Bill Maher can be really funny. He's a great iconoclast, puncturing so many balloons that need puncturing.
But he's got his particular … quirks, including sometimes not knowing where to draw the line in his mockery and criticisms. As this writer raises about his attacks, not just of Islamic extremists, but of Muslims and Islam as a whole. Heck, the guy sounds not a small amount like Bryan Fischer, which should give anyone pause.
An Open Letter to Bill Maher From a Muslim American
The problem isn’t Islam. It’s your movement to demonize Islam in the liberal left.
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I thought it was common knowledge that Maher has been against religion for a long time now?
Oh…that's right….he's bashing Islam now, instead of Christianity…..doesn't he know that's a "no no"?
The thought had occurred to me. And, eys, drawing blanket criticism about all Christians and Christianity as a whole for the acts of an un-Christlike few is equally wrong-headed.
The difference is that Christians are still a significant majority in this country, so Maher's commentary is unlikely to have much effect any time soon except among folks in a mutual snark society. His demonization of Muslims, on the other hand, in company with similar but much more widespread attacks (mostly) on the Right, is much more dangerous, because there are a lot fewer Muslims in this country and a lot more people willing to believe the worst (and act on it).
Doesn't that religion say that everybody gets punished for the actions of Adam and Eve? Original sin and all that?
While agreeing with the author in general the section on the status, rights and so on of Muslim women made me think, “When did most of that go away, most places?”
@Randy From what I’ve read, while codified Islamic status promised a lot of things, matters went off the rails once the Caliphate and other traditional Islamic power sources were disrupted (which you can blame on invasions, Western Colonialism, etc.
As well, while Islam was certainly more advanced, religiously, in guaranteeing certain rights to women, they never had Christendom’s equivalent of the (kicking and screaming and resisted by the various churches) Enlightenment, from which stemmed the idea of civil rights and liberty separate from what the Church recognized.
I can’t speak definitively for how women are treated globally in Islamic-majority (vs. explicitly Islamic) states. My sense is that things are a lot more moderate in most locations than in the extremist cases we know of, either radical extremism (Taliban-style), or authoritarian extremism (Saudi-style).
+Mark Means I think the extend to which Bill Maher can go off on Islam is the issue people have. I dont recall Bill Maher mentioning that Christianity is the religion of extremism and produces more of it but maybe he has.
In any case I still disagree and would argue some religions are worse than others such as Scientology and deserve some criticism.
+Jon Weber Well, I tend to make it a point to not listen to Maher on any issue…his opinion means almost as much to me as Chris Matthews. I seriously doubt those on the Right would lend any credence to his words, even if he was speaking along lines they may agree with.
+Mark Means it is unfortunate that just because of a political affiliation one's opinion can be automatically discounted. That makes agreement and reasonable debate difficult.
+Mark Means I wouldn't expect anyone on the Right to pay any credence to his words — though I can imagine some of them picking up on them to say, "See, even Leftist Loon Bill Maher agrees with us!"
My concern (along with the OP) is, I think, more that as a prominent figure on the Left, his words have more sway there, and when they're goofy (as they are on more than just this occasion), it's a subject for some concern.
+Jon Weber I couldn't agree more, actually.
@Dave I doubt very much that Western Colonialism caused local Muslims to stop educating their girls — although the Brits in particular shared that habit through the Victorian era. I’m damned sure it didn’t cause them to take up female genital mutilation.
It seems to be more regional/cultural than anything else. I gather that African and Middle Eastern (in general) treatment of women is a lot worse than in, say, Indonesia or Iran.
To claim that Islam is a force for good re: the treatment of women is, I think, no more accurate than claiming that it is the opposite. For instance, if there is a big Muslim backlash against FGM I haven’t heard about it.