Does he have a valid point?

[Zzyzx]

.

Bill Maher:
"When I hear from people that religion doesn't hurt anything, I say really? Well besides wars, the crusades, the inquisitions, 9-11, ethnic cleansing, the suppression of women, the suppression of homosexuals, fatwas, honor killings, suicide bombings, arranged marriages to minors, human sacrifice, burning witches, and systematic sex with children, I have a few little quibbles. And I forgot blowing up girl schools in Afghanistan."

Some say "The good outweighs the bad." If so what is that weighty good?

Many say "That is just the other religions." Is that true?

[Dropship]

Which religions was Maher talking about?
Surely he can't include Christianity?
"Love one another, feed the hungry, house the homeless, clothe the destitute, tend the sick, visit the prisoners, look after the poor"- Jesus of Nazareth (Mark 12:30, John 13:34, Matt 25: 37-40)

[H.sapiens]

Which religions was Maher talking about?
Surely he can't include Christianity?
"Love one another, feed the hungry, house the homeless, clothe the destitute, tend the sick, visit the prisoners, look after the poor"- Jesus of Nazareth (Mark 12:30, John 13:34, Matt 25: 37-40)

Of Bill Maher's list, these (at least) can be laid at the Christian's door: the crusades, the inquisitions, ethnic cleansing, the suppression of women, the suppression of homosexuals, arranged marriages to minors, burning witches, and systematic sex with children.

[Zzyzx]

.

Which religions was Maher talking about?
Surely he can't include Christianity?
"Love one another, feed the hungry, house the homeless, clothe the destitute, tend the sick, visit the prisoners, look after the poor"- Jesus of Nazareth (Mark 12:30, John 13:34, Matt 25: 37-40)

Talk is cheap -- as is demonstrated by failure to walk the talk.

Denying that Christianity is / was involved in atrocities is disingenuous. Is anyone here NOT aware of pedophile priests, homophobia, gender discrimination, etc within Christendom?

As pointed out from Christian sources, church budgets devote a tiny, tiny percentage of income to benevolent causes.

[Hamsaka]

Which religions was Maher talking about?
Surely he can't include Christianity?
"Love one another, feed the hungry, house the homeless, clothe the destitute, tend the sick, visit the prisoners, look after the poor"- Jesus of Nazareth (Mark 12:30, John 13:34, Matt 25: 37-40)

Of Bill Maher's list, these (at least) can be laid at the Christian's door: the crusades, the inquisitions, ethnic cleansing, the suppression of women, the suppression of homosexuals, arranged marriages to minors, burning witches, and systematic sex with children.

And the acceptance of slavery, don't forget that one.

Dropship, what I propose is that the most accurate information about the intentions of a group will be found in their behavior, rather than in their self-descriptions, however flattering.

If only the one thing we could say about Christendom were your quote But that is far from the case. Maybe you are just fortunate to live in the UK, where you aren't surrounded on all sides by militant American evangelicals. It sure does give a person a poor perspective on what Christianity is about. Personally, I've had to work hard to see 'beyond' the American evangelical machinations, to see what's there, because the evangelicals are so obstreperous and loud.

In the experience of many nonbelievers, the good that purportedly outweighs the bad is just another baseless claim. For their behavior as Christians to be 'good' is no more than 'good' being 'cuz it's from the Bible'. You can see how easily this 'good' is inflated far beyond it's deserved bounds.

The worst part is illustrated well in the American evangelical (and others) response to the Supreme Court's decisions on marriage equality.

As much as this country has struggled with issues of discrimination against people of color or unpopular ethnicities, you'd think discriminating against the LGBT community would be added to this shameful list -- but no. By divine command, same sex sexual activity was taboo to the ancient Hebrews, so naturally that makes it so in modern America. Paul of Tarsus chewed out some folks in the early Christian church for it as well. It only follows, reasonably, that some Christians who choose to discriminate against gays or lesbians marrying are 'just obeying God'. Their right to discriminate is by divine command and the First Amendment; therefore, it's justified.

In much the same way Christian pogroms against Muslims and Jews in the Crusades was justified.

And how far away it's gotten from your quote makes me wonder if we're discussing the behavior of members of the same religion.

[SailingCyclops]

Which religions was Maher talking about?
Surely he can't include Christianity?

Maher doesn't discriminate. He is correctly referring to "religion". Every metastasis of it.

[Wootah]

.

Bill Maher:
"When I hear from people that religion doesn't hurt anything, I say really? Well besides wars, the crusades, the inquisitions, 9-11, ethnic cleansing, the suppression of women, the suppression of homosexuals, fatwas, honor killings, suicide bombings, arranged marriages to minors, human sacrifice, burning witches, and systematic sex with children, I have a few little quibbles. And I forgot blowing up girl schools in Afghanistan."

Some say "The good outweighs the bad." If so what is that weighty good?

Many say "That is just the other religions." Is that true?

Create a strawman and then destroy it. Maybe the trick to pull it off is how hard one (in this case Bill) attacks the strawman?

[Zzyzx]

.

Bill Maher:
"When I hear from people that religion doesn't hurt anything, I say really? Well besides wars, the crusades, the inquisitions, 9-11, ethnic cleansing, the suppression of women, the suppression of homosexuals, fatwas, honor killings, suicide bombings, arranged marriages to minors, human sacrifice, burning witches, and systematic sex with children, I have a few little quibbles. And I forgot blowing up girl schools in Afghanistan."

Some say "The good outweighs the bad." If so what is that weighty good?

Many say "That is just the other religions." Is that true?

Create a strawman and then destroy it.

Are the Crusades a straw man? Inquisition? Witch trials? Pedophile priests? Cult leaders imprisoned for child brides / sex?

Are Fanatical Muslims a straw man?

It is quite legitimate to attack REAL issues.

Maybe the trick to pull it off is how hard one (in this case Bill) attacks the strawman?

The hard trick is to defend or excuse those issues from real life -- or to distance one's chosen sect from dishonorable practices.

[Cephus]

Create a strawman and then destroy it. Maybe the trick to pull it off is how hard one (in this case Bill) attacks the strawman?

None of that is a strawman, it either comes straight from the Bible or from demonstrable history. Which specific accusations do you claim are not factually true?

[Wootah]

[Replying to post 8 by Zzyzx]

Then I am sure you will agree and won't distance yourself from the fact that the ideology of evolution killed the most people last century. Let alone the Holocaust of abortion taking place today.