Bill Maher’s rant in the July issue, Religion 101, brought a lot of both angry and complimentary mail. We’ll publish as many as we can in the October issue but here’s a sample of the overflow:
“Maher does a great job describing religion at its worst; he may be a prophet. Religion is at its best when it helps us make some sense of life.” (Bill Johnson, San Antonio)
“More than 90 percent of the world’s population believes in a superior being. Calling us ‘stupid’ and our beliefs ‘fairy tales’ goes to far. (Gregory Krebs, Palatine, Illinois)
“The people of Dorset do not mindlessly maintain the Rude Man; they do it so Cerne Abbas can get mentioned in publications such as Playboy. Most historians believe it is a representation of Hercules, left behind from Roman times. There is a reasonable doubt, but the giant is not meaningless; it is art.” (Matt Ruane, Richland, Washington)
“Although Maher is one of my favorite thinkers, he disappoints me with this essay. Steve Allen on the Bible, Religion and Morality is better.” (Lowell Weitz, Celina, Ohio)
“Maher points out in brief what Richard Dawkins argues in detail in The God Delusion: the idiocy of religion. The ‘Christian’ right is a far bigger danger to our freedoms than any Near East group. Go get ‘em, Bill! Few comedians have the guts and none have your platform.” (Terry Painter, Rapid City, South Dakota)
“Maher insults the faithful by stating religiosity ‘relies on one not thinking too deeply.’ It also is a colossal error to equate religion with ‘differences of opinion that cause war.’ These days it seems like World War III is as likely to break out over a soccer match. Regarding all the ‘dunderheads’ who believe in a supernatural power, three such gentleman were Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein.” (George Neiiendam, Costa Mesa, California)
The editors reply: While Einstein’s views were complex, he wrote in 1954, “The word ‘God’ is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish.”
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Comments on this entry:
Bill Maher (Religion 101, July) lost all credibility when he left out Islam. Great article, but attack them all or none at all.