Saturday, January 12, 2008

Bill Maher on Religion and Bush

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

omg, makes me crack up -- BM is right on!

Paul Newell said...

I know he's a comedian and all, but it makes me nervous when we knock people for being religious. It's mean spirited, elitist, and loses us votes.

The Sen. Robert Byrd joke was hysterical though.

Anonymous said...

I disagree Assemblyman Newell:) These fuckers have been running our country into the ground with what is a fairy tale. Being religious is one thing, but believing the earth is 6000 years old is a cult. There is a big difference.

Paul Newell said...

Well, cult or no, calling people hillbillies because of their religion is classist, regionalist, elitist, and counterproductive.

A lot of good people believe in god. Indeed over 90% of humanity does. Are they all hillbillies in a cult? MLK? Einstein? Are we some tiny enlightened elite in a world of fools?

The people who have been running our country into the fucking ground are CONSERVATIVES. Paul Wolfowitz is an atheist. You think Dick Cheney prays every night?

More to the point, we will never win elections if we treat those with differing social values as too stupid to see our superior wisdom. We will win by appealing to differing values and BUILDING WORKABLE COALITIONS, not by dividing people.

Seriously, I know we're all angry here, but this is beneath us, and NOT what progressivism is about. We are supposed to be the inclusive ones. And that's how we'll win.

Eyes on the prize, folks.

Anonymous said...

First, I don't agree Maher is a liberal elitist at all. He is more of a progressive libertarian and he kind of rags on everyone. Religion is one thing as I said, but the doctrine that says you should believe like me and only like my world view is tyrannical.

"It is too easy to assert that those with whom we disagree are not just wrong but tyrannical, fascist, genocidal. But it is also true that certain ideologies are a danger to the public and need to be identified as such. These are the closed, fundamentalist doctrines that cannot coexist with other belief systems; their followers deplore diversity and demand an absolute free hand to implement their perfect system. The world as it is must be erased to make way for their purist invention. Rooted in biblical fantasies of great floods and great fires, it is a logic that leads ineluctably toward violence" Naomi Klein - the Shock Doctrine-

Paul Newell said...

"the doctrine that says you should believe like me and only like my world view is tyrannical."

My point exactly.

Paul Newell said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Paul Newell said...

Sorry about my tone in the above thread. It's just a pet peeve of mine.

Apologies.

Fearing not that I'd become my enemy
In the instant that I preach

Anonymous said...

No problem, Paul this is a discussion progressives should be having. We will be dealing with this issue if we take power or not. And I agree the caucuses are outdated and should be replaced by a primary system as well as scrapping the schedule for a fairer one.