WASHINGTON — As an avowed atheist, Bill Maher is harsh on all religions, but he has a particular disdain for Islam. He’s taken out against Muslim men and their treatment of women before as well, which is deserved. Just look at their reaction in Egypt when women came out to march for their own freedom on International Women’s Day. But Friday night on “Real Time,” Bill Maher exhibited Islamaphobia akin to Peter King.
Mediaite did a good synopsis so I don’t have to:
But that paled next to Maher’s criticism of the Qur’an, which he called a “hate-filled holy book…which is taken very literally” by radical Islamic terrorists. Ripping suicide bombers is one thing…maligning the holy book for the entirety of Islam is quite another. Ellison, of course, disagreed, saying Maher was “lumping together things that shouldn’t be lumped together,” and that terrorists “take things out of context to do what they want to do” – in fact, that “terrorist rhetoric” has little to do with religion at all.
Maher allowed that the “vast, vast giant majority of Muslims aren’t the problem,” but added that with terrorists, “it just takes one.” Maher also seemed unconvinced of Ellison’s Qur’an defense, even as Ellison cited a passage that claims that taking one life is akin to killing the whole world, and saving a life is like saving the entire world: “Am I getting the wrong translation? ‘Cause that’s what every Muslim always tells me.”
Nobody cuts to the bone on religion like Bill Maher. He gives no quarter to any devout believers. His film “Religulous” is a must see for anyone who cares about this subject.
What Maher and other Islamaphobic individuals refuse to admit or even consider is that any fundamentalist or hard line religion is dangerous, because it’s built on destructively antiquated patriarchal norms that marginalize women and exalt only men.
It was clear on his show Friday night that Maher believes Islam is a greater threat to the U.S. than any other religion, while ignoring what Christian fundamentalism is doing to women across this country.
Peter King will no doubt find Maher’s discussion with Rep. Ellison comforting. It supports his McCarthyism.
Taylor Marsh is a political analyst, writer and commentator on national politics. A veteran national politics writer, Taylor’s been writing on the web since 1996. She has reported from the White House, been profiled in the Washington Post, The New Republic, and has been seen on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, CNN, MSNBC, Al Jazeera English and Al Jazeera Arabic, as well as on radio across the dial and on satellite, including the BBC. Marsh lives in the Washington, D.C. area. This column is cross posted from her blog.