An Open Letter to Bill Maher From a Muslim American

[JaneyVee]

Hey there, Bill. You hate religion. You particularly hate Islam. We get it. Your liberal bigotry against Muslims and Islam is no secret. For a while now I’ve just avoided watching your show, which kind of stinks because for many years I was a great fan and really loved it. I wasn’t even bothered when you called out Muslims doing stupid, criminal or horrific things. You do that with a lot of groups, and it’s important to do. But I stopped watching when it became clear that you loathed a faith I was devoted to.

On your show you recently discussed the kidnapping of hundreds of girls by Boko Haram, followed by the new sharia laws in Brunei, and rounded out the segment with a nod to your buddy Ayaan Hirsi Ali—quite the trifecta of examples to support your conclusion that Islam itself is, as you said, “the problem.” Your reasoning is essentially that Muslims are doing many horrible things around the world, and they all believe in Islam, so naturally Islam is the nonnegotiable culprit.

Let’s ignore for now the numerous logical fallacies in your premise and instead follow your exact line of reasoning. If we are to accept your rationale, we have to also accept that, if many Muslims are doing good things around the world, and they all believe in Islam, then Islam is responsible for the good that they do. We also accept, given that Ali’s criticism of Islam is based on her personal experience, that the positive personal experience of other Muslims, including converts, are just as valid reflections on the faith.

For the sake of argument, and being as generous as possible, let’s say Islam has been a force of destruction for 50% of Muslims and a source of empowerment, peace and comfort for the other 50%. Where exactly does that leave us? Whose experience of Islam is legitimate? If Boko Haram is, in your estimation, an authentic expression of Islam, what do you make of the hundreds of Nigerian Muslim families who were sending their daughters to school? Why isn’t their dedication, like Malala Yousafzai’s dedication, to girls’ education an authentic expression of Islam? What do you deduct from the fact most Muslim women in the world are not circumcised? Are they just doing Islam wrong? Are all the good, peaceful Muslims doing Islam wrong

The rest: http://time.com/96368/bill-maher-islam-muslim-problem/

[mwrguy]

1. Maher should be dropped from his show for this

[beaglelover]

2. Maher slams all religions. He does not

single out Islam, IMO.

[intheflow]

6. Exactly. n/t

[Luminous Animal]

7. Um.Yes he singles out Islam as the worst of all organized religions. Over and over and over again.

[Jefferson23]

3. I am not sure what the attraction is for this guy's show..he does not do hard hitting interviews.

He has some of the biggest assholes from the right on and again, not much confrontation..he
seems to enjoy the passive hitting that brings laughter. I'm not sure what the value is from
a comedic stand point...I prefer Lewis Black but to each his own.

He also seems to have no clue, although he has been confronted with it before, he is
a bigot..sorry.

[Cha]

4. K^R

[angstlessk]

5. I don't usually get into religious debates, but

if not being circumcised is the best they can say about how they treat women, I am not impressed..and I want to know how many WOMEN convert freely, without a husband?

[dilby]

8. He is free to say what he wants and people are free to listen or change the channel.

I am not a huge Bill Maher fan, he is too uppity for my taste but some people like him. I don't think anyone should be shut down because they offended someone, I think they should be shut down if no one watches the program.