so... does saying so mean you're a hatemonger too? because i don't think so.
there's a difference between expressing an opinion and preaching it. Maher clearly phrases things in the sort of statements therapists teach people to use in order to communicate their feelings without making their words a personal attack -- he says, "i say," "i think," "i feel." he's expressing his opinion.
now, if he went out and said, "i think religious people are crazy and you should too, join with me so we can defeat the evil religious hordes," that would be hatemongering.
i think, in a country that was founded on the principles of freedom -- of speech, of religion, of association -- it's important to know the difference between the two, so that we can recognize -- and act against -- the real thing when we see it, instead of freaking out every time someone expresses an opinion we don't agree with so that it's impossible to distinguish the signal from the noise in the national discourse.
me? yes, i'm an atheist. i respect the right of others to believe as they choose, which is more consideration than i've usually been accorded by the other side. and many of my friends are people of faith, for which i admire and respect them.
personally, i don't think Maher's real issue is with religion, though -- i think it's with people who don't think. because no matter what they believe, thinking people will consider all sides of an issue before they act. people who don't think -- who react based purely on fear or hate or anger or what someone else tells them -- those are the dangerous people.
"now, if he went out and said, "i think religious people are crazy and you should too, join with me so we can defeat the evil religious hordes," that would be hatemongering."
-join with me so we can defeat the evil religious hordes-
This is were we enter the relm of oppion. "I feel" that he is indeed saying this. "I feel" he is one of many athiest that would deny religious people voices in their government, their schools, their press, and in effect force them to hide in dark closets. If you are really about freedom that means religious people should be allowed to speak out when they disagree with something and work within the system the same as everyone else does. When you tell them "you should not be allowed to influance the government because your 'too' religious" then you are in effect you are not a citizen if you are religious.
(no subject)
there's a difference between expressing an opinion and preaching it. Maher clearly phrases things in the sort of statements therapists teach people to use in order to communicate their feelings without making their words a personal attack -- he says, "i say," "i think," "i feel." he's expressing his opinion.
now, if he went out and said, "i think religious people are crazy and you should too, join with me so we can defeat the evil religious hordes," that would be hatemongering.
i think, in a country that was founded on the principles of freedom -- of speech, of religion, of association -- it's important to know the difference between the two, so that we can recognize -- and act against -- the real thing when we see it, instead of freaking out every time someone expresses an opinion we don't agree with so that it's impossible to distinguish the signal from the noise in the national discourse.
me? yes, i'm an atheist. i respect the right of others to believe as they choose, which is more consideration than i've usually been accorded by the other side. and many of my friends are people of faith, for which i admire and respect them.
personally, i don't think Maher's real issue is with religion, though -- i think it's with people who don't think. because no matter what they believe, thinking people will consider all sides of an issue before they act. people who don't think -- who react based purely on fear or hate or anger or what someone else tells them -- those are the dangerous people.
(no subject)
-join with me so we can defeat the evil religious hordes-
This is were we enter the relm of oppion. "I feel" that he is indeed saying this. "I feel" he is one of many athiest that would deny religious people voices in their government, their schools, their press, and in effect force them to hide in dark closets. If you are really about freedom that means religious people should be allowed to speak out when they disagree with something and work within the system the same as everyone else does. When you tell them "you should not be allowed to influance the government because your 'too' religious" then you are in effect you are not a citizen if you are religious.