Bill Maher the Catholic Church is a religous cult (1 Viewer)

[golddigger]

Bill Maher the Catholic Church is a religous cult

Do you think the media would let Maher get away with this shtick against the Jewish religion or minorities like blacks or Hispanics?

 

[Hammered Finz]

I normally don't like Maher, but he is right on this one..

 

[17seconds]

Bill Maher the Catholic Church is a religous cult

Do you think the media would let Maher get away with this shtick against the Jewish religion or minorities like blacks or Hispanics?

As Maher says, do you think a company could get away with hundreds of employees abusing children?yet the catholic church goes on...

He makes an excellent point that if rampant child abuse can't do it, then NOTHING can bring down a big religion.

 

[Kumerica]

Bill Maher the Catholic Church is a religous cult

Do you think the media would let Maher get away with this shtick against the Jewish religion or minorities like blacks or Hispanics?

He wouldn't get away with it against ethnicities, but he's pretty much knocked every major western religion (he tends to spare Hinduism & Buddhism since he sees them more as philosophies).

 

[Pai Mei]

Bill Maher the Catholic Church is a religous cult

Do you think the media would let Maher get away with this shtick against the Jewish religion or minorities like blacks or Hispanics?

Let's be honest. Atheists have existed for thousands of years. Its never become a mainstream thing and never will. Humans are in some way conditioned to believe in religion. The best way I can explain it is the phrase "knock the wind out of you". That isn't just a meaningless phrase. Its an actual physical condition that can occur when you take a blow such that you cannot breathe - it feels like your lungs are empty. Then they fill back up. The phrase "life was meaningless until I found God" is much the same way. For those who have never had the wind knocked out of them, the first phrase is meaningless. For those who have never had a deep religious experience, the second phrase is meaningless. But for those who DO have such an experience, they get it.

And that is why Maher can say whatever he wants and it won't destroy religion - because he probably doesn't get it.

 

[timschochet]

Well, his point his obvious, but he is factually incorrect. From Wikipedia:

Cult typically refers to a cohesive social group devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture considers outside the mainstream, with a notably positive or negative popular perception. In common or populist usage, "cult" has a positive connotation for groups of art, music, writing, fiction, and fashion devotees,[1] but a negative connotation for new religious, extreme political, questionable therapeutic, and pyramidal business groups.[2] For this reason, most, if not all, non-fan groups that are called cults reject this label.

Italics mine. The Catholic Church, being the largest Christian denomination in the world, can under no circumstances be described as "outside the mainstream."

 

[Mr. PadresLakers]

Transcript of the clip:

And, finally, New Rule: Whenever you combine a secretive compound, religion and weirdos in pioneer outfits, there's going to be some child-f*cking going on. In fact, whenever a cult leader sets himself up as "God's infallible wing man" here on earth, lock away the kids.

Which is why I'd like to tip off law enforcement to an even larger child-abusing religious cult. Its leader also has a compound. And this guy not only operates outside the bounds of the law, but he used to be a Nazi and he wears funny hats. [photo of the Pope shown]

That's right. The Pope is coming to America this week, and, ladies, he's single! Now, I know what you're thinking: "Bill, you can't be saying that the Catholic Church is no better than this creepy Texas cult! For one thing, altar boys can't even get pregnant."

But, really, what tripped up the "little cult on the prairie" was that they only abused hundreds of kids, not thousands all over the world. Cults get raided. Religions get parades. How does the Catholic Church get away with all of their buggery? VOLUME, VOLUME, VOLUME!

If you have a few hundred followers and you let some of them molest children, they call you a cult leader. If you have a billion, they call you "Pope."

It's like if you can't pay your mortgage, you're a deadbeat, but if you can't pay a million mortgages, you're Bear Stearns, and we bail you out. And that's who the Catholic Church is, the Bear Stearns of organized pedophilia. Too big to fail.

When the - when the current Pope was in his previous Vatican job as John Paul's **** Cheney - he wrote a letter instructing every Catholic bishop to keep the sex abuse of minors secret until the statute of limitations ran out. And that's the Church's attitude: "We're here, we're queer, get used to it."

Which is fine. Far be it from me to criticize religion. But, just remember one thing: if the Pope was, instead of a religious figure, merely the CEO of a nationwide chain of daycare centers where thousands of employees had been caught molesting kids and then covering it up, he'd be arrested faster than you can say, "Who wants to touch Mister Wiggle?"

http://www.hbo.com/billmaher/new_rules/index.html

 

[the moops]

The Catholic Church, being the largest Christian denomination in the world, can under no circumstances be described as "outside the mainstream."

There are more non-catholics than catholics.

 

[Mr. PadresLakers]

Based on the transcript which statements exactly are not factual or worthy of criticism?

 

[StrikeS2k]

Let me preface my comments with - I hate Bill Maher. Also, I am not religious.

1) I'm assuming this was on his own show on a private television network. If that's the case, and people who pay for that network are truly outraged about this, they have recourse. They can unsubscribe from the network.

2) I have no problem classifying the Catholic church as a cult. There was a systematic cover up of the child molestations for decades, if not centuries by the church. Even now Cardinal Roger Mahoney, who committed perjury in a previous child molestation case, is still in power in Los Angeles. I can't understand why anyone would stay part of that church, especially when there are viable alternatives such as the Greek Orthodox church. The Greek Orthodox church shares 99% of the same beliefs as the Catholic church and is a church that split from the Catholics a long time ago. It's interesting to note that one of the main points of contention during that split was that the Greek Orthodox believe in allowing their priests to marry, and AFAIK they've never had a problem with those priests molesting little boys.

So I don't see what the problem is.

 

[timschochet]

As an atheist, I continue to fail to understand why other atheists like Mahar are so angry all the time. It's one thing to try to stop certain Christian groups when they want to force their views on you. I have engaged in this fight, and will continue to do so (to the best of my limited ability.) But why just try to offend Christians? We owe our freedom in a large part because of the ethics of the Christian community around us. Do you suppose I would be free to be an atheist in a Muslim country? Hardly. Why show Christians such disrespect? I don't get it.

 

[Hammered Finz]

Based on the transcript which statements exactly are not factual or worthy of criticism?

sadly, none..

 

[17seconds]

Well, his point his obvious, but he is factually incorrect. From Wikipedia:

Cult typically refers to a cohesive social group devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture considers outside the mainstream, with a notably positive or negative popular perception. In common or populist usage, "cult" has a positive connotation for groups of art, music, writing, fiction, and fashion devotees,[1] but a negative connotation for new religious, extreme political, questionable therapeutic, and pyramidal business groups.[2] For this reason, most, if not all, non-fan groups that are called cults reject this label.

Italics mine. The Catholic Church, being the largest Christian denomination in the world, can under no circumstances be described as "outside the mainstream."

Maher's opinion is that the catholic church operates in an almost identical way to these "wacky cults". He's making light of the similarities because mainstream christians think these smaller denominations are so screwed up.He's not trying to say the catholic church meets the dictionary definition of a cult.

 

[goonsquad]

Well, his point his obvious, but he is factually incorrect. From Wikipedia:

Cult typically refers to a cohesive social group devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture considers outside the mainstream, with a notably positive or negative popular perception. In common or populist usage, "cult" has a positive connotation for groups of art, music, writing, fiction, and fashion devotees,[1] but a negative connotation for new religious, extreme political, questionable therapeutic, and pyramidal business groups.[2] For this reason, most, if not all, non-fan groups that are called cults reject this label.

Italics mine. The Catholic Church, being the largest Christian denomination in the world, can under no circumstances be described as "outside the mainstream."

As in "usually but not necessarily in every instance".

 

[-jb-]

Well, his point his obvious, but he is factually incorrect. From Wikipedia:

Cult typically refers to a cohesive social group devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture considers outside the mainstream, with a notably positive or negative popular perception. In common or populist usage, "cult" has a positive connotation for groups of art, music, writing, fiction, and fashion devotees,[1] but a negative connotation for new religious, extreme political, questionable therapeutic, and pyramidal business groups.[2] For this reason, most, if not all, non-fan groups that are called cults reject this label.

Italics mine. The Catholic Church, being the largest Christian denomination in the world, can under no circumstances be described as "outside the mainstream."

Dude.It's called sattire.

And he is 100% on point. The Catholic church has done absolutely NOTHING about thousands of child molestation cases...it's despicable.

 

[timschochet]

The Catholic Church, being the largest Christian denomination in the world, can under no circumstances be described as "outside the mainstream."

There are more non-catholics than catholics.

Yes, but they're all different denominations: Episcopalan, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, etc. And several nations around the world are 95% Catholic, including all of Latin America.

 

[Nipsey]

Well, his point his obvious, but he is factually incorrect. From Wikipedia:

Cult typically refers to a cohesive social group devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture considers outside the mainstream, with a notably positive or negative popular perception. In common or populist usage, "cult" has a positive connotation for groups of art, music, writing, fiction, and fashion devotees,[1] but a negative connotation for new religious, extreme political, questionable therapeutic, and pyramidal business groups.[2] For this reason, most, if not all, non-fan groups that are called cults reject this label.

Italics mine. The Catholic Church, being the largest Christian denomination in the world, can under no circumstances be described as "outside the mainstream."

Dude.It's called sattire.

And he is 100% on point. The Catholic church has done absolutely NOTHING about thousands of child molestation cases...it's despicable.

He's not even an atheist.

 

[enfuego]

Listen to Bill Maher. He knows things.

 

[timschochet]

Well, his point his obvious, but he is factually incorrect. From Wikipedia:

Cult typically refers to a cohesive social group devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture considers outside the mainstream, with a notably positive or negative popular perception. In common or populist usage, "cult" has a positive connotation for groups of art, music, writing, fiction, and fashion devotees,[1] but a negative connotation for new religious, extreme political, questionable therapeutic, and pyramidal business groups.[2] For this reason, most, if not all, non-fan groups that are called cults reject this label.

Italics mine. The Catholic Church, being the largest Christian denomination in the world, can under no circumstances be described as "outside the mainstream."

Dude.It's called sattire.

And he is 100% on point. The Catholic church has done absolutely NOTHING about thousands of child molestation cases...it's despicable.

Hey I really enjoy Bill Maher's show. And I'm not going to defend the Catholic church on child molestation. But there are millions of catholics around the world that would never tolerate such activities. Calling them members of a cult, even in satire, is offensive.

 

[Mr. PadresLakers]

As an atheist, I continue to fail to understand why other atheists like Mahar are so angry all the time. It's one thing to try to stop certain Christian groups when they want to force their views on you. I have engaged in this fight, and will continue to do so (to the best of my limited ability.) But why just try to offend Christians? We owe our freedom in a large part because of the ethics of the Christian community around us. Do you suppose I would be free to be an atheist in a Muslim country? Hardly. Why show Christians such disrespect? I don't get it.

Why shouldn't he be angry about child molestation?

 

[timschochet]

Well, his point his obvious, but he is factually incorrect. From Wikipedia:

Cult typically refers to a cohesive social group devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture considers outside the mainstream, with a notably positive or negative popular perception. In common or populist usage, "cult" has a positive connotation for groups of art, music, writing, fiction, and fashion devotees,[1] but a negative connotation for new religious, extreme political, questionable therapeutic, and pyramidal business groups.[2] For this reason, most, if not all, non-fan groups that are called cults reject this label.

Italics mine. The Catholic Church, being the largest Christian denomination in the world, can under no circumstances be described as "outside the mainstream."

Dude.It's called sattire.

And he is 100% on point. The Catholic church has done absolutely NOTHING about thousands of child molestation cases...it's despicable.

He's not even an atheist.

Yes he is.

 

[17seconds]

And he is 100% on point. The Catholic church has done absolutely NOTHING about thousands of child molestation cases...it's despicable.

Actually what they've done is increase the campaigns for contributions from parishioners. A lot of talk about the church being in debt from pain and suffering payouts and needing more donations...

 

[TommyGilmore]

Well, his point his obvious, but he is factually incorrect. From Wikipedia:

Cult typically refers to a cohesive social group devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture considers outside the mainstream, with a notably positive or negative popular perception. In common or populist usage, "cult" has a positive connotation for groups of art, music, writing, fiction, and fashion devotees,[1] but a negative connotation for new religious, extreme political, questionable therapeutic, and pyramidal business groups.[2] For this reason, most, if not all, non-fan groups that are called cults reject this label.

Italics mine. The Catholic Church, being the largest Christian denomination in the world, can under no circumstances be described as "outside the mainstream."

Depends on your definition of "mainstream". They represent 24% of the U.S. population and 17% of worldwide population. Some of their beliefs would certainly qualify as "outside the mainstream", even among Christians.

 

[timschochet]

As an atheist, I continue to fail to understand why other atheists like Mahar are so angry all the time. It's one thing to try to stop certain Christian groups when they want to force their views on you. I have engaged in this fight, and will continue to do so (to the best of my limited ability.) But why just try to offend Christians? We owe our freedom in a large part because of the ethics of the Christian community around us. Do you suppose I would be free to be an atheist in a Muslim country? Hardly. Why show Christians such disrespect? I don't get it.

Why shouldn't he be angry about child molestation?

He should. But how many million Catholics are there in the world? Why insult them?

 

[Christo]

Bill Maher the Catholic Church is a religous cult

Do you think the media would let Maher get away with this shtick against the Jewish religion or minorities like blacks or Hispanics?

Is there a jewish, black or hispanic organization that protects known pedophiles?

 

[bigbottom]

Well, his point his obvious, but he is factually incorrect. From Wikipedia:

Cult typically refers to a cohesive social group devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture considers outside the mainstream, with a notably positive or negative popular perception. In common or populist usage, "cult" has a positive connotation for groups of art, music, writing, fiction, and fashion devotees,[1] but a negative connotation for new religious, extreme political, questionable therapeutic, and pyramidal business groups.[2] For this reason, most, if not all, non-fan groups that are called cults reject this label.

Italics mine. The Catholic Church, being the largest Christian denomination in the world, can under no circumstances be described as "outside the mainstream."

Dude.It's called sattire.

And he is 100% on point. The Catholic church has done absolutely NOTHING about thousands of child molestation cases...it's despicable.

Hey I really enjoy Bill Maher's show. And I'm not going to defend the Catholic church on child molestation. But there are millions of catholics around the world that would never tolerate such activities. Calling them members of a cult, even in satire, is offensive.

Well, they drink blood and taste flesh as part of a religious ritual. That sounds pretty cultish to me.

 

[timschochet]

Bill Maher the Catholic Church is a religous cult

Do you think the media would let Maher get away with this shtick against the Jewish religion or minorities like blacks or Hispanics?

Is there a jewish, black or hispanic organization that protects known pedophiles?

I believe most Hispanics would be offended by these comments.

 

[commisholio]

The primary distinction between any given organized religion and a cult is the number of members and the amount of respect afforded by outside society. At the same time, religion can play a distinctly powerful and positive role in peoples' lives.

People are funny.

 

[17seconds]

This wasn't even the most controversial thing he said on this episode.

That was his take on the cheerleader beating. Really cold reception to that one... Can't find a transcript or youtube but basically he said they should let kids be kids. Everybody gets beat up by bullies.

 

[Mr. PadresLakers]

As an atheist, I continue to fail to understand why other atheists like Mahar are so angry all the time. It's one thing to try to stop certain Christian groups when they want to force their views on you. I have engaged in this fight, and will continue to do so (to the best of my limited ability.) But why just try to offend Christians? We owe our freedom in a large part because of the ethics of the Christian community around us. Do you suppose I would be free to be an atheist in a Muslim country? Hardly. Why show Christians such disrespect? I don't get it.

Why shouldn't he be angry about child molestation?

He should. But how many million Catholics are there in the world? Why insult them?

I think Catholics are more insulted by the acts of their religious leaders then anything Bill Maher could ever say. Its a valid relevant topic and he has a current events related show. Why shouldn't he talk about it? He would have no material to air if he held his tongue every time a group of people would be insulted.

 

[WisWolvrns]

by that same logic, Down with the NFL! They are just a bunch of drug dealing murderous criminals!

judging the many by the acts of the few is always a poor idea, but isn't that the root of racism/stereotyping....

 

[timschochet]

The primary distinction between any given organized religion and a cult is the number of members and the amount of respect afforded by outside society. At the same time, religion can play a distinctly powerful and positive role in peoples' lives. People are funny.

This is the point. The Catholic church does so many good things I can hardly name them here, but support of schools and hospitals would be first on my list. For each one of the child molesters, there's a thousand priests who engage in visiting the elderly, helping the poor, tending to the sick, and trying to improve conditions everywhere. Yet a guy like Maher focuses on the bad and makes a sweeping statement which is offensive to millions of people. I do like Maher, but this really cannot be defended, IMO.

 

[Mr. PadresLakers]

Well, his point his obvious, but he is factually incorrect. From Wikipedia:

Cult typically refers to a cohesive social group devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture considers outside the mainstream, with a notably positive or negative popular perception. In common or populist usage, "cult" has a positive connotation for groups of art, music, writing, fiction, and fashion devotees,[1] but a negative connotation for new religious, extreme political, questionable therapeutic, and pyramidal business groups.[2] For this reason, most, if not all, non-fan groups that are called cults reject this label.

Italics mine. The Catholic Church, being the largest Christian denomination in the world, can under no circumstances be described as "outside the mainstream."

Dude.It's called sattire.

And he is 100% on point. The Catholic church has done absolutely NOTHING about thousands of child molestation cases...it's despicable.

He's not even an atheist.

Yes he is.

Not according to him"I'm not an atheist. There's a really big difference between an atheist and someone who just doesn't believe in religion. Religion to me is a bureaucracy between man and God that I don't need. But I'm not an atheist, no." I believe there's some force. If you want to call it God... I don't believe God is a single parent who writes books. I think that the people who think God wrote a book called The Bible are just childish. Religion is so childish. What they're fighting about in the Middle East, it's so childish. These myths, these silly little stories that they believe in fundamentally, that they take over this little space in Jerusalem where one guy flew up to heaven—no, no, this guy performed a sacrifice here a thousand million years ago. It's like, "Who cares? What does that have to do with spirituality, where you're really trying to get, as a human being and as a soul moving in the universe?" But I do believe in a God, yes."

http://www.slashfilm.com/article.php/20060607231237533

 

[-jb-]

Well, his point his obvious, but he is factually incorrect. From Wikipedia:

Cult typically refers to a cohesive social group devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture considers outside the mainstream, with a notably positive or negative popular perception. In common or populist usage, "cult" has a positive connotation for groups of art, music, writing, fiction, and fashion devotees,[1] but a negative connotation for new religious, extreme political, questionable therapeutic, and pyramidal business groups.[2] For this reason, most, if not all, non-fan groups that are called cults reject this label.

Italics mine. The Catholic Church, being the largest Christian denomination in the world, can under no circumstances be described as "outside the mainstream."

Dude.It's called sattire.

And he is 100% on point. The Catholic church has done absolutely NOTHING about thousands of child molestation cases...it's despicable.

Hey I really enjoy Bill Maher's show. And I'm not going to defend the Catholic church on child molestation. But there are millions of catholics around the world that would never tolerate such activities. Calling them members of a cult, even in satire, is offensive.

Ummmmmmm......but they are tolerating it.

 

[17seconds]

The primary distinction between any given organized religion and a cult is the number of members and the amount of respect afforded by outside society. At the same time, religion can play a distinctly powerful and positive role in peoples' lives. People are funny.

This is the point. The Catholic church does so many good things I can hardly name them here, but support of schools and hospitals would be first on my list. For each one of the child molesters, there's a thousand priests who engage in visiting the elderly, helping the poor, tending to the sick, and trying to improve conditions everywhere. Yet a guy like Maher focuses on the bad and makes a sweeping statement which is offensive to millions of people. I do like Maher, but this really cannot be defended, IMO.

Regardless of the amount of good works, don't you find it terrifying that an organization with such a despicable an far-reaching scandal can't be brought down?This is the same reason we don't implicitly trust the government.

 

[Mr. PadresLakers]

The primary distinction between any given organized religion and a cult is the number of members and the amount of respect afforded by outside society. At the same time, religion can play a distinctly powerful and positive role in peoples' lives. People are funny.

This is the point. The Catholic church does so many good things I can hardly name them here, but support of schools and hospitals would be first on my list. For each one of the child molesters, there's a thousand priests who engage in visiting the elderly, helping the poor, tending to the sick, and trying to improve conditions everywhere. Yet a guy like Maher focuses on the bad and makes a sweeping statement which is offensive to millions of people. I do like Maher, but this really cannot be defended, IMO.

From the transcript what sweeping statement did he apply to all Catholics?

 

[Nipsey]

Well, his point his obvious, but he is factually incorrect. From Wikipedia:

Cult typically refers to a cohesive social group devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture considers outside the mainstream, with a notably positive or negative popular perception. In common or populist usage, "cult" has a positive connotation for groups of art, music, writing, fiction, and fashion devotees,[1] but a negative connotation for new religious, extreme political, questionable therapeutic, and pyramidal business groups.[2] For this reason, most, if not all, non-fan groups that are called cults reject this label.

Italics mine. The Catholic Church, being the largest Christian denomination in the world, can under no circumstances be described as "outside the mainstream."

Dude.It's called sattire.

And he is 100% on point. The Catholic church has done absolutely NOTHING about thousands of child molestation cases...it's despicable.

He's not even an atheist.

Yes he is.

Nope.

 

[timschochet]

Well, his point his obvious, but he is factually incorrect. From Wikipedia:

Cult typically refers to a cohesive social group devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture considers outside the mainstream, with a notably positive or negative popular perception. In common or populist usage, "cult" has a positive connotation for groups of art, music, writing, fiction, and fashion devotees,[1] but a negative connotation for new religious, extreme political, questionable therapeutic, and pyramidal business groups.[2] For this reason, most, if not all, non-fan groups that are called cults reject this label.

Italics mine. The Catholic Church, being the largest Christian denomination in the world, can under no circumstances be described as "outside the mainstream."

Dude.It's called sattire.

And he is 100% on point. The Catholic church has done absolutely NOTHING about thousands of child molestation cases...it's despicable.

He's not even an atheist.

Yes he is.

Not according to him"I'm not an atheist. There's a really big difference between an atheist and someone who just doesn't believe in religion. Religion to me is a bureaucracy between man and God that I don't need. But I'm not an atheist, no." I believe there's some force. If you want to call it God... I don't believe God is a single parent who writes books. I think that the people who think God wrote a book called The Bible are just childish. Religion is so childish. What they're fighting about in the Middle East, it's so childish. These myths, these silly little stories that they believe in fundamentally, that they take over this little space in Jerusalem where one guy flew up to heaven—no, no, this guy performed a sacrifice here a thousand million years ago. It's like, "Who cares? What does that have to do with spirituality, where you're really trying to get, as a human being and as a soul moving in the universe?" But I do believe in a God, yes."

http://www.slashfilm.com/article.php/20060607231237533

News to me. I've heard him say there is no God several times, including this last week when he interviewed Dawkins.

 

[timschochet]

The primary distinction between any given organized religion and a cult is the number of members and the amount of respect afforded by outside society. At the same time, religion can play a distinctly powerful and positive role in peoples' lives. People are funny.

This is the point. The Catholic church does so many good things I can hardly name them here, but support of schools and hospitals would be first on my list. For each one of the child molesters, there's a thousand priests who engage in visiting the elderly, helping the poor, tending to the sick, and trying to improve conditions everywhere. Yet a guy like Maher focuses on the bad and makes a sweeping statement which is offensive to millions of people. I do like Maher, but this really cannot be defended, IMO.

Regardless of the amount of good works, don't you find it terrifying that an organization with such a despicable an far-reaching scandal can't be brought down?This is the same reason we don't implicitly trust the government.

Good analogy. I don't trust the government either. But if I then claim the government is corrupt, I'm moving from a healthy distrust to a conspiracy theorist. See the difference?

 

[enfuego]

Well, his point his obvious, but he is factually incorrect. From Wikipedia:

Cult typically refers to a cohesive social group devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture considers outside the mainstream, with a notably positive or negative popular perception. In common or populist usage, "cult" has a positive connotation for groups of art, music, writing, fiction, and fashion devotees,[1] but a negative connotation for new religious, extreme political, questionable therapeutic, and pyramidal business groups.[2] For this reason, most, if not all, non-fan groups that are called cults reject this label.

Italics mine. The Catholic Church, being the largest Christian denomination in the world, can under no circumstances be described as "outside the mainstream."

Dude.It's called sattire.

And he is 100% on point. The Catholic church has done absolutely NOTHING about thousands of child molestation cases...it's despicable.

He's not even an atheist.

Yes he is.

Depends on how you define athiest.

 

[17seconds]

Well, his point his obvious, but he is factually incorrect. From Wikipedia:

Cult typically refers to a cohesive social group devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture considers outside the mainstream, with a notably positive or negative popular perception. In common or populist usage, "cult" has a positive connotation for groups of art, music, writing, fiction, and fashion devotees,[1] but a negative connotation for new religious, extreme political, questionable therapeutic, and pyramidal business groups.[2] For this reason, most, if not all, non-fan groups that are called cults reject this label.

Italics mine. The Catholic Church, being the largest Christian denomination in the world, can under no circumstances be described as "outside the mainstream."

Dude.It's called sattire.

And he is 100% on point. The Catholic church has done absolutely NOTHING about thousands of child molestation cases...it's despicable.

He's not even an atheist.

Yes he is.

Not according to him"I'm not an atheist. There's a really big difference between an atheist and someone who just doesn't believe in religion. Religion to me is a bureaucracy between man and God that I don't need. But I'm not an atheist, no." I believe there's some force. If you want to call it God... I don't believe God is a single parent who writes books. I think that the people who think God wrote a book called The Bible are just childish. Religion is so childish. What they're fighting about in the Middle East, it's so childish. These myths, these silly little stories that they believe in fundamentally, that they take over this little space in Jerusalem where one guy flew up to heaven—no, no, this guy performed a sacrifice here a thousand million years ago. It's like, "Who cares? What does that have to do with spirituality, where you're really trying to get, as a human being and as a soul moving in the universe?" But I do believe in a God, yes."

http://www.slashfilm.com/article.php/20060607231237533

News to me. I've heard him say there is no God several times, including this last week when he interviewed Dawkins.

I've seen every episode of Real Time for the last several years, and even I'm confused.He has made both statements.

 

[fatguyinalittlecoat]

The primary distinction between any given organized religion and a cult is the number of members and the amount of respect afforded by outside society. At the same time, religion can play a distinctly powerful and positive role in peoples' lives. People are funny.

This is the point. The Catholic church does so many good things I can hardly name them here, but support of schools and hospitals would be first on my list. For each one of the child molesters, there's a thousand priests who engage in visiting the elderly, helping the poor, tending to the sick, and trying to improve conditions everywhere.

I'm sure there are some cults that do good stuff too.

 

[enfuego]

I think Maher believes in the God of Maher

 

[timschochet]

The primary distinction between any given organized religion and a cult is the number of members and the amount of respect afforded by outside society. At the same time, religion can play a distinctly powerful and positive role in peoples' lives. People are funny.

This is the point. The Catholic church does so many good things I can hardly name them here, but support of schools and hospitals would be first on my list. For each one of the child molesters, there's a thousand priests who engage in visiting the elderly, helping the poor, tending to the sick, and trying to improve conditions everywhere. Yet a guy like Maher focuses on the bad and makes a sweeping statement which is offensive to millions of people. I do like Maher, but this really cannot be defended, IMO.

From the transcript what sweeping statement did he apply to all Catholics?

Which is why I'd like to tip off law enforcement to an even larger child-abusing religious cult.By referring to the Catholic Church as a religious cult, he is insulting all Catholics, period. He is also in this sentence implying that the child abuse was not just tolerated but practiced as part of the standard activity of the church.

 

[Nipsey]

Well, his point his obvious, but he is factually incorrect. From Wikipedia:

Cult typically refers to a cohesive social group devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture considers outside the mainstream, with a notably positive or negative popular perception. In common or populist usage, "cult" has a positive connotation for groups of art, music, writing, fiction, and fashion devotees,[1] but a negative connotation for new religious, extreme political, questionable therapeutic, and pyramidal business groups.[2] For this reason, most, if not all, non-fan groups that are called cults reject this label.

Italics mine. The Catholic Church, being the largest Christian denomination in the world, can under no circumstances be described as "outside the mainstream."

Dude.It's called sattire.

And he is 100% on point. The Catholic church has done absolutely NOTHING about thousands of child molestation cases...it's despicable.

He's not even an atheist.

Yes he is.

Not according to him"I'm not an atheist. There's a really big difference between an atheist and someone who just doesn't believe in religion. Religion to me is a bureaucracy between man and God that I don't need. But I'm not an atheist, no." I believe there's some force. If you want to call it God... I don't believe God is a single parent who writes books. I think that the people who think God wrote a book called The Bible are just childish. Religion is so childish. What they're fighting about in the Middle East, it's so childish. These myths, these silly little stories that they believe in fundamentally, that they take over this little space in Jerusalem where one guy flew up to heaven—no, no, this guy performed a sacrifice here a thousand million years ago. It's like, "Who cares? What does that have to do with spirituality, where you're really trying to get, as a human being and as a soul moving in the universe?" But I do believe in a God, yes."

http://www.slashfilm.com/article.php/20060607231237533

News to me. I've heard him say there is no God several times, including this last week when he interviewed Dawkins.

He never said that. Here's the link to the interview

 

[Mr. PadresLakers]

The primary distinction between any given organized religion and a cult is the number of members and the amount of respect afforded by outside society. At the same time, religion can play a distinctly powerful and positive role in peoples' lives. People are funny.

This is the point. The Catholic church does so many good things I can hardly name them here, but support of schools and hospitals would be first on my list. For each one of the child molesters, there's a thousand priests who engage in visiting the elderly, helping the poor, tending to the sick, and trying to improve conditions everywhere. Yet a guy like Maher focuses on the bad and makes a sweeping statement which is offensive to millions of people. I do like Maher, but this really cannot be defended, IMO.

From the transcript what sweeping statement did he apply to all Catholics?

Which is why I'd like to tip off law enforcement to an even larger child-abusing religious cult.By referring to the Catholic Church as a religious cult, he is insulting all Catholics, period. He is also in this sentence implying that the child abuse was not just tolerated but practiced as part of the standard activity of the church.

The truth hurts sometimes. If that bit about statute of limitations is true then the religious leaders at the top absolutely tolerated the behavior. Choosing to protect their reputation over protecting innocent children is deplorable.

 

[Nipsey]

Well, his point his obvious, but he is factually incorrect. From Wikipedia:

Cult typically refers to a cohesive social group devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture considers outside the mainstream, with a notably positive or negative popular perception. In common or populist usage, "cult" has a positive connotation for groups of art, music, writing, fiction, and fashion devotees,[1] but a negative connotation for new religious, extreme political, questionable therapeutic, and pyramidal business groups.[2] For this reason, most, if not all, non-fan groups that are called cults reject this label.

Italics mine. The Catholic Church, being the largest Christian denomination in the world, can under no circumstances be described as "outside the mainstream."

Dude.It's called sattire.

And he is 100% on point. The Catholic church has done absolutely NOTHING about thousands of child molestation cases...it's despicable.

He's not even an atheist.

Yes he is.

Depends on how you define athiest.

I usually define words using definitions.

 

[timschochet]

Well, his point his obvious, but he is factually incorrect. From Wikipedia:

Cult typically refers to a cohesive social group devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture considers outside the mainstream, with a notably positive or negative popular perception. In common or populist usage, "cult" has a positive connotation for groups of art, music, writing, fiction, and fashion devotees,[1] but a negative connotation for new religious, extreme political, questionable therapeutic, and pyramidal business groups.[2] For this reason, most, if not all, non-fan groups that are called cults reject this label.

Italics mine. The Catholic Church, being the largest Christian denomination in the world, can under no circumstances be described as "outside the mainstream."

Dude.It's called sattire.

And he is 100% on point. The Catholic church has done absolutely NOTHING about thousands of child molestation cases...it's despicable.

He's not even an atheist.

Yes he is.

Not according to him"I'm not an atheist. There's a really big difference between an atheist and someone who just doesn't believe in religion. Religion to me is a bureaucracy between man and God that I don't need. But I'm not an atheist, no." I believe there's some force. If you want to call it God... I don't believe God is a single parent who writes books. I think that the people who think God wrote a book called The Bible are just childish. Religion is so childish. What they're fighting about in the Middle East, it's so childish. These myths, these silly little stories that they believe in fundamentally, that they take over this little space in Jerusalem where one guy flew up to heaven—no, no, this guy performed a sacrifice here a thousand million years ago. It's like, "Who cares? What does that have to do with spirituality, where you're really trying to get, as a human being and as a soul moving in the universe?" But I do believe in a God, yes."

http://www.slashfilm.com/article.php/20060607231237533

News to me. I've heard him say there is no God several times, including this last week when he interviewed Dawkins.

He never said that. Here's the link to the interview

OK. I'm not trying to make things up here. It seems like I've heard him say he didn't believe in God. Perhaps I'm mistaken.

 

[Christo]

Bill Maher the Catholic Church is a religous cult

Do you think the media would let Maher get away with this shtick against the Jewish religion or minorities like blacks or Hispanics?

Is there a jewish, black or hispanic organization that protects known pedophiles?

I believe most Hispanics would be offended by these comments.

Only the ones who are in denial about the complicity of their church leaders in this mess.

 

[enfuego]

Well, his point his obvious, but he is factually incorrect. From Wikipedia:

Cult typically refers to a cohesive social group devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture considers outside the mainstream, with a notably positive or negative popular perception. In common or populist usage, "cult" has a positive connotation for groups of art, music, writing, fiction, and fashion devotees,[1] but a negative connotation for new religious, extreme political, questionable therapeutic, and pyramidal business groups.[2] For this reason, most, if not all, non-fan groups that are called cults reject this label.

Italics mine. The Catholic Church, being the largest Christian denomination in the world, can under no circumstances be described as "outside the mainstream."

Dude.It's called sattire.

And he is 100% on point. The Catholic church has done absolutely NOTHING about thousands of child molestation cases...it's despicable.

He's not even an atheist.

Yes he is.

Depends on how you define athiest.

I usually define words using definitions.

OK, you got me in the definition of athiest. But it's apparent by his words he does not believe in God. He may believe in a god...such as the god Maher...