Bill Maher Takes a Shot at Pro-Torture So-Called Christians in His New Rules Segment
Bill Maher took a shot at those so-called Christian conservatives who laud torture in his "New Rules" segment on Real Time:
MAHER: And finally New Rule, if you're a Christian who supports killing your enemies and torture, you have to come up with a new name for yourself.
Maher also took a shot at those who say they're following the teachings of Christ but lauded the killing of Osama bin Laden last week and explained why he didn't feel bound to that same set of morals, and why he felt those that claim to be following the teachings of Jesus are hypocrites if they were cheering bin Laden's death.
I think Maher makes some great points here and on a regular basis about what has become of the Christian right these days where there are way too many of them lauding violence and with no regard for the poor and the downtrodden and that seem to love the Old Testament while ignoring pretty much all of the New Testament and the message of nonviolence and social justice.
If anyone ever expects him to make those points gently when it comes to any religion, well, you're better off just not watching his show, because that ain't gonna' happen just as it didn't here.
More hate comes from these narrow minded phony Christians than anything else.
Whatever happened to "God is love" and "Help your fellow man" etc etc
"I know that there are people who do not love their fellow
man, and I hate people like that! " ~ Tom Lehrer (1928 - )
lol, god/jesus was never about love...religion is about power....
religion is a scam, jesus is a myth, and god is just pretend
"The more I study religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself."
Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821 - 1890)
"I know that there are people who do not love their fellow
man, and I hate people like that! " ~ Tom Lehrer (1928 - )
is the opiate of the masses.
It is used to control people,,,,,,,nothing else.
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
I almost agree with you... except there have always been good folks trying to spread around a little peace and philosophy... and then of course the powers that be take that and use it to fuck people over.
~albabe (The Writer/Artist Formally Known As Al Gordon)
http://www.comicon.com/gordon/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Gordon
How is it that you know the unknowable debaser ?
"The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all."
I don't know handy pants , been reading debaser's posts ?
"The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all."
dear god, please protect me from those who believe in you
the idea that religion has some sort of moral authority is disgusting
fuck religion, fuck the religious
I know many self-proclaimed Christians that spend every day doing nothing but helping others. I don’t mean figuratively either. Some Churches in my area sponsor homeless shelters, food delivery services for those who can’t leave their houses, and soup-kitchens for those who have no houses. I would think that the people who selflessly run and support these services for the needy would most likely do the same even if it were not associated with the Church, but frankly, I don’t care. If they choose to help in the name of Jesus, or not, they are helping; and doing a great service. I don’t group every Christian together in a convenient label. I like these Christians.
religion does not have a monopoly on charity...give these people's noble actions the credit they deserve, don't credit religion
Render unto Caesar? Granted. Nor will I fault their religion, if that is what it teaches.
with the unspoken bit being that 'Caesar' aka the Romans had no business being in Judea.
Yup. You can’t study Christianity without recognizing that the Romans had a bitch of a time with the Jews in that area. They didn’t follow the plan of conquest like most other cultures of the time.
The Romans were stepping into the arena of the established Greek cities, they trod carefully where those were concerned. Not wanting to appear too barbaric (in the eyes of the Greek culture) etc.
I think Alexander had a better tact when dealing with different cultures. There was more tolerance and respect as they were…um… absorbed. By the time Rome finished with the northern and north western territories and made their way east, the mechanisms for controlling the laws, taxes, and conscription were too rigid. The Jews never accepted the Roman laws. Their culture was already too firmly established, and they became real trouble-makers for Rome. Most of the stories of the New Testament come from that conflict. It’s interesting that eventually, the Christians absorbed Rome, not the other way around.
I hope America re-reads this part of the bible, lest ye tread too heavily on your colonies. Islam might absorb America in the end. Wouldn't that be rich?
far left loon >.<
If the only reason they are doing these charitable works is because they believe they will someday be rewarded in the after-life then it stops being charitable and becomes more about them.
True charity is selfless without recognition or reward for the giver.
We needed another FDR, instead we got another clinton.
Selfless charity is certainly a sign of maturity. I agree that too many people give only because of what they expect to get back.
Amen .
"The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all."
yes...to me to do good because of the promise of heaven and/or the fear of hell is rather ignoble...religion poisons good deeds
Doing good because you are afraid of some psychotic angry god's wrath, or are looking for redemption, is all about making a bargain for your soul... It has zip to do with Morality.
~albabe (The Writer/Artist Formally Known As Al Gordon)
http://www.comicon.com/gordon/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Gordon
It's absolutely wrong to .
"The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all."
They sound like fine people doing good work. I wonder if they would still do it if not induced by religion: that would make them very fine, indeed.
far left loon >.<
i could not agree more.well said
"while ignoring pretty much all of the New Testament and the message of nonviolence and social justice."
this is bullshit...the new testament is foul and evil. jesus supports slavery, has no family values, etc...don't simply look to the sermon on the mount....there's parts that are terrible
STOP BEING A CAFETERIA CHRISTIAN
you need this, badly...http://www.samharris.org/site/full_text/letter-to-a-christian-nation/
i'll also point out the no true scotsman fallacy you are attempting...those religious right douche-bags ARE just as christian as you are
Saul of Tarsus, later called Paul, and other writers, DID support slavery.
Paul even cursed anyone who preached any type of Christianity besides his own. this is interesting, since he knew nothing about Jesus and had never met him, but had all this info fed into him somehow.
there were numerous types of Christianity about until it was adopted as the state religion of the Roman Empire, about 323AD or so. once that was done, every other type was destroyed, by force if necessary. Paul's vision, later modified by people like Augustine, became the 'norm'.
and Augustine, of course, was the guy who 'lived in sin' with a hooker and had illegitimate kids. he projected his own shortcomings onto everyone, creating 'Original Sin' in opposition to Pelagius, who believed everyone was born innocent. a religious council chose Augustine over Pelagius, just as an earlier one created the rule that Jesus was the Son of God.
Reality ain't.
The early writings of Paul and his thugs, absolutely typical of a money grabbing, rule of fear cult.
Give over all your money and possessions to the common aka the cult, they murdered people who did not comply.
Give all to the church or Die
Peter was considered the first pope, not Paul.
"The greatest threat to freedom of thought is intellectual cowardice." -George Orwell, 1946
http://christianfearinggodman.blogspot.com
Sorry... I already typed my response up before I saw your very similar response. My bad.
~albabe (The Writer/Artist Formally Known As Al Gordon)
http://www.comicon.com/gordon/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Gordon
“Follow the leader”
Christians are taught to follow. If they were taught to think, they wouldn’t be so convinced that Noah brought every species on the planet onto a big boat. If they were taught to be critical, they wouldn’t excuse heinous acts of fellow Christians because they said “Sorry”.
No, Christians are not taught how to think for themselves. They are taught to serve. That service is mostly lip-service to Jesus. Jesus says whatever their current leader wants him to have said. Years of indoctrination teaches them not to question the leader( whoever that may be), but to follow and serve.
So many walk into their God building on Sunday, listen to the guy waving snakes around, or holding his arms out while speaking to the white haired father figure in the sky, and they are comforted that by following this lead, they will get some candy in the end. If they don’t follow the lead, they’ll get an eternal spanking.
Jesus said some pretty smart things in that book written about Him. I like the parts where he says work together for the benefit of all. I don’t know if He ever said “Think for yourselves, you damned sheep!”, but if He ever did – I’m sure it was edited out.
mythical jesus also said some hateful moronic things too.
If you're going to make a claim like that it'd be nice if you'd include some examples.
"The greatest threat to freedom of thought is intellectual cowardice." -George Orwell, 1946
http://christianfearinggodman.blogspot.com
read your bible...
http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/index.htm
It seems the historical evidence of JC (There isn't much) has him saying mostly very good kinda zen stuff. Certainly if yoy read the Gospel of Thomas and the other Gnostic guys.
The Neo Christians around 320 AD at the Council of Nicea made all sorts of decisions so that their JC was a conduit to god rather than an example of behavior. The church added all that devil and judgement and Sabbath bullshit.
~albabe (The Writer/Artist Formally Known As Al Gordon)
http://www.comicon.com/gordon/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Gordon
He sort of did. A lot of his ministry was about debunking the shit interpretation of the time. My favorite example was when he shit allover the pharisees who taught that it was actually wrong to do good works on the Sabbath, because it's supposed to be a day of rest.
Jesus basicaly said "why the hell would God be opposed to helping someone, EVER???"
I don't think you can be good to your fellow man without being a free-thinking human being. Otherwise, you're either not capable of recognizing when you're doing harm, and even if you are doing good it's only because someone told you so.
"The greatest threat to freedom of thought is intellectual cowardice." -George Orwell, 1946
http://christianfearinggodman.blogspot.com
Were more of a religious political factions than just priests.
They used fundie religion (and fear and pain) to control (extort) the people. And of course BFF to the occupying Roman forces.
They ( we ) are taught not to doubt , thinking and reasoning causes doubt if one reads the Bible ( particularly the old testament ) and has even half a brain , but doubt you see is the devil at work and you better watch out , you are in danger of losing your soul and of going to hell for all eternity . Being thoroughly brain washed from the very beginning it took me a long time to admit to myself without guilt and fear , what I had come to realize , that this teaching has man ( not God ) written all over it , it's based on emotional black mail , believe this or else . My attitude and thinking today is what will be ... will be , I don't know and will never know , not in this life time . Fought and struggled with the nonsense instilled in me for a long long time , it can literally drive people insane . To each their own .
"The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all."
I don’t know if He ever said “Think for yourselves, you damned sheep!”
No, that was Brian.
"You're all different!" "I'm not."
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits
As the agnostic son of an evangelical minister, I came to my belief in reaction to the hypocrites I encountered.
Thank you Bill Maher. You state the case more concisely than I've ever heard it. Apparently, organized religion is the practice of rationalizing the conflict between what should be and what is.
All things in moderation ... including moderation
and their absolute inversion of morality and actual attitudes to out of wedlock sex.
On the one hand they scream and moralize at the bad liberals for being loose, yet the red states have the highest teen pregnancy rates and the highest divorce rates in the US.
and shame.
Need I say more?
.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
He tells it like reality actually is.
You gotta laugh and cry when our supposed educated leaders in Washington get on their knees and pray to imaginary sky fairies, or at least pretend they are religious and moral, all the while killing brown/black people for fun and profit,
When small children have imaginary friends, which is worrying behaviour which is frowned upon, then the kids are thus sent to psychiatrists.
Did you see that Boehner cried again, this time at a commencement speech at Catholic U?
Pay attention to what he said about an incident that happened in his life. After being selected as House Majority leader in 2006, he prayed to the Mother Mary for guidance. Although he didn't initially "get a sign," he soon received a call from former high school football coach who wished him luck and said that he could do it. Boehner claimed that that call was "pretty darned close" to receiving a call from the Mother Mary.
Jesus, Mary, and H. Fng' Christ!
http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2011/05/what...
By the way, I don't really care if someone is religious....just keep it private, to yourself, and out of my hair.
He was probably just smashed out of his gourd again. When isn't he? (Never)
far left loon >.<
Mother Mary also told Boehner to screw the poor and accept money from lobbyists.
NOBODY 2012
"Bill Maher Takes a Shot at Pro-Torture So-Called Christians in His New Rules Segment"
Brilliance. Absolute brilliance. And he makes a lot of excellent points. The question is, will Pat Robertson, Billy Graham or his little boy Franklin have the moxie to respond to Maher. I'll bet they won't.
Consider this video downloaded and saved.
.
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
There are plenty of hypocritical Christians. No doubt. But I don't think its hypocritical to kill OBL. Going after him was no different than going after Nazis in WWII. And to clarify, I don't think we should remain in Iraq and Afghanistan and torture is immoral and illegal.
... going after the Nazis in World War II.
Well, except that we gave the Nazis fair trials.
amnesty and jobs in the government?
Only the ones who helped build the bomb.
Werner von Braun
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits
How many people did jesus murder? Should be the exact same number for any christian.
far left loon >.<
They are nothing but hypocrites , if indeed they do go to meet their maker one day they are going to be in for a helluva shock when they are turned away . ( Don't get excited , I did say if . )
"The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all."
Jesus loves me yes I know,
the priest who raped me told me so.
Nuns and priests cannot have sex.
When giving head, they strain their necks.
Once they had a holy war.
They killed the Jews from door to door.
They killed some witches back in Salem.
They hung the bitches, way to save ‘em.
They have ten rules that they obey.
How many will they kill today?
The gates of heaven may let me in,
but not my neighbor, he likes men.
They buy the myth of original sin.
Those evil babies are at it again.
Why don’t they follow their own beliefs?
The devil laughs while Jesus weeps.
Ha, ha, ha!
That's pretty funny! Gave me a good chuckle when I read it.
Whether God exists , whether Jesus was and is today , is besides the point , no one can know that for sure one way or the other , it is unknowable and unprovable either way , one thing is for sure and that is that man can and will inevitably fuck up everything and anything , man , not God , wrote the Bible , man translated the Bible and chose what writings stayed and what went , I don't blame God or Christ for what man is , for what man has done or for what man does , that's just not reasonable . According to the Bible that was the whole point of Jesus and his death on the cross , man is hopelessly fucked up and someone had to save their asses , and again, what you believe , what I believe , is irrelevant , thems are just facts . Isn't the existence of God every bit as likely as the big bang theory or what ever the latest theory they have developed trying to explain our beginning ? Know one knows for sure , to each their own , live and let live .
"The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all."
Maher was right on the money with this one.
(And notice, he didn't say all Christians, just the ones that support torture and killing.)
far left loon >.<
OK. I don't want to bash Christians as I know some nice ones, but man-o-man, the stuff that's done in religions' names out to be illegal. Personally, I have no use whatsoever for it, but everyone is free to be deluded.
Can we just get it out of national dialogue, please, please!!!
far left loon >.<
Dude, the problem isn't the name in which the shit is done - it's the shit itself. Whether the killer yells the name of a god or not, he's still a fucking murderer. As I've been pointing out for years in just this context, Stalin was an atheist. Did that make him a better person? Was Mao more noble because he didn't believe in a god? Was Pol Pot a more hoopy frood because he waved a copy of the Little Red Book and not the KJV?
Humans have a large amount of vicious nastiness in them regardless of their views on Who Made Everything. The Christian version is particularly head-desky because its hypocrisy goes so far to its core, but when any humans want to do mischief and carnage, they will always find the excuse, regardless of their structure of belief.
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits
to get good people to do evil things....that takes religion
the notion that religion has no role to play in what informs and motivates people is plainly false....you can't have it both ways, where religion motivates people to do good but religion has no role to play when people do evil...that's simply a cop out
Maher is usually way too much of a dick on the religion question for me, but every now and then he slams one out of the park. Way to go, Bill. There is more truth in these five minutes than everything the teabaggers have ever said.
When I first read that Bin Laden had been killed, my instant reaction was to recoil. The image that leapt to my mind was not the madman getting shot (which, you know...fucking karma), but exactly the image that ended up being broadcast in the following hours: the stupid, drunken, frat-boy, ugly-American shrieking and partying and proving to the whole world what utter dicks we really are that I knew was going to result. And the media lapdogs cooing about how "happy" everyone was. I wasn't. I was fucking ashamed. Shit, and I ain't even Christian - I'm a pagan. We're perfectly okay with dealing out death to that kind of lunatic; none of our gods said we should smile when somebody clocks us one on the jaw. (Though personally I'd rather have seen Bin Laden in chains in our own Manhattan Nuremberg. But hey, as Stephen Wright said, you can't have everything - where would you put it?)
So I applaud Bill and very once again feel so very, very sad for Jesus, who just tried to get people to be nice to one another for a change.
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits
The book "The Price of Right" has a chapter on the "Nurturing Parent" world view frame and the authoritarian "Strict Father" frame. To the authoritarian, punishing evil, even if it is "preemptive" to prevent evil (such as severely punishing children to prevent future bad behavior) is a moral imperative. Punishing, up to and including killing, "bad" people is a moral necessity because it reduces evil in the present and stems the growth of evil in the future. Since people are inherently savage, selfish, and bad, it is only through punishment, threat of punishment, and destruction of evil that is undeterred that people are brought to good and civilized behavior.
This is the root of much of the behavior of the religious right. Childbirth is God's will, and slutty women must be punished, so abortion must be illegal. Gays are evil people because they choose to be different from the One True Good (Christian) Society, so they must be punished to make them change back and scare kids into not choosing that lifestyle. Terrorists attack the Good (Christian) Society, so they must be killed to protect the Good Citizens. The unemployed choose to be lazy, rather than getting jobs as is the norm in Good (Christian) Society, so they must have the unemployment that rewards their lazy behavior removed and punished with cold and hunger until they get a job.
Since people are inherently bad (it's even in the Bible, if you interpret it right), fear of and application of punishment are the only way to make people, and therefore society, good.
who want to kill me and drive me off Beck's website, but they only show how narrow minded and anti-Christian they are by doing so.
It's all good. Who needs to sleep?
"The antidote to bad speech is more speech." ~~J.S. Mill
So what's new here? Weren't most of the Nazi hierarchy "good" catholics? Isn't the vatican "state" compliments of Mussolini? Wasn't the British Empire dedicated to bringing the "faith" and salvation to the "White Man's Burden"? Oh, and wasn't the Inquisition for the purification of mankind so as to facilitate entry to paradise? As Kinky Friedman reminds us, "They Don't Make Jews Like Jesus Anymore"!
The smarmy, egotistical, ill informed* douchebag has made some excellent points.
* Ask him about vaccines and science.
Bill Maher has something in common with Donald Trump: they both believe vaccines cause autism.
http://autism-news-beat.com/archives/28
Twice Jesus said he comes "with a sword".
He condemns nonbelievers to a "life" of teeth-gnashing.
He holds yet unborn Jerws accountable for his death.
Nice guy.
Ed-words
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