Bill Maher Goes There - 'God Is A Psychotic Mass Murderer'

[tomm2thumbs]

If you ever thought Bill Maher was shy about truly expressing how he feels about organized religion, this New Rules will end the debate once and for all. He goes full throttle after the teachings of the 'good book' and takes a brief ride on Noah's Ark to see how the details of the Bible hold up to scrutiny.

Funny as always, and definitely something to think about for those who follow organized religion blindly.

-----

partial video description for some context

Bill Maher's "New Rules" segment concluded with a lengthy tirade against the arbitrary rules and customs set forth in the Bible, as well as some of the more unbelievable details religious folks still believe to be literally true. Maher began the monologue by declaring that America is "stupid" because 60 percent of the country reportedly believes the tale of Noah's ark is literally true. He went on to slam the film Noah. but said it "must be doing something right" since it's been condemned by both Muslims and Christians. And the fact that it might lose a lot of studio money, he joked, "may put it in hot water with the Jews too."

But, really, Maher said, Noah's tale is an "immoral" one because it's about a "psychotic mass murderer who gets away with it and his name is God." The Earth's creator became so irate that he had created mankind so flawed, as Maher related, that he sent a flood to kill everyone, man, women, children... and even innocent babies.

"What kind of tyrant kills everyone just to get back at the few he's mad at? I mean, besides Chris Christie?"

"Isn't life hard enough without making shit up out of thin air to fuck with yourself?" he later asked of religion's arbitrary rules about food, clothing, and other material goods.

____

And link to Mediate should the video disappear off YouTube...

[MADem]

1. I thought he was an atheist! In that case, "God" wouldn't be anything at all...!

I must hang around with the 40 percent, because I do not know a single solitary soul who believes the Two By Two Tale. It's a fiction, a little fable, like the Gingerbread House in Hansel and Gretel...

[gcomeau]

2. No, he would still be a psychotic mass murderer.

"He" being the character in the story those other people believe in that is. Which is what he's rather obviously talking about. You don't have to believe that character exists yourself to critique what the story says he is.

[eShirl]

3. Perhaps a literalist here or there will come around to your point of view

but this will probably just make them angrier and even more entrenched.

[bvf]

5. You sound pretty certain. . .

. . . but since you brought it up, have you by chance actually asked all the people you know whether they take the story literally? I mean that honestly.

I usually dont talk religion with the people I know--they know (for the most part) that I'm an atheist, and I know that they're (for the most part) religious and mainly Xtian, and so there isn't much discussion between us on the topic.

But I'd be awfully surprised if I was just hanging out with only members of the same 40 percent you are!

[MADem]

24. Well, I think even my Christian friends, most of whom come from liturgical faiths, don't

take the Bible seriously. They regard it as allegorical, a bit of a guide for simpletons...stories to explain more complex things to the uneducated.

There aren't a lot of fundamentalists up my way, at least not ones that I associate with.

I'm friendly with Jews, Muslims, many of whom are cultural/secular, too. But no, I'm pretty sure people I run around with know that the whole "Noah" thing was a tall tale.

[exboyfil]

26. Take William Dembski for example

He works for a Baptist college and went off the reservation about his belief regarding Noah (he said it was a localized event). He was quickly put back on the reservation by his employer who did a remarkable imitation of Galileo's persecutors (minus the threat of burning).

https://santitafarella.wordpress.com/2010/10/22/william-dembski-entertains-the-idea-that-noahs-flood-was-a-global-event/

These morons are setting education and science policies in Washington and throughout the country.

[MADem]

27. Well, that "Liberty University" provided a cadre of Bush appointees who migrated to

civil service positions.

I say it's time to reorganize the departments where those guys managed to worm their way in.

[Android3.14]

8. You don't know anyone who believes the nonsense?

You don't get out much. I run across these nimrods on a daily basis. When I was a science teacher I ran across it every hour. But at least their self esteem is good.

[MADem]

23. Maybe I hang out with an intelligent class of people.

I get out plenty!

Maybe it's a New England thing...I dunno. But I don't know anyone who takes that fable seriously, and everyone I've talked to about this movie has pegged it as a turkey before it even was released for that reason.

"If it ain't a cartoon, a fable for children, then it ain't gonna fly."

[maddiemom]

35. Probably is a New England thing.

You'd have to have spent some time living south of the Mason/Dixon line.

[MADem]

37. I can appreciate what you're saying, certainly.

I have encountered those folk just where you describe--I lived in South Carolina a looooooooooooong time ago and lived in Virginia (albeit Northern Virginia where the Congressional representative used to be a guy who never lost his accent from Summah-ville Mass!!!) as well. But in my daily life here--I'm not running into those folks, lucky me, I guess!

[Android3.14]

53. I live and work in New England

AMrs. Droid is a librarian at the local college where I occasionally teach. I run across hardcore true believers all the time. They don't talk about Noah, but they do take the Bible literally. People believe nonsense despite geography. Idiots are universal.

[MADem]

55. I don't know very many--if any--fundamentalists.

Like I said, my circle of religious people encompasses mostly liturgical types in the Christian tradition, as well as modern Muslims and reform Jews. And a lot of those are "culturally" religious (i.e. it makes it easier at the holidays, but they really don't give much of a crap, day to day).

[PumpkinAle]

39. Sadly I do know some who

believe in the Ark theory.

Even when you try to discuss it with them they say it is true because look at the shell fossils found in the mountains. As for all the animals fitting on a boat - they dig their heels in and say yes, yes, yes and refuse to re-consider.

[MADem]

41. Ya can't fix stupid, I suppose.

Probably a head-hurting experience to even try.

[awoke_in_2003]

62. The thing about the Ark wouldn't be a theory...

it would not even fit the word hypothesis.

[africanadian]

4. Another clip from last night's show :-)

[blackspade]

15. I get so tired of the Rand Paul 'props'

Paul is an idiot of epic proportions.
The one or two things he may be right on does not mask the basket of bullshit he is peddling.

[africanadian]

17. I just thought people might want to see another clip from the show

No sympathy toward Rand or his father whatsoever, I assure you!

[blackspade]

18. Sorry, it wasn't directed at you...

Rather the clip itself.

[africanadian]

19. Understood

[loudsue]

25. But they are also SO RIGHT about Hillary Clinton. There is NO WAY she would ever win an election

as the first woman president. But the democratic party, and many democrats, are determined to cram her down our throats so that we can LOSE the next presidential election. The powers that be are getting old and out of touch with reality. They think they are God, because they DO rule the world, and all of its governments, in one way or another.

[suzanner]

30. I agree there

Whatever Hillary may have, she has no charisma and no clearly favorable popularity (thanks in part to the RW spin machine raising doubts). It seems true that Obama won because he had appeal and was practically an unknown entity taken on face value. I, like many, feel railroaded nearly every presidential election.

[loudsue]

64. We ARE railroaded. Look how they took Howard Dean out of the equation.

Now they can't understand why they don't have a "50 state strategy" even though they don't call it that.

It makes you want to throw something.

[Prophet 451]

6. And this is why I'm a Luciferian Satanist

I can't force myself to not believe in god but I can have the self-respect not to pretend that the psychopathic monster deserves worship. Instead, I worship the being who rebelled against him.

[blackspade]

20. Is that like a Jehovahian Christian?

It seems like the entire Christian pantheon is not playing with a full deck.
Jesus seems like the only decent one of the bunch.

[JoeyT]

43. I think it's like a non-Laveyan Satanist

Most Satanists are Laveyans, which are basically atheists with quite a bit of Randian philosophy. For the most part they don't believe any of the bible is real. Many Luciferian Satanists think some of the characters might be real, but is largely propaganda that only tells the story of one side. Since neither has any real hierarchy to speak of, there's a lot of overlap and argument about what the words mean.

Drastically oversimplified: Luciferians tend to be the more progressive of the two, while Laveyans tend to be libertarians.

[Prophet 451]

47. You got it

Luciferian Satanism is a form of maltheism. We believe in god but think he's a monsterous psycho, the Bible is just his propoganda and Lucifer (Satan) is the fairer, more compassionate deity.

[arcane1]

52. At least the Serpent told the truth to Eve about the effects of eating the forbidden fruit.

So he's got that going for him

[Prophet 451]

58. And, to us, that was a crucial step in man's development

You know how fundies get pissed about moral relativism? They actually follow teh most relative morality of all because all it would take to make an immoral act into a moral one would be for the Big Beard to say so. The apple in the garden (and no, I'm not saying it literally happened, it's metaphor) gave us the capacity for moral self-determination, the ability to decide for ourselves what was right and wrong; it let us go from "thou shalt not" to "I will not". God wanted us to be reliant on him, doing things his way, following his rules. Lucifer decided that we could be something more than that.

Having read that back, I apologise if this comes off as preaching.

[arcane1]

59. Not preachy at all! I have never thought of the story from that perspective.

Spot-on, if you ask me!

[The CCC]

7. Bill Maher Goes There -AGAIN.

For an avowed atheist he sure is concerned about what a nonexistent being does. AND whatever orifice Mr. Maher pulled that Mormons can't drink hot chocolate is full of brown stuff and it sure isn't chocolate.

[Android3.14]

9. Well aren't you the clever one

"God" told Mormons to avoid coffee and tea. Many interpret this to mean that God wants Mormons to stay away from food that has caffeine. Chocolate is a food that has caffeine. Therefore many interpret that God wants Mormons to avoid chocolate.
After being on DU for two years, you'd think you might have actually learned something by now.

[demwing]

69. That's not correct

In their "Word of Wisdom," Mormons are restricted from consuming "hot drinks."

Some refrain from all hot drinks, some take it to mean only tea and coffee.

There is no prohibition regarding caffeine. Soda is consumed quite often, and Mountain Dew seems to be a favorite.

[paleotn]

13. CCC?.....

....is that the "council of conservative citizens" you're referring to in your sig? I hope it's not.

[Gore1FL]

21. It's not that

It's the concern that resources are being wasted on spreading bullshit which invariably get's spread in a way that impacts those of us who don't care for the smell.

Most interpret "Hot Drinks" as coffee and tea. Others interpret it as caffeine products. I suppose it is reasonable to assume that some consider "Hot Drinks" to mean "Hot Drinks." In any event, it's pretty easy to come up with other examples, such as the aforementioned coffee and tea, to make the same point.

[Quixote1818]

56. He is not concerned with what a "non existant being" does, he is concerned with the idiots who

believe this crap and their anti-science agenda that is fucking up the world.

[Iggo]

65. ^^^ This right here.

[Triana]

10. . . . Sentenced to Life

http://www.sevenbowie.com/2013/11/sentenced-to-life/

[cantbeserious]

11. Priceless

eom

[paleotn]

12. Amen and Amen. (nt)

[FraDon]

14. courage and clarity

K&R ? Maher nails it again.

Better get an intern to start your car, Bill.

[blackspade]

16. The Christian god is like a psychotic child.

Pulling the wings off of grasshoppers and drowning ants.
A great roll model.

[DhhD]

36. Yes, many Republicans have a serial killer instinct using God (not Jesus) to justify/edify their

thinking. Problem is, they act on this psychosis of Conservatheolism.

[Quixote1818]

42. Unless you have attempted to kill your own child (like Abraham) because God was so insecure

he needed to test that you would put HIM ahead of a child, then you really don't know how beautiful God's love is.

[cbayer]

22. Bill Maher gives further evidence of his multi-faceted bigotry.

[exboyfil]

29. Its bigotry to point

out what is in the Bible? So long as religious leaders are unwilling to question this story (and the numerous other examples of God's sadism, genocidal, and xenophobic view of the world). It only takes the religious leaders to say no the writer was wrong - a God of love would not drown the entire world, he would not blow two cities off the face of the earth for sin, and he would not advocate to murder of entire populations including children.

[cbayer]

33. Liberal/progressive religious leaders question a lot of the stories in the bible.

Mr Maher cherry picks the bad stuff and disregards the good. When you do that you end up with only the rotten cherries. Conveniently, you can just throw them at people.

[Quixote1818]

44. No he doesn't, he frequently points to Jesus being a liberal. nt

[Cirque du So-What]

28. 'The Lord works in mysterious ways'

which is standard fundie boilerplate for explaining away the arbitrary & capricious nature of their god, who inexplicably & sporadically goes on a killing spree or allows human monsters to come to power and commit atrocities against humanity without so much as a hint of a smite.

[Populist_Prole]

46. I hate when they trot out that trite canard

Makes their bullshitting and trying to cover all the bases sound all the more glib.

[Danascot]

49. 19,000 children under the age of 5 die every day in the world

It is certainly a mystery to me why a loving god would allow this to happen to the most innocent among us. What possible purpose is being served by that carnage?

http://www.unicef.org/mdg/index_childmortality.htm

[Cirque du So-What]

50. Another thing

Any decent 'creator' worth his/her salt could surely have come up with a recipe for life that didn't necessitate 'nature red in tooth & claw.' Couldn't the omnipotent creator of the universe have made life forms - from the tiniest viruses and bacteria to the most fearsome 'alpha' predators - that didn't need to ingest other living things for survival? Why not just create sentient beings that could derive sustenance by absorbing nutrients directly from a vat of inorganic substances instead of having to go out and kill something? It would certainly go a long way toward peaceful existence, which is one of the stated goals of practically any religion, yunno...unless the 'omnipotent' creator is subject to the same physical laws the rest of us are required to obey, that is.

[Larry Ogg]

31. Religious and Political leaders are moral practitioners that create god in their own image...

And the images they create tend to be an epitome of the worst possible kind of psychopaths, ones that are so far removed from having a conscience, it gets to the point of being an Anti-Conscience. Therefor, the fairytale pushing moral practitioners, being true to the image of their own construct, find the means to codify, and justify their malevolent behavior of persecuting and destroying anything or anyone that stands in the way of their dominion over others. Nixon - When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.

So yes, Nixon was just another dick that thought he was God, the only difference is that he almost didn't get away with it.

And yet, like some kind of a cruel joke in this fucked-up-world, anyone who has, or follows, a highly developed conscience, a true liberal for instance, becomes the left leaning mortal enemy of both church and state.

Of course, people who have a conscience must be demonized and stripped of political power before they have a chance to enlighten the misguided idol worshiping clueless sheep, apparently for some not to obvious reason, even in today's world, the messenger always ends up being crucified in one way or another.

And guess what, even though the people who have a conscience are not the ones causing all the death and destruction for profit in this world, they are the ones the fairytale pushing moral practitioners like to point their fingers at first. Although, if you have been keeping a close eye on the ruling class game of thrones as of late, you know, King of the Hill and War Mongers..., you might say that Vladimir Putin has been getting pretty high up on the boogieman list, while giving the rights of gays, women, and immigrants a run for the money.

But still, all that aside. Just because moral practitioners have found a way to weaponize mass ignorance doesn't mean we need to trash the Bible. As far as I am concerned, many of the ancient philosophers who scribed it, had a good understanding of human psychology, but if not for the prehistoric ancestor of Dr. Zeus embellishing it with all kinds abstract magical fairytails and myths that shouldn't be taken seriously, the work might have been lost to boredom and burned for heresy. Fact is, the Bible offers some incredible insight into the the human psyche, and just because moral practitioners use that insight as a tool to manipulate a population into doing some really evil things doesn't mean that that insight can't be used as a tool to do good.

[Zen Democrat]

32. I don't read far between the lines of Jesus's words (the red) to realize he wasn't down with Jehovah

I don't recall that any Old Testament Paragon ever referred to Jehovah as "Loving Father," and the Old Testament God was "Angry Vengeful God Who Ordered Massacres of Women and Children and Civilizations" to prove to the Jews that he loved them best.

Jesus wasn't down with "an eye for an eye" either. Among other things.

[valerief]

34. Great clip! nt

[Quixote1818]

38. Why would I allow that same God to tell me how to raise my kids, who chose to drown his own?

https://www.facebook.com/AwkwardBible

[pragmatic_dem]

40. god's behavior is a good example of why we need background checks for gun owners. nt

[LittleGirl]

45. thanks for posting the clip

We wish we could watch Maher every week, so thanks.

I can't even get an illegal copy of the show online and that just makes me sad.

[tularetom]

48. How could anybody think they'd make money off this stupid movie?

Smart people will avoid it because the premise is just idiotic.

And dumb people will avoid it because their "pastor" tells them it deviates one millimeter from their favorite work of fiction.

[valerief]

51. I guess the bought-and-paid-for reviews will tell a different story.

If R-word pols can sell what they do, people will buy *anything*.

[elias7]

54. Great flood myths are in a number of religions

Zoroastrianism and others off the top of my head.

It's all supposed to be symbolic, folks. The trouble is when people take these stories as historical fact that religious writings lose their elegance.

[BrotherIvan]

61. Absolutley

I'm always a little confounded when supposedly "smart" people make judgements about religion based on erroneous interpretations by the religious nutters in the first place. I get it, he's trying to say that the current "literal" reading of the Noah story, which is in fact a sort of cliff notes of the real story, is wrong. But he makes such a strange leap to "your God is a psychotic killer." Why doesn't he instead spend all that energy to show how in fact it could be interpreted as a warning against climate change? There are flood myths in Native American cultures as well as from all over the Middle East. Exploring why there is so much commonality in myths of unconnected cultures is fascinating. Could it be a way to explain what might happen if we continue to fuck the world and nature over to people who don't know how to wrap their heads around it? I get that Maher is railing against the stupidity of the fundies; he's been doing it for years. But it's just such a thin, "no shit" argument and does nothing more than vent his disgust. There's nothing smart about saying the same thing over and over.

[MisterP]

57. and that's why the Jews cause so much trouble, amirite?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcionism

[0rganism]

60. reminds me of Pitch Black...

[hrmjustin]

63. I still will be a believer.

I prefer the loving God of the NT.

[daybranch]

66. Bill Maher does not know much about God

He confuses the actions of those who would claim to be religious with those who truly believe what Christ taught. There is nothing that Christ taught about killing others in the name of God. There is nothing Christ taught about the goodness of greed. Christ taught to help the poor and the weak. Christ taught if you wanted importance in heaven you must be a servant of your fellow man here on earth. Christ taught humility, compassion, and the golden rule.
Maher makes a big point of railing against organized religion, but Christ did that too against the Pharisees and the Sarduccis. Maher accuses the innocent, lumping them with the guilty. It may please his ego to demonstrate his power, but in the end he rails against people like himself, those who have little knowledge and tolerance.
I wish he would look at the results of his actions. As adults, we should not hide behind good intentions, but rather reflect on the results we would provoke. In this area, Bill Maher is exhibiting a true lack of empathy. If he could just temper that analytical wit with an ability to see beyond his next joke, we would would all be better off.

[Iggo]

67. You need to read the whole series.

The Christ character doesn't come in until the second half.

[polynomial]

68. I really like Bill Maher but...

The interpretation of Noah is more of a parable. An analogy likely taken from early Hebrew translated through time. The ark could be argued to be the earth. The pairing of species is what is considered marriage. Uncertainty for climate change can be argued right in genesis.

Implying different genders are created to go forward to populate the land. Noah could have been the beginning of government, the body of government. The generations of course are off spring the sons and daughters of that following.

The ark of the covenant can be argued as a mathematical suggestion. It is an intuitive concept. A thought to reason with, not a thing like a chalice, or a cup. It can be argued the ark is the beginning of basic aerodynamics and ballistics. For it is written that army that possess the arc shall not be defeated, simply put its air power.

The first beginning in the language of religion, or science, many understood its basic principle with gravity or the first connections to an omnipotent being called God. The minds like Plato, Archimedes, and Pythagoras even though the writings primitive needing detail are still looked upon and studied with incredible admiration.

[cantbeserious]

70. All Very Interesting - The Fundamentalist Christians Probably See Things Differently

eom