Bill Maher: Western culture isn't just different, it's better.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

On "The Daily Show," Jon Stewart relatively soft-pedaled his defense of fellow Comedy Central employees, "South Park's" Matt Stone and Trey Parker, against a group of Muslim critics. Over at HBO this weekend, though, Bill Maher wasn't holding anything back. On his show "Real Time With Bill Maher," the show's every-incendiary host opined during his segment "New Rules:"

"When South Park got threatened last week by Islamists incensed at their depiction of Muhammad, it served -- or should serve -- as a reminder that our culture isn't just different than one that makes death threats to cartoonists. It's better." In his defense of the First Amendment and other Americal civil liberties, Maher -- who made the film "Religulous" -- continued: "The Western world needs to make it clear: Some things about our culture are not negotiable. And can't change. And one of them is freedom of speech, Separation of church and state is another."

Completely spot-on observation about real differences in cultures, one that will not play well with PC police. Bill Maher is certainly no friend of religious people; and gives grief equally to Christianity, Judaism, Scientology, and Mormons as you will see. But he specifically singles out Isalm with the recent actions in Afganistan and the Taliban's attack on an all girls school.

Comments

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Speaking of other ideals that other cultures had first-the Chinese invented the idea of revolutions. And a way to justify the succession of one government to another. In the West the mere idea of a change to the system was unthinkable, which is why the string of disasters from 1789-1991 happened. I find it telling that Western society tried to keep putting the Djinn back in the bottle only to find out that surprise, surprise the monarchies were unable to stop the Revolutions.

This where the rest of the world had already had freedom for intellectuals to publish and in China at least the Jeffersonian ideal of how to refresh the tree of liberty since, oh.....the 11th Century BC......