Discussion:

It often does not take fame alone to cultivate these attributes.

He’s way too broad in his criticism of Islam [and it would be if he were saying the same things about Christianity, Judaism, a race or a culture]… but theocracy I would agree with anyone’s criticism of.

tenets of atheism

“No god beliefs” is the sole “tenet of atheism”. Anything outside of the lack of a god belief is no longer atheism.

Or to clarify further, there is no atheism bible imploring non-believers to murder the faithful or to plant trees or to chew grape bubblegum.

All religious extremism is bad. Out of the 1.6 billion Muslims is the world, how many are extremists? Bill needs to take the Israeli flag blindfold off once in a while.

The show with Affleck and Kristof of the NYT? Figured most viewers felt the same way. Maher and Harris used the standard Fox News debating skills by connecting concentric circle “facts” to their “logical” conclusion. Harris is a condesending POS.

Sam Harris has worked out data-driven estimates of the number of Muslims who are terrorists and the number of Muslims who believe that jihad is a good way to get to paradise. Remember, the flag of Saudi Arabia, home to 27 million and the seething cesspool of the virulent and barbaric Wahabbi Sunni strain of Islam has a beheading sword as the main symbol.

The religious Liberals don’t play well with the Atheist Liberals. That’s to be expected. I’m with Maher and Harris 100% on this. Religiosity sucks.

Surely this is the last we’ll hear of it, though. It’s simply not possible that within another 72 hours we’ll be talking again about Bill Maher. I mean, it’s not like he’s absolutely and utterly a creature of ratings and visibility, right? No one who had risen to the lofty perch of talk show host would ever court controversy for controversy’s sake!

That point having been made, TPM, you’ve probably officially reached the point at which giving this story any more oxygen takes you into clickbait territory. We already have Salon and Slate and twenty other lesser websites for that kind of thing.

Because every atheist is just like Bill Maher, amirite? Just like Bernie Madoff gives Jews a bad name.

I agree with Maher on many of the issues but he is increasingly becoming drunk on his own celebrity and self-righteousness. Good God, his need to proclaim his so-called brilliance in all matters is beginning to resemble that of Donald Trump!

Hah-hah! Made you talk!

Again the idea of someone named Maher complaining about the intolerance of a non-christian religion is pathetic. A short trip to the land of his roots will unveil any number of massacres of infidels/heretics–in Jesus’ name, of course–and whose real motives are the same as those he decries in the Muslim world: tribalism, power-seeking and the irradicable evil of Other.

No god beliefs: So the basis of atheism is faith, not reason.

G.K. Chesterton once wrote something like: The trouble with atheists is not that they won’t believe in god, but that they will believe in anything.

For a real, reasonable difference, try agnosticism.

Sam Harris’ data-driven estimates are based on a single poll conducted in 2002, while: the US was militarily engaged in Afghanistan and militarily present in Saudi Arabia; Sharon’s Israel was actively blasting the hell out of the Palestinians (remember the siege of Bethlehem and the Church of the Nativity during the previous Christmas season); and many Muslims still enjoyed the vicarious schadenfreude from the recent and audaciously successful Twin Towers destruction, of which Bill Maher himself called the attackers brave.

Harris spouts Faux-type facts!

Unfortunately, just a few individual cases are enough to “prove” the stereotypes to those who hold them. Take Osama bin Laden, for example.

Oh, you meant Ireland and not The Unholy Land! I was confused for a moment.

Islam is a particularly terrible religion. All them suck to some degree. Gov’t’s who use religion or nationalism or some other dogma to perpetuate hate and violence also suck … I include those assclowns who refer to the USA’s “manifest destiny” and “exceptionalism” into that same bucket. The Israeli rightwing can also suck a dick.

“Complaining”?? Maher is an athiest. He is also a comedian. He makes his living making fun of “THINGS” … what ever those things turn out to be.

He is not a philosopher, he is not a professor, he is a comedian. If he says things you don’t like, and/ or he has guests on his show that you don’t like or agree with, Turn it off.

As far as Affleck is concerned he’s an actor. He has strong opinions. But in this case, his strong opinions were ok, but the tone of voice he used when he did … he attacked and then he whined. Constantly. He was a bit over the top. No one could get a word in edgewise and he was wrong. He was too loud. He whined again. I was fascinated that he could make such a spectacle of himself.

@RedRaleigh: This represents a clash of two or more liberal ideals: Tolerance vs. Reason. The issue is whether Reason can be used to explore religious events and ideas or whether these even in their extreme manifestation have to yield to Tolerance.

The third ideal is whether accountability has to be limited only to individuals. Individuals have to be held accountable first for criminal and jihadi activities like decapitation and beheadings. However, suspect that governments, institutions and societies can enable criminal activity and share some accountability.

I’m still wary. The phrase “data-driven estimates” sounds impressive, but there can be all sorts of unchallenged assumptions built into his calculations.

And It still bothers me that he describes the problem as Islam which he then qualifies with but not all Muslims are violent and yet but, you know, most of them approve of violent, coercive ways to enforce obedience. So – he’s not generalizing about Muslims but he kinda is? I don’t get it.

And he feels these public declarations are constructive…why is that again?