Bill Maher has never really been one to take the easy road. He could have been a nice safe comedian, getting the occasional movie role, guesting on a sitcom here and there, keeping his more controversial opinions private. But for whatever reason, he chose to tell the world exactly what he thinks. And he's been fortunate enough to keep finding broadcast partners that will let him do just that. I say, more power to Bill.Of course, not everyone agrees with me. Bill's recent comments comparing the Catholic Church to the polygamist compound in Texas has a whole lot of Catholic panties in a bunch. So much so that there is now a site with the goal of getting him fired, the aptly titled Fire Bill Maher. It's not nearly as fun as God Hates Shrimp. They would like everyone to cancel HBO until Bill is fired. I really wanted to join in, but there are just too many boobs on HBO. And like my grandma always said, "Always side with the boobs." Video of Bill's allegedly offensive remarks after the jump.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
4-21-2008 @ 3:18PM
Cincinnati Mike said...
Maher is a bigot, but at least he is coherent. Wish I could say the same for this article.
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4-21-2008 @ 3:21PM
Dean said...
Bill Maher's point was that the leaders of any other institution that had members who sodomized children and took steps to cover it up would have be thrown in jail. But because the Catholic church has a billion followers worldwide this will not happen. So the only pratical difference between the Church and the polygamist cult is numbers. If the polygamist cult numbered in the millions in the US they would have the same benefits the Catholic church enjoys.
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4-21-2008 @ 3:23PM
Aaron said...
Its called REAL Time with Bill Maher the man speaks the truth....
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4-21-2008 @ 3:32PM
Malren said...
So he mentioned that the pope ran away to escape CONSCRIPTION in the Nazi Youth?
No? Weird. That's the truth, one would think that Bill Maher would have spoken it.
4-22-2008 @ 2:30PM
Franklin said...
Malren, don't go confusing the entire socialist party with your use of logic. They've never let such a silly thing stand in the way of their rantings before, so they certainly aren't going to start now.
4-21-2008 @ 7:09PM
Chris said...
The "truth" is that Maher hates religion. Always has. You can frame this as "truth-telling" if you want, but his biases don't make him some seer, it just makes him another "bitter white person".
Chris
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4-21-2008 @ 10:28PM
Bash said...
So?
Doesn't make his points invalid.
4-22-2008 @ 2:04PM
Franklin said...
"So?
Doesn't make his points invalid."
IT does when his points are mired in and based upon hatred. But I wouldn't expect someone from your country to understand that leadership and speaking based on hatred are wrong. I mean, just go read a history book, then hide your face in shame.
4-21-2008 @ 4:26PM
Richie said...
I didn't find what he said offensive. I didn't find what he said funny. I much prefer Stewart and Colbert's liberal political satire to Maher's... Maher seems a lot more pompous and pretentious to me, kind of like a liberal O'Reilly.
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4-21-2008 @ 4:32PM
bamberluvr said...
What he said is true - plain and simple. You may not like how he said it, but you can't argue his points.
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4-21-2008 @ 4:37PM
segsig said...
On Maher's show this week he apologized for the reference to the Pope's participation in Hitler youth, as it wasn't necessarily a choice back then. The rest of it he stands by and good for him!
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4-21-2008 @ 5:16PM
Brandon said...
Oh man, the group of Americans that started that site are exactly the ones I really love to watch and laugh at. They love to tout the "America the bastion of freedom" etc. But as soon as someone says something about them, specifically, there's hell to be paid.
Having freedom of speech means sometimes, yeah, you're going to get offended. Deal with it.
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4-21-2008 @ 5:34PM
const said...
I don't know what's worse: Bill Maher's disgusting comments or the people on this thread who are dismissing it as harmless.
I'm not calling for censorship of any kind, but how about a little decency. Sad to say not only tv stars get to be bigots.
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4-21-2008 @ 5:46PM
Dawn said...
Oh, for crying out loud, what's the big deal? Can people just growp up already and quit whining over every tiny little perceived insult?
Its HBO - this stuff is allowed, remember, because network tv is a bunch of weenies.
Bill Maher is straightforward. His dislike of organized religion is no secret and is not illegal.
It never ceases to amaze me that there are always groups of people who want to stop the words and behaviors of others who disagree with them.
In this case, they can go to hell.
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4-22-2008 @ 1:44PM
Franklin said...
"Oh, for crying out loud, what's the big deal? Can people just growp up already and quit whining over every tiny little perceived insult?"
Then shut the hell up, you're doing the same thing.
"In this case, they can go to hell."
What? You don't believe in God, so there must not be a hell, right? Why not try a more apropos line befitting a loudmouthed athiest commie such as yourself, like: They can go to Limbaugh's house!
4-21-2008 @ 7:10PM
Michael said...
Did I hear someone say "BOOBS"...?
I think this whole deal is yet another example of how PC we've all become and frankly I'm sick and tired of it all. You said it perfectly when you said that their panties are all in a bunch because that's about as meaningful as their ire is to me. BFD people, BFD. I hate to break it to you but THE POPE IS JUST A MAN!!! The Bible says that God is no respecter of persons and that means that in His eyes, I'm as good as the Pope is - we ALL are. Get a grip and get over it all, good grief!!!
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4-21-2008 @ 10:39PM
Bash said...
Problem is that he's leading the way. He has to be judged by what he preaches. Leaders have to be criticized because they have to be "better" than all of us "normal" people. By saying he's "just a man" in god's eyes you might be perfectly right when it comes to the whole heaven thing but down here on earth he's judged by man's law and values and at the moment he's just wrong. Horribly wrong. And he has to live with others criticizing him for that. It doesn't really matter what he gets from god for his actions, heaven or hell. For down here we in the end live by man's law and not god the almighty.
If we were to live by your example there would be anarchy.
4-21-2008 @ 7:11PM
Michael said...
Oh, and NICE HAT DUDE!
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4-21-2008 @ 8:07PM
LC said...
It's one thing for someone to have an opinion about something and Maher did have some good points about the church scandal, unfortunately he got his facts wrong and slandered a good man.
As was mentioned already, kids really didn't have much choice about being members of Hitlers youth, so calling him a Nazi is tantamount to calling a rape victim a slut.
He was also wrong about the Pope's involvement in the church scandal. He was not in charge of disciplining priests. We was appointed by the Pope to that position in 2002, after the scandals broke and dealt with the criminal priests effectively.
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4-21-2008 @ 10:35PM
Bash said...
Ratzinger still sent out the letters to cover up child molestations as much as possible. So you refer to certain child molestations somewhere before 2002. What about the other child molestations after that that were covered by the decree sent out by Ratzinger?
I don't really hate the catholic church. I also don't hate Ratzinger.
It's just so fucking funny to see people comment here that Bill Maher is a bigot and then have the same people defend Benedict for what he tells his sheep to do. So condoms are ok if one of the two married people involved in the sexual act is infected with HIV? Great. Covering up child molestations is good? Wonderful.
I am just a little bit sad that he had to add the Hitler Youth fact into the mix because that's just slander. How could the man not get into something that was just like being in the Boy Scouts back then? Hell his parents most likely told him not to stand outside while the nearby concentration camps were burning jews and they later on told the occupational forces they "never knew". That's all just distraction from the fact that there was a decree to cover up and that the current stance on condoms is anachronistic (at best) if not plain and straight unhealthy and against better knowledge of medicine.