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So religion is responsible for all those wars? Hitler and Stalin were such religious men. Not to mention Napoleon, Genghis Khan, Julius Caesar and also those 300 Spartans.
Here I thought wars were fought over influence and power, ideology, land and other wealth - The so called "spoils of war." I must have missed that class where we were taught how the Spanish just converted the natives to Christianity in Central America and left the gold behind. But wait - wasn't it Maher himself who told us a short time ago that Bush's Iraq war was all about oil, and money for Cheney's buddies? What happened to that?
The fact that religion was used as an excuse for wars, suppression, slavery and other evils in history isn't exactly controversial stuff in the year 2008. Maher is just targetting religion in this way because its an easy mark, will upset a lot of people, and get him a lot of publicity and controversy. I don't buy it that he's doing it because of the "religious idiocy that threatens to deliver America to Sarah Palin.." That's really a non-issue in this election, except for the real fringes.
Maher just wants to drum up publicity and controversy, just like a promoter for a prize fight, or professional wrestling, to help the box office for his movie. And to do so, he's more than willing to insult millions of decent Americans who find something inspirational and of value in their faith. I'm not particularly religious myself, but I know a lot of good people that are. Their churches do a lot of good in my community, things like kitchens, homeless shelters, and free medical clinics. They are the ones acting as the real safety net for many suffering families while our fine government worries about "bailing out" its wealthy friends who caused this mess.
So who cares whether Christian theology is scientific or not? For Maher to just mock religious people, while ignoring the good work many congregations do is outright dishonest and fraudulent. Why is Salon giving him a podium through this article?
