Bill Maher is an outspoken atheist and critic of religion, but Islam in particular has set off Maher in the past. And he sparred with Charlie Rose this week over his belief that Islam is far worse and more violent than Christianity.
Maher made it clear that “all religions are stupid,” but for anyone to say ISIS isn’t Islamic (likePresident Obama did last night) is ridiculous, because “there is a connecting tissue.” He and Rose sparred over the “illiberal beliefs” held by a significant number of Muslims all over the world.
Rose argued that there are Christians with backwards beliefs too, but Maher jumped in to explain why you can’t compare the two:
“Vast numbers of Christians do not believe that if you leave the Christian religion, you should be killed for it. Vast numbers of Christians do not treat women as second-class citizens. Vast numbers of Christians do not believe that if you draw a picture of Jesus Christ you should get killed for it.”
He said it’s “naive” and plain wrong to say Islam isn’t more violent than other religions, because aside from ISIS, there are beheadings in nations like Saudi Arabia that no one is up in arms about. And in addition, Maher said women are “brainwashed” and treated horribly in the Muslim world.
Watch the video below, via PBS:
http://youtu.be/IjInNxIwfRw