Atheists & Agnostics

Of course, there are those who go after Maher not just for being an atheist, but being a "Zionist" (wink, wink). Funny, ain't it? Screeching about prejudice against people because of their religion, then attacking someone because of their ethno-religious background. This week I learned I "hate" the Pope because I think he is a homophobe. I was "corrected" because I "only focus on the negative" and "refuse to acknowledge the positive, liberal stances." I am "impatient." I (and other gay people) need to "get over y(our)selves" and "y(our) hatred of Catholics." I was also reminded that his gay friend doesn't think he is a homophobe, so I must be wrong.

This is also being discussed in GD in two different threads: here and here. Some of the excuses are so formulaic it makes one wonder from what site they culled their responses.

The one area I disagree with Maher is when he said Islamophobia is a useless, made-up term. While it certainly gets misused, like any bigotry, it is real and there are those who do hate Muslims. Some can call it a "misnomer" and that's fine, but I find it to be the same disingenuous argument of those who claim homophobia is "fear of sameness" or "fear of homosexuals" and they aren't afraid of gays, so they aren't homophobes. The granddaddy of them all, the "anti-Semitism is really prejudice against Semites, like Arabs and Palestinians." The irony is the ones who usually say that shit are the same ones calling everyone Islamophobes.