate crimes" thing he said wasn't a part of the post I was agreeing with.

[The Kurgan]

religion did hold back science in the beginining, but it does little now.

Stem cell research? Cloning?

[secondsight]

Stem cell research? Cloning?

You are wrong, regilious people are not against "stem cell research". Either you are ignorant of the details or are just talking **** or you've been duped.

Basically, the problems are really with the ethics and questions that arise from cloning new embryos. Why not allow research on stem cells taken from embryos which would otherwise be disposed of at fertility clinics? Most don't have a problem with this because this would make an extraordinary number of stem cell lines available. But, not surprisingly, the pro-cloning stem cell lobby doesn't seem to be all that keen on stem cell lines of the non-cloned kind. You can blindly follow the pro-cloning lobby without questioning their true intentions and motations if you wish but I see that as dangerous. There is an insidiously resourceful little word game that's going on and you better be paying attention.

[enjoyincubus]

As in, they are not more enlightened than anyone else, but people (in the US) always try to say "Look what they're doing (they say the name of some country), they've got it right." Usually its about drug laws, which is ironic because many countries over there have high addiction rates. Even the Neatherlands is/was (maybe they have already?) changing their laws regarding the legality of certain drugs like Herion.

The political correctness is even worse over there, I actually talked to you about that I believe. Its just all kinds of stuff like that, their media is very one sided, it seems like there is a lot of anti-American feeling over there because of that. Its little things mostly, the whole "Jewish hate crimes" thing he said wasn't a part of the post I was agreeing with.

have any of you spent a great deal of time in europe? i spent a few years traveling in germany, france, england. i found that there is more hate there than here. everybody hates everybody. germans hate french and english, french hate english and germans, english hate them all back. not to mention the fact that americans are universally despised over there. quite odd since they dont seem to hate our tourist dollars at all.

all in all the sentiment of the people over there is similar to over here, except theres alot of hate.

politically, theyre not any better. unemployment is horrible over there, although the numbers look ok because many european governments dont count citizens on welfare as unemployed. technically, drugs are illegal in amsterdam(i think), yet the drug cultures are able to stay above ground because the laws are uninforced. taxes are high as hell, and their health care isnt better than ours by any means. i remember a friend of mine(who is german) was in a car accident, and cut pretty bad. he was taken to the hospital, but waited over an hour for treatment. he lost alot of blood, but thankfully it wasnt life threatening.

regardless of the crap that people tell you about europe, it isnt the paradise people make it out to be. that is, unless you like high taxes and long waits and no second opinions at hospitals. oh yeah, and a bunch of unemployment. and the occasional beating of a jew.

its a beautiful place, but ill stick it out here in the us.

[I_m sore]

great guy

Yes, because if she accuses him she must be telling the truth. I don't think he was ever convicted, if he was i doubt he'd still have his own show.

[PowerSwede]

As in, they are not more enlightened than anyone else, but people (in the US) always try to say "Look what they're doing (they say the name of some country), they've got it right." Usually its about drug laws, which is ironic because many countries over there have high addiction rates. Even the Neatherlands is/was (maybe they have already?) changing their laws regarding the legality of certain drugs like Herion.

The political correctness is even worse over there, I actually talked to you about that I believe. Its just all kinds of stuff like that, their media is very one sided, it seems like there is a lot of anti-American feeling over there because of that. Its little things mostly, the whole "Jewish hate crimes" thing he said wasn't a part of the post I was agreeing with.

When it comes to being up to current events all over the world i'd say that we're lightyears ahead (as a whole), when it comes to laws and other things, well, some countries are trying out new things because the old things simply don't work, more power to them, maybe they'll find the way to do it.

Heh, PC is worse here? What happens if you stand up and say that most crimes are committed by blacks? It doesn't really matter if it's true or not, you will be called a racist, i'd say we're pretty much equal.

Plenty of people still have the idea that Jews are somehow mistreated in Europe, that's not true at all, i just wish people would realize that Hitler is dead and gone by now.

And finally, if a Swedish politician would say what i said to you in PM, he would be on the US news with the headline "Racism rampant in Europe".

[PowerSwede]

have any of you spent a great deal of time in europe? i spent a few years traveling in germany, france, england. i found that there is more hate there than here. everybody hates everybody. germans hate french and english, french hate english and germans, english hate them all back. not to mention the fact that americans are universally despised over there. quite odd since they dont seem to hate our tourist dollars at all.

all in all the sentiment of the people over there is similar to over here, except theres alot of hate.

politically, theyre not any better. unemployment is horrible over there, although the numbers look ok because many european governments dont count citizens on welfare as unemployed. technically, drugs are illegal in amsterdam(i think), yet the drug cultures are able to stay above ground because the laws are uninforced. taxes are high as hell, and their health care isnt better than ours by any means. i remember a friend of mine(who is german) was in a car accident, and cut pretty bad. he was taken to the hospital, but waited over an hour for treatment. he lost alot of blood, but thankfully it wasnt life threatening.

regardless of the crap that people tell you about europe, it isnt the paradise people make it out to be. that is, unless you like high taxes and long waits and no second opinions at hospitals. oh yeah, and a bunch of unemployment. and the occasional beating of a jew.

its a beautiful place, but ill stick it out here in the us.

Well, i have lived in Europe for most of my life, i lived in the US during a year but i prefer Sweden.

Yeah, we have high taxes, but the thing you're saying regarding acute injuries and hospitals is simply not true, what you're saying about no second opinions is not true either, you can get a second opinion, if you want one.

Unemployment is too high, i agree, but the fact is that everyone is counted here, not just the ones who get unemployment support as in the US, if you count everyone, even the ones who do not have a job because they're sick, the numbers would go higher in the US.

And finally, there is no one i hate because of his nationality or race and Jewish hate crimes are VERY few.

[kosmo yagkoto]

Mahr must be unenlightened as well, because he thinks people actually listen to what he says.

[user4165146510]

Religion is the largest industry in the world, and it provides no tangible service; trades in no tangible goods. Yet it is a multi-billion dollar industry. In every other endeavor, this would be called fraud!

[Atheist_Prophet]

Religion is the largest industry in the world, and it provides no tangible service; trades in no tangible goods. Yet it is a multi-billion dollar industry. In every other endeavor, this would be called fraud!

I would give you reps, but even though I only have 4 neg reps compared to 20 pos reps, some how I am in negative

[enjoyincubus]

Well, i have lived in Europe for most of my life, i lived in the US during a year but i prefer Sweden.

Yeah, we have high taxes, but the thing you're saying regarding acute injuries and hospitals is simply not true, what you're saying about no second opinions is not true either, you can get a second opinion, if you want one.

Unemployment is too high, i agree, but the fact is that everyone is counted here, not just the ones who get unemployment support as in the US, if you count everyone, even the ones who do not have a job because they're sick, the numbers would go higher in the US.

And finally, there is no one i hate because of his nationality or race and Jewish hate crimes are VERY few.

all i can speak for is what i experianced. when my friend went to the hospital it took him over an hour to see anyone. whether or not was just a fluke or not i dont know. but seeing what happened to my friend and then hearing about similar events in other places i assumed it wasnt.

maybe your country does count everyone, but i know for a fact that this isnt the standard practice throughout europe.

perhaps i should have been less broad in my previous post. what i was trying to say is that there is an equal or perhaps greater amount of hate and prejudice over there as oppossed to u.s. i pointed this out because one of the arguements the camp of the "enlightened" use is that american citizens are filled with prejudice and hate, when that clearly isnt the case. im sure you are part of the majority but one cant ignore the fact that prejudice is still very much alive in europe, at the very least in quanities similar to those in the u.s.

im like you, i dont hate anyone because of their nationality or religion, but i cant stand condesending *******s like bill mahr who just speak just so they can see themselves on <a style='text-decoration: none; border-bottom: 3px double;' href="http://www.serverlogic3.com/lm/rtl3.asp?si=24&k=t%20v" onmouseover="window.status='t.v'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">t.v</a>.

[PowerSwede]

all i can speak for is what i experianced. when my friend went to the hospital it took him over an hour to see anyone. whether or not was just a fluke or not i dont know. but seeing what happened to my friend and then hearing about similar events in other places i assumed it wasnt.

maybe your country does count everyone, but i know for a fact that this isnt the standard practice throughout europe.

perhaps i should have been less broad in my previous post. what i was trying to say is that there is an equal or perhaps greater amount of hate and prejudice over there as oppossed to u.s. i pointed this out because one of the arguements the camp of the "enlightened" use is that american citizens are filled with prejudice and hate, when that clearly isnt the case. im sure you are part of the majority but one cant ignore the fact that prejudice is still very much alive in europe, at the very least in quanities similar to those in the u.s.

im like you, i dont hate anyone because of their nationality or religion, but i cant stand condesending *******s like bill mahr who just speak just so they can see themselves on <a style='text-decoration: none; border-bottom: 3px double;' href="http://www.serverlogic3.com/lm/rtl3.asp?si=24&k=t%20v" onmouseover="window.status='t.v'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">t.v</a>.

It was a fluke, i've been injured enough to know what the emergency care is like in three European nations and i have absolutely no complaints. If i feel like it i could go to every hospital in Sweden and get different opinions, both private and government owned hospitals, i wouldn't have to pay any more no matter what hospital i would go to.

Prejudice does exist in Europe, nobody can deny that, we've got our fair amount of whackos just like you guys but i have read several things that have been blown out of proportion, it seems like every time there is something about Europe in US media it's blown out of proportion.

The things i hear about Jews being mistreated in Europe and Europeans being anti-Israel are definently not true, what it comes from is that while all european countries will condemn actions of the Israelis that harm palestinian civilians (such as firing missiles into schools during school hours) while the US will veto it so there is never any official condemnation from the UN. In that whole situation i DO believe that Europe is a bit more open minded when they condemn actions from BOTH sides, but that is interpreted as anti-semitism.

Then there's the whole anti-Islam thing that is being over reported and exaggerated, some nutjob in some country says something about it and WHAM, the next day the headline in US papers is "racism rampant in europe".

Last but not least, you guys have to learn that France is not Europe, Germany is not Europe and UK is not Europe, Europe is the continent just like America is the continent for both the US and Canada, the countries have separate governments, different laws and different situations, what goes in Spain does not go in Sweden and if Greece were to elect a communist government it would not mean that Sweden would have anything to do with it, still, i KNOW that the headlines would be "Communism in Europe".

The last part of your post is kinda hard to read though, so i won't comment on that.

[AntonToo]

religion did hold back science in the beginining, but it does little now.

I'd say anti-evolutionism, anti-stemcell (reasearch) is not little.
Those koreans sure got us beat baaad at bioengenering, 11 stem cell lines out of 17 donors :O

But there is much more to it then this, Idea of "Faith" is very much counter to scientific line of thought, who knows how many great minds never did get to shine in science, but instead persued religious goals, who know how many resources went into religion instead of science.

Bill could be more convincing though, I mean I enjoy what he sais but thats only because I agree with him mostly.

[enjoyincubus]

It was a fluke, i've been injured enough to know what the <a style='text-decoration: none; border-bottom: 3px double;' href="http://www.serverlogic3.com/lm/rtl3.asp?si=24&k=emergency%20care" onmouseover="window.status='emergency care'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">emergency care</a> is like in three European nations and i have absolutely no complaints. If i feel like it i could go to every hospital in Sweden and get different opinions, both private and government owned hospitals, i wouldn't have to pay any more no matter what hospital i would go to.

Prejudice does exist in Europe, nobody can deny that, we've got our fair amount of whackos just like you guys but i have read several things that have been blown out of proportion, it seems like every time there is something about Europe in US media it's blown out of proportion.

The things i hear about Jews being mistreated in Europe and Europeans being anti-Israel are definently not true, what it comes from is that while all european countries will condemn actions of the Israelis that harm palestinian civilians (such as firing missiles into schools during school hours) while the US will veto it so there is never any official condemnation from the UN. In that whole situation i DO believe that Europe is a bit more open minded when they condemn actions from BOTH sides, but that is interpreted as anti-semitism.

Then there's the whole anti-Islam thing that is being over reported and exaggerated, some nutjob in some country says something about it and WHAM, the next day the headline in US papers is "racism rampant in europe".

Last but not least, you guys have to learn that France is not Europe, Germany is not Europe and UK is not Europe, Europe is the continent just like America is the continent for both the US and Canada, the countries have separate governments, different laws and different situations, what goes in Spain does not go in Sweden and if Greece were to elect a communist government it would not mean that Sweden would have anything to do with it, still, i KNOW that the headlines would be "Communism in Europe".

The last part of your post is kinda hard to read though, so i won't comment on that.

whoa...i didnt see that until now. weird.

[4amWorkouts]

Must be why the great scientists of our time had/have a belief in God...

[mockba]

Like who?



And religion DID hinder science and always will as long as kids are being told a pack of lies when they are too young to be able to argue logically. Its **** ... people still don't believe in evolution cos it destroys their harmonious mental image. **** the image I care about the truth.

Dont get me wrong living with a God would be cool. And heaven I would LOVE. But I cant force myself to believe that there is something that I have no reason to believe in.