Re: The following article As someone who is no fan of Bill Maher, either, nonetheless it is true that he has no use for "Christianity is equivalent to Islam" nonsense that is standard fare on the political Left. Not that Maher is very well informed, he isn't, its just that he is sufficiently informed to understand the obvious. He is not protecting an ideology of moral equivalence inasmuch as that idea is something he regards as absurd. Meanwhile much of the Left (maybe 3/4ths, maybe 90%) persists in the completely false argument that all religions are the same, except Christianity and Judaism, which supposedly are evil, and all the others are "good." Of course, not even Michael Moore, a bloated buffoon who is contemptible in his attitudes and arrogance, can deny that, yes, there are Muslim attacks against everyone else. How does he wiggle out of his dilemma? Easy: Deny the facts for what they are. Argue from immaculate ignorance. There really have been 22,000 documented murderous attacks by Muslims -acting in the name of their religion- since 2001. In that same period there have been maybe 3 or 4 (total, not thousands, just three of four) attacks by "Christians" against abortion clinics, attacks that have close to zero support among Evangelicals or Catholics. But for Moore, Islam = Christianity when it comes to physical violence motivated by religion. Which is simply a gross distortion of reality. Take the most dubious of all "Christians," the deep-enders of Westboro Baptist Church -and, BTW, it must be doubted that there is even one Baptist of all other persuasions who is happy about this. Granted that most of the Westboro protests are absurdities that cannot be justified on any reasonable grounds. But exactly how may people have the Westboro people killed? Answer = Zero. None. "0." But this does not matter. Why doesn't this matter? The reason is very clear, and Michael Moore tells us exactly why. False equivalency gives Moore an excuse not to study anything about Islam, or for that matter, Christianity. He can cherry pick a few scattered anecdotes and claim that his ludicrously biased samples chosen on no grounds at all except expediency, are all that is necessary to make a case that no informed and educated person could possibly regard as valid. In other words, Moore, as is true for that reverse racist Al Sharpton, is ignorant and has no interest in becoming informed. Armed with a belief that Islam is approximately the same as Christianity on the subject of atro cities, Moore feels free to pontificate at will on such issues, as if everything he says on the subject is not what it actually is: Utter garbage based on ignorance. Whatever else may be said, religion is a major part of the world. The largest religion on Earth is Christianity with roughly 2.5 billion adherents, with Islam second at somewhere between 1 billion and maybe as many as 1.3 billion. There also are about 800,000,000 Hindus, maybe 350,000,000 Buddhists, another 200 million or so (but maybe many more) Confucians / Taoist-Confucians, with a host of still other faiths. Exactly what rational justification do people like Moore give for not making themselves informed about something that is as massive and important as religion? This does not mean that Moore has to join any religion, but it does say that shooting off his mouth about something he knows almost nothing about is ridiculous and he only gets away with it because, for the most part, he makes his comments to other ignorant people who also are clueless about religion as a phenomenon and about which there are facts and there are falsehoods. Because he is close to 100% ignorant, Moore promotes every demonstrable falsehood that pops into his brain. What could be more self-incriminating? Finally someone on the Left who has called Moore's bluff and exposed him for the complete horse's ass that he is. In my humble opinion..... BR ------------------------------------------------------- Maher vs. Liberal Panel: Liberals "Worried They're Going To Be Called Racist If They Criticize Muslims"
By: Pamela Geller Atlas Shrugs October 28, 2013 I am no Maher fan for obvious reasons, but he is singular when he takes the left on concerning their support of jihad and sharia. On Friday, Bill Maher had at it with a liberal panel including Michael Moore, Al Sharpton, Valerie Plame and Richard Dawkins. Maher misses one opportunity when Al (a real racist) Sharpton challenged, "There were Christian klansman that were Christians, KKK members, who burned crosses." "Not now," Maher responded. That's not the answer. The fact is that the klansman were racists, yes, but their ideology was not inspired or based on Christianity. They were not killing in the name of and for the glory of Jesus Christ. And yes, to Maher's point, it was last century, but that's still not relevant. There have been 22,000 deadly Islamic attacks since 911, each one with the imprimatur of a Muslim cleric. No other religion came make such an ungodly claim. No other religion demands such carnage as in the cause of Islam. "Maher vs. Liberal Panel: Liberals "Worried They're Going To Be Called Racist If They Criticize Muslims" _Real Clear Politics,_ (http://p.feedblitz.com/t2.asp?/26412/13042656/4668613/www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2013/10/26/ maher_vs_liberal_panel_liberals_worried_theyre_going_to_be_called_racist_if_ they_criticize_muslims.html) October 27, 2013 On Friday's broadcast of HBO's "Real Time," host Bill Maher clashed with his liberal panel over liberals not being allowed to criticize Muslims in fear of being called a racist. The panel consisted of Michael Moore, Al Sharpton, Valerie Plame and Richard Dawkins. "I think the point we always try to make is that liberals somehow feel worried that they're going to be called racist if they criticize people of the Muslim faith, which is stupid," Maher said. "First of all, because it's not a racist, Muslim. It's a religion. And if I criticize Michael Vick, it's not because he's black, it's because he electrocuted dogs. You know?" "We need liberal voices to stand up for liberalism. This is the great irony here because we are standing up for liberal principles. Which I am sorry, but a lot of the Muslim world stands against, not just the radicals," Maher said. "There are widely accept beliefs by a lot of Muslim people that are against our principles just because they are a minority or they're brown. It doesn't matter. Pernicious beliefs are pernicious beliefs," he added. Maher's panel all made the argument that Christian extremists are just as bad as Islamic extremists. Maher wasn't buying it and said it was "bullshit." "There were Christian klansman that were Christians, KKK members, who burned crosses," Sharpton chimed in. "Not now," Maher responded. "Yeah, but now there are Christian Dominionists that are just as extreme," Plame said. "Do they have a farm system? Do they have websites? Show me the country that has the Christian fundamentalist training camp where they're on the monkey bars," Maher shot back. "This is not just the same. Look, I'm no fucking Catholic or a Christian, but one is herpes and one is cancer," Maher said. "I'm asking who've they killed, or who've they threatened," Maher also said. "I can guarantee to you that right now there are Christians out there tonight that want to kill you and me," Michael Moore, a Catholic, said to Maher. "But they don't," Maher responded. "We have to have special extra security here. We don't have to have special extra security here when there is a Christian who is pissed off," Maher said to his panel. "Remember in the 90s when Rudy Giuliani was mayor and they had that Piss Christ art exhibit in Brooklyn? And Rudy Giuliani was, I mean, he was pissed. Christ, was he pissed. But, it didn't jump to, 'and, we're going to kill you.' You see?" Maher said. Oddly enough, Sharpton was offended by Maher calling out extreme Islam, however, had no problem saying Christian militants are just as much as a threat domestically. "You don't have the truth on your side. I know you're liberals, you want to feel good," Maher said near the end of the discussion. Later in the discussion Moore said we should be thinking about why Muslims hate us... -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
