You see, I agree with Bill Maher’s opinions concerning Islam.
Bill Maher is a Progressive commentator and comedian who hosts the political satire talk show Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO. He has been labeled an “Islamophobe” due to his (correct) assessment of Islam.
Maher stirred controversy on his October 3rd, 2014 broadcast when he claimed that “liberal” ideologies – like freedom of speech, freedom of religion, marriage equality, and gender equity – were incompatible with Islam (and in fact, countries that use Sharia Law as their foundation outlaw all of those things). Maher and fellow panelist Sam Harris argued throughout the broadcast that, in Islam, women and gays are subjugated and Muslims lack the freedom to leave their religion.
Maher said during the same program:
- “[Islam is] the only religion that acts like the mafia, that will f*****g kill you if you say the wrong thing.”
- “It’s based on reality, Ben. We’re not [making] it up that in the Muslim world [extremism] is mainstream belief.”
- “What you’re saying is because they’re a minority, we shouldn’t criticize.”
Maher agreed with Harris’ comments, which claimed:
- “Islam is the mother-lode of bad ideas.”
- “We are misled to think the fundamentalists are the fringe.”
A week prior, Maher stated on his show: “President Obama keeps insisting that ISIS is not Islamic. Well, maybe they don’t practice the Muslim faith in the same way he does.”
During a 2011 CNN interview, Anderson Cooper asked Maher if fear caused Americans to censor their opinions on Islam. Maher responded “Absolutely. Because they’re violent. Because they threaten us. And they are threatening. They bring that desert stuff to our world… We don’t threaten each other, we sue each other. That’s the sign of civilized people”. Cooper noted the position of American Muslims who affirm Islam as a religion of peace; Maher said “Yeah, they blow you up. There’s a piece of you over there, there’s a piece of you over there, there’s a piece of you over there”.
In a 2002 interview with CNN anchor Paula Zahn, Maher voiced his support for racial profiling at airports, stating “Yes, as a white guy, I’m not part of the fundamentalist Muslim problem that is attacking this country. That’s just a fact. I mean, I’m sorry I’m white, but I’m not the one who flew into the World Trade Center”.
In the past, Maher has attempted to discredit the word “Islamophobia.” In a 2014 interview Maher repeated a claim made by writer and critic of religion Christopher Hitchens, that “Islamophobic is a word created by fascists, and used by cowards, to manipulate morons.” In a 2015 interview with evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, Maher stated, Islamophobia is “a silly word that means nothing.”
“To claim that this religion is like other religions is just naive and plain wrong. [Islam]is not like other religions.” In January 2016, Maher told his viewers that “the more you know [about Islam], the more you would be afraid.”
The Qur’an as a “hate filled Holy Book.” In the same interview, Maher described Islam as a “culture in its medieval era” and a “culture of suicide bombings,”
while all religions need to be criticized and identified as antagonistic to liberal principles, Islam is a singular affront to liberal values, as Muslims are uniquely oppressive and extremist and violent.
“If vast numbers of Muslims across the world believe – and they do – that humans deserve to die for merely holding a different idea or drawing a cartoon or writing a book or eloping with the wrong person, not only does the Muslim world have something in common with Isis. It has too much in common with Isis.”
Maher is 100% correct about Islam, and I do not grok why this doesn’t resonate with my fellow Progressives.
We have a version of Sharia Law in the United States that is being touted as the solution to all of America’s problems. It’s called “Project 2025,” and when it is enacted into full force it will institutionalize prejudice against the LGBTQ; make women third-class citizens (eventually they will lose the right to vote and to hold public office); outlaw not just abortion, but birth control as well; and those things are just the tip of the iceberg.
