This is a public service announcement. I commend to your attention Jeffrey Tayler’s weekly Salon column (fortuitously published on Sunday) excoriating religion. This week’s gem is called “Bill Maher, American hero: Laughing at religion is exactly what the world needs.” Here’s just a wee taste:
It should go without saying that in the constitutionally secular United States, neither Maher nor anyone else should feel obliged to show deference to Islam — or any other faith. The First Amendment inseparably links the right to free speech with the right to practice the religion of one’s choosing, or not to practice any religion at all. Since faith has historically caused so much strife and led to so much repression, unfettered discourse about it is precisely what must be allowed, no matter what people feel, if they are to be free. Put another way, in a truly civil society the right to free expression trumps the desire of religious folks not to have their feelings hurt. The “offense” argument is, therefore, no argument at all; it is tantamount to a selfish, adolescent insistence on conformity, nothing more. The “offended” just have to grin and bear it. We left high school long ago. It’s time to grow up.
It should be obvious to the observant that demands that Maher respect faith, whether issued from Muslims or the Catholic League’s president, Bill Donohue, all stem from a single, flagrant insecurity – that once people begin mocking religion, begin meeting its gaga assertions and goofy proclamations with guffaws instead of genuflection, with ridicule instead of reverence, then religion stands naked, puny and shriveled before its peering “flock,” the members of which will soon start wondering, “maybe my whole life as a Muslim or Catholic (or whatever) is built on a lie? Maybe I’m a fool to believe all these crazy scriptures? Now that I think about it, I really have so many doubts about them. Maybe I should dump my holy book and read something for grown-ups? Maybe I should check out Bertrand Russell’s “Skeptical Essays” or Philip Larkin’s poem “Aubade”? Maybe, after all, as Larkin wrote, religion is just a “vast, moth-eaten musical brocade/Created to pretend we never die?” Maybe I should just start thinking for myself? After all, I’m no child!”
. . . If the faith-deranged in the West can no longer treat nonbelievers to thumbscrews and the rack, flaming pyres and breast-rippers, they continue to stamp their ugly imprimatur on policy, both domestic and foreign, and in the U.S. do so tax-free! Maher has never let us forget this. If he succeeds in “de-converting” just a few of his believing, or even doubting, audience members a week with his show, he’s doing us all immeasurable good, and sowing hope for the future. At the very least, he’s furthering the gloriously heathen Zeitgeist, and we should be thankful.
Now go read the whole thing, and stop dismissing Maher’s complete corpus for his ill-advised comments about vaccination. The readers’ comments, by the way, are better than you might expect from Tayler’s “stridency.”
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Another great article. Thanks for highlighting Taylor, his column is a bookmark now.
I adore Bill Maher and Jeffrey Taylor.
Kudos to Maher for not putting up with PC bullshit.
Great article!
Surprisingly most of the comments seem to support it.
He isn’t a complete idiot, but just because I may agree with his anti religious stance shouldn’t mean I have to tolerate any other complete bollocks he espouses. He’s wrong on vaccinations, he’s wrong on GMO´s and I’m not gonna ignore that, no matter what else I agree with him on.
I agree. I was a faithful viewer of his show for years. Even attended a taping once in LA. But his anti-vax bullshit has pushed me over the edge. I have not watched his show in months, and I don’t plan to.
Who said you should ignore it? I’m saying the opposite: don’t ignore his good criticism and mockery of religion just because of his anti-vaxer stance (which, by the way, he seems to have modified).
I believe the evidence suggests the opposite. Maher has not modified his position, but rather tried to deflect and avoid criticism. It’s not unlike a creationist who says they’re not anti-science. https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/five-years-on-bill-maher-is-still-an-antivaccine-crank-and-proves-it-yet-again/
Not to mention that just 3 days ago, on Sat 25th, he did a one on one with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a noted anti-vcxx crank. Reportedly they spent most of that time whinging about how oppressed they are for their views. He did appear to moderate his position two years ago, but has back-slid since then IMO.
The OP didn’t suggest that you should. Just the opposite actually.
Wow that really is a good piece.
LOL! Salon publishing another worthwhile article is almost enough to get me to start believing in miracles.
Wow, just when I thought Tayler had already taken his gloves off, NOW he takes them off! This piece is brilliant, fantastic, and all the other superlatives you can think of.
Bill Maher: As well, he cares about humane treatment of animals. A lot.
Maybe he’ll come around on vaccination – he is not a science disrespecter.
His disses of religion make other “sins” most bearable.
And he can be funny! Humor is a mighty weapon to use against woo.
One should not dismiss everything a person says just because they are wrong in one area. Linus Pauling was a brilliant Nobel winning chemist who unfortunately promoted quackery in the form of high doses of vitamin C as a cure all. However, Maher is an anti-vaccine, alt medicine, anti-GMO nut job. He is no friend of science, and his medical nonsense can significantly hurt people. Criticism of dangerous religious nonsense is important, but substituting one nonsense for another is not enough. Perfection is not needed but we should require some standards. Highlighting the occasionally good point he makes is fine, but he is no role model or hero.
Ascorbic acid is interesting. Non-primates produce much more than primates consume, so it wasn’t entirely unreasonable to suppose that increased uptake might have some benefit. Clearly this isn’t the case; capybaras and guinea pigs also thrive with merely dietary intake.
Jeffrey Taylor does a great job again – it is indeed time to grow up. Part of growing up is learning to take people ‘warts and all’ sometimes and as far I’m concerned, that still includes Bill Maher. His GMO stance in nonsense, his antivax stance is worse, but I still have the impression that he is open to changing his mind.
I don’t think there’s a need to take him warts and all, or not-take him warts and all. The point is, typically sound thinkers can have occasional bad ideas and typically unsound thinkers can have occasional good ideas. It does not matter which of those categories you think Maher is in, his use of laughter to deflate religious ideas (that in any other context would be considered ridiculous) is a good idea.
Actually I think it does matter which category you think Maher is in. If you think he’s the kind of guy who disrespects everything, then the fact that he disrespects religion too gives you no useful information about the respect-worthiness of religion. You’re justified in dismissing it as just one more instance of Maher being gratuitously snarky.
A stopped clock deserves no credit for being right twice a day.
The general category you put him still doesn’t matter on religion if his reasons for disrespecting it stack up.
Dr. Coyne, are you aware of this:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/27/nyregion/six-pen-members-decline-gala-after-award-for-charlie-hebdo.html?ref=nyregion
I’m especially disappointed in Ondaatje and Carey.
Me too – I heard about Ondaatje on CBC while driving into work this morning
Take him off my Sweethearts™ List
admittedly, I’m not familiar with those authors as I don’t read much beyond science and history, but still, shame on them. Glad to see the one person who still looms large in these sort of things, Rushdie, to stand up and give them a verbal smack on the nose for their juvenile stupidity. Those poor, oppressed muslims…who murdered 12 people in one attack and 4 in another, over hurt feelings.
“What I would say to both Peter and Michael and the others is, I hope nobody ever comes after them.”
Well said, Mr. Rushdie.
I’ve read them all except for Ms. Selasi, and find their view hard to fathom.
that doesn’t make me feel any better! You were supposed to say “I’ve never heard of them either”.
Oh, noes! You should have posted a trigger warning:-)🐾🐾🐾
😀
Agree, that was a perfect response from Rushdie.
I found this sentiment alarming:
“Ms. Kushner said she was withdrawing out of discomfort with what she called the magazine’s “cultural intolerance” and promotion of “a kind of forced secular view…” “
yes indeed. perhaps she would prefer muslim intolerance and a forced islamic view.
Disappointing. Although this tests my principles on what to say or think, after some reflection I will say that although I disagree with their views and their actions, they are at least not trying to shut down the event. So they have a right to opt out, and to say why.
“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” – MLK, Jr.
It’s precisely the mindset displayed by those 6 pen members that enabled the wholesale importation and subsequent imposition and infestation of a certain medieval death cult into 20th and 21st century Europe.
Brilliant! As usual, the detractors confuse people and ideas by accusing Maher of disrespecting the former.
I have to say I’m not a fan of Bill Maher. Yes, he’s on our side on this issue, but he’s still a jerk. He routinely makes unfunny disparaging remarks about women, gays, and immigrants, and then tries to excuse it by saying, “Hey, I’m joking!”
And then there’s the anti-vax stuff. It was a particularly stupid exchange with a very patient Atul Gawande a couple of months ago that pushed me over the edge and caused me to delete his show from my DVR schedule. But that’s far from the only reason to dislike him.
I have no problem with forthright anti-religion talk from people like Dawkins, Harris, and Tayler. But Maher comes across as way too smug and condescending for my taste, even when he says things I agree with.
I’m not sure what ‘side’ you are referring to.
Bill Maher has got more actual points on the board, as a real liberal, exhorting liberal principles and criticising those who may be against ‘women, gays, and immigrants’ than anybody I know, here, except Mr Coyne.
I disagree with your assessment completely.
If a professional comedian says something and claims it’s a joke, it probably is a joke.
I haven’t noticed the unfunny disparaging component you mention. There was a group a little while ago trying to make up sides, and one of their catch-phrases was ‘you just don’t get’ That group was never near my side and has now faded to self-righteous obscurity.
Perhaps you don’t get the jokes.
Just repeating, Maher has made significant, contributions on open, liberal, free speech issues(not freeze peach) and freedom in general.
He has shown good conscience with the treatment of animal and more liberal causes and criticised liberals for getting it wrong like the Charlie Hebro situation.
He is not a jerk, he is a comedienne, who tells jokes and has done much more for the cause than most.
I’ll readily concede Maher’s liberal credentials; as I already indicated, I agree with much of what he says.
But for me that doesn’t excuse what I perceive to be his personality flaws. A liberal jerk is still a jerk, and a sexist joke is still sexist.
If you don’t perceive those same flaws, fine; you’re entitled to your opinion, as I am to mine.
Jeffrey Tayler is great, and I’ve been a fan of Salon from its inception; in its early years I was a subscriber, and I’m still a reader (but it is so bogged down by advertising that it’s a pain to read).
When I bring it up I also find articles whose titles discourage me: Why do we let New Atheists and religious zealots dominate the conversation about religion?
So yeah, the quality of articles is uneven. More good than bad; worth a daily visit. More fresh content than most contenders, dependably liberal, but not reliably godless.
If you think USA has trouble with religious nuts, try living in the north of Ireland. A candidate in the general election 2015 has for her slogan “Biblically correct NOT Politically correct”
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/general-election-2015/susan-anne-white-wants-gay-people-jailed-adultery-made-illegal-and-rock-bands-outlawed-now-she-wants-your-vote-31133489.html
“a society programmed to hum along with the numbing cords of faith”
Brilliant
The Maher disconnect is similar to what I see in Glen Greenwald: atheist bashing on one hand and and downright courageous attacks on the ‘national secrecy’ apparatus on the other.
I guess we’re all a mixed bag.
Not sure what could be the Maher disconnect. Like with Fareed, pretending to not be religious and then crying and begging a comedian to stop making fun is just a pathetic joke. I used to have some respect for Fareed but on that show he lost most of it and it was a sad display. He obviously came on the program to do just what he did – become the next apologist of the week.
I do not agree with every single thing that Maher talks about and wouldn’t agree with everything Tayler writes about but on whole, they both do a fine job. I hope they both keep doing it.
I’m sure I’m not the only person here who had precisely these questions running through my head for years before I was finally courageous enough to truly investigate the foundations of the religion and completely discover the sham And, I’m positive a healthy fear of Hell kept me in the fold for much longer than I would’ve stayed otherwise. Threats of eternal torture (a torture for which there is no evidence) for failing to believe what is unbelievable has to be among the most vile, if not the most vile, doctrines ever conceived. But, remember, JESUS LOVES YOU!>
Great article and great writing all around. I look forward to Maher every Friday; last week he seemed to back-off on the anti-vaxx talk while speaking with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. This is part of what he said: Why can’t we have a kind of grand bargain on this? It just seems like we’re calling each other kooks and liars. It seems like common sense that vaccines, even thimerosal, probably don’t hurt most people—if they did, we’d all be dead, because they’re in a lot of vaccines that we all took—but some do.
Also, I hadn’t ever read this Asimov quote Tayler cited in his article:
“Properly read,” declared the science-fiction author and biochemistry professor Isaac Asimov, “the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived.”
So true!
I don’t, but it shows that his skepticism is selective, on par with the religious. I can agree with his wit, but I will remain uncertain which way he will jump.
However, I understand he has been consistent for years, so it is a weak problem. Moreover, it is an iffy analysis. I am sure there are areas where I remain insufficiently skeptic. Perhaps analyzing public personas is one of them…