I am watching Larry King Live with his guest Bill Maher. I have heard Bill Maher speak before and from what I gather his two main areas are politics and religion. Bill Maher seems to be intelligent. He also seems to desire people to think intelligently. He seems passionate about truth, change, and reality. He also speaks openly with honesty. Yet, I get the sense from his thoughts and humor that he is cynical. As I listen to Bill Maher verbally critique politics and religion I begin to wonder about his life. What kinds of people did he encounter? Who jaded him? Who inspired him? Who are what shaped or continues to shape his worldview?
Bill has movie coming out in October. It is his Anti-Religion Movie. I plan to check it.
As I continue to listen to Bill I wonder: “Does Bill Maher help to create unity or division?” What do you think?
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August 25, 2008 at 4:55 am
JIM
BILL MAHER is a dirtbag left wing liberal. He has the audacity to say George w Bush is the worst president in history. Appatrntly he has been sniffing too much cocaine and taking heroine. Jimmy Carter is the worst president in history. 18% unemployment 24% mortgage rates and allowing the overthrow of the Iranian Government to a terrorist state and holding Americans hostage for over 400 days. How about that you drug addict son of a bitch. I wish you could be put through a wood shredder feet first so I can right your relatives saying It couldn’t of happened to a better person. Wish it would have happened sooner. Stick with your comedy. Your aretard when you talk about politics
August 25, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Atlantique
You asked: As I continue to listen to Bill I wonder: “Does Bill Maher help to create unity or division?” What do you think?
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I don’t think Maher does, or aspires to, create either. Comedians observe life and comment upon its inconsistencies. The humor lies in recognizing that we, and life, are inconsistent. Without our recognition of the inconsistency, we would not laugh.
Good comedians generate discussion and give us permission to laugh at our human foibles. Where that discussion and laughter take any individual is up to him or her.
September 2, 2008 at 8:54 pm
debese
Wonderfully convincing arguments Jim *insert sarcasm* I might agree with the content of that comment, but the tone reduces the comment to spam.
Anyway….my thoughts on the post? Bill Maher, like every person before salvation, is stuck trying to make sense of a sinful world, unable to grasp the concept of God, Sin, or even man’s purpose for being. Comedy is of course a great “painkiller” but even much comedy comes from a cynical outlook.
Of course when trying to make sense of the world without God, religion becomes a big problem, and the fact that big name “Christians” act very un-Christianly makes his only view of religion quite skewed.
Does he create unity? Who cares? Unity is really a utopian concept that will only be achieved by Christ in His kingdom. Until then as long as there are believers and unbelievers, and many ideologies amongst both, there cannot be complete unity. There have been ideologues who have pushed for unity, but in the end they do so by censoring and/or eliminating their critics (aka communism, socialism etc.).
Their can be cooperation, but it’s hard to do in the hate-filled rhetoric that emerges from all points of view (I give you Jane Fonda, Keith Olbermann, Michael Moore etc. and commenter Jim as exhibit A and B). Rhetoric that is designed to stop communication rather than promote dialogue.