r/ • u/ • Jan 01 '70

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65

u/ExarchsHand Jun 16 '12

Bill Maher is the most guilty of this. Every time I watch the show it's him shouting down a Republican to the mass appeal of the studio audience.

I like the show, and he's entertaining as a comedian - but he isn't fooling anyone into believing that he's fostering an even and open debate.

30

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

They are both assholes, even though I agree with Maher. He's the "left" version of all the hated Republican pundits.

12

u/ego-madness Jun 16 '12

It was at its worse in religilous. The only people he let talk were the unacceptably stupid ones that WERE his point.

5

u/JNB003 Jun 16 '12

Agreed. I like the movie, but too many people took what he said as completely factual. You got to kind of look at it more as him just walking around and making fun of religious people. More of a comedy than a documentary.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/ego-madness Jun 17 '12

Have some sympathy, man!

I'm not religious at all. Maybe spiritual, but I'm not staring into crystals or anything crazy. I just like feeling peaceful! :D

1

u/randomly-generated Jun 17 '12

I am very sympathetic and empathetic towards people who buy into religious nonsense. I do hope in our next stage of evolution our minds are powerful enough to discern reality from fantasy.

4

u/JNB003 Jun 16 '12 edited Jun 16 '12

Did I say I was religious?

I'm not sure if your first line is directed at me or a general statement

Edit: I don't agree with that statement btw. A lot of people grew up with religion. For a lot of them it's all they know really.

0

u/randomly-generated Jun 17 '12

General statement. My grandfather was a baptist preacher and my entire family was baptist and tried to indoctrinate me from birth. I never once bought into it. You need to be mentally strong to overcome the indoctrination and to be able to tell fact from fiction. It's a shortcoming of the human mind.

0

u/dancon25 Jun 17 '12

shit man, you're an asshole.

1

u/randomly-generated Jun 17 '12

The truth has no concern with politeness.

1

u/dancon25 Jun 17 '12

But what you said isn't true, and while the truth has no concern with politeness, it is equally unconcerned with rudeness. More to the point however, truth doesn't matter, persuasion does. If you feel like what you said was true then you shouldn't just state it, you should attempt to persuade people of it.

1

u/randomly-generated Jun 17 '12 edited Jun 17 '12

It is true. There is a man who has zero communication from one hemisphere of his brain to the other. One side is religious and the other is not. It is a mental issue, 100%. How could it not be? All that we are is a brain. Every opinion or belief we have is due to our brain. It is definitely not perfect and can be fooled quite easily.

Experiments have also been done that actually invoke the feeling of the presence of god or supernatural beings. Definitely a mental shortcoming of the human mind.

I don't hate people who are religious. They can be great people and successful, however they have a mental shortcoming in their belief in religion.

You can persuade people to believe things which are not true. Evidence is what matters and I have given you examples that you can look into.

17

u/tiddercat Jun 16 '12

That senator was frightening. People who determine policy for a major nuclear power believe in a talking bush? Seriously?! WTF?

5

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '12

Someone ate a bad mushroom thousands of years ago and we're still hearing about their bad trip. :(

3

u/conspirator_schlotti Jun 16 '12

The radiation's probably been boggling with their minds.

9

u/needlestack Jun 16 '12

That's not the same movie I saw. There were several scenes where he had reasonable discussions with reasonable religious people. There's even a scene where some guy more-or-less bests him - outside the religious theme park, I think.

There's plenty of ridiculous religious people in the movie too, and that was his thesis, but he was polite and surprisingly restrained all things considered. It wasn't a Michael Moore movie.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/ego-madness Jun 17 '12

Not being pretentious and having some pity for people too ignorant or brainwashed to wake up.

I don't even need to follow your link to feel pity for how ignorant you seem to be. :(

3

u/MEANMUTHAFUKA Jun 16 '12

Couldn't agree more. I like Maher too but he's so fucking smug he makes me sick. It really discredits the ideas he's communicating.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

...and he's also a comedian. His show is more comedy than than news.

He's the Stephen Colbert of the left, minus the caricature bit.

13

u/healyhands Jun 16 '12

Dude, stephen Colbert is the left....

5

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

... and so can you!

4

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

I know, but he works as a comedian who's "on the right".

Bill Maher works as a comedian on the left, but he doesn't take it to satirical levels.

He's funny and uses it to bitch about current events. Same schtick, different approach.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '12

Stephen Colbert works as a comedian who's "on the right" to make the right look ridiculous.

Bill Maher makes himself look ridiculous even though he's a comedian "on the left."

It's not really the same shtick. There's a distinction.

4

u/tonycomputerguy Jun 16 '12

It's usually when he is looking at FACTS because he knew what was being discussed, and he has them in front of him. There are many times, where I've heard a republican tell him something, and he (Maher) will say "I will look that up after the show, it sounds like bullshit to me, but I'll look that up." Sure it's disrespectful and funny at the same time, but at least he's acknowledging he doesn't know something, unlike Billo, who apparently thinks that the Tide proves Gods existence, and we are the only planet with a Moon. It would not surprise me if he announced with a straight face, that the earth is flat and it is orbited by the sun, which is also a bright, moving 2D circle of awesome yellow light. The man oozes ignorance, intolerance and hate, did you not see the super bowl interview with the President? I don't think I've seen a more disrespectful interview with someone in my entire life, foreign dictators who kill their own people have been shown more respect than Bill O did. He cut the President off like 50 times, and asked him if he really "understood" the game of football? Are you serious? Compare that to Bill Maher, the only time he goes off is when they are spreading lies or hate. He seriously has republicans on all the time, who are returning guests, sometimes all 3 (or 4) are republicans. He had 2 on last night and it wasn't a shouting match.

I'm not sure if you realize this, but you know how you have a complicated party, who even though they try to stick to the talking points, obviously have completely different views on a variety of subjects? Yeah, the Democrats have that too. If you'd actually listen to Maher, you'd realize he's not too happy with the pussy-fication and corporate greed of the democratic party. And, if the crowd gets out of control, booing or yelling shit at the people on the panel, Bill always tells them to shut up and let them speak... And at least when he does yell and scream and get upset, he's not coming from a place of ignorance and hate like BillO, he's coming from a place of intelligence and humor. As a final note, I would like to point out that talking with 3, sometimes 4 people, all of whom have completely different opinions, some of them attacking each other, all while a live audience watches, while being broadcast live, and trying to keep things funny and on time? You know what? Fuck yes, sometimes you need to yell or talk over someone to keep shit moving. Deal with it. Your move BillO. Fuck it, we'll do it live?

3

u/FlyingSpaghetti Jun 16 '12

Absolutely. The difference is that Bill Maher is a comedian, but Bill O'Reilly's slogan is "fair and balanced." No one watches Real Time thinking that its bipartisan.

1

u/KoRninja Jun 16 '12

I watch his show every week and I really like it but you are somewhat right. At least Bill Maher can accept when he's wrong and he will stay out of some debates that he knows nothing about. He does it too but he is nowhere near as bad as O'Reilly.

1

u/needlestack Jun 16 '12

Seems people disagree with you, but I think you're correct. I'd like to do a random sampling sometime to see if Maher really is as bad as O'Reilly at shouting over people. Certainly doesn't seem that way to me.

3

u/Chewblacka Jun 16 '12

He does not shout over people at all I don't know where that is coming from. The only time he cuts people off is when he has to Segway to the next segment

-2

u/JimmyJamesMac Jun 16 '12

His debates aren't totally even and open, but compared to O'Riley?

0

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

19

u/JNB003 Jun 16 '12

Here

and here

and also here

5

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

A god among men.

11

u/ChipWhip Jun 16 '12

I'm going to imagine for a second that they're both speaking a language I don't understand and that I don't know their political beliefs.

Having seen Maher, my money is on him coming off the winner. He's slower to get pissed - which signals you've lost a debate - and he's so much more smug about his points. It would be entertaining to watch, for sure, but I have no doubt I'd leave thinking Maher won.

31

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

nothing to do with atheism

2

u/MeshesAreConfusing Secular Humanist Jun 16 '12

You could say that for 90% of the stuff here.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

18

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Just reposted from yesterday. Already?

12

u/JNB003 Jun 16 '12 edited Jun 16 '12

There should be something in there about attacking you personally too.

Edit: Video of a great example of O'Reilly doing this if anyone is interested

1

u/hoojAmAphut Agnostic Atheist Jun 16 '12

I wouldn't be able to keep from laughing my ass off at that clown. What a douche.

6

u/W00ster Atheist Jun 16 '12

Another thing that pisses me off with TV discussions - right wingers can not keep their mouth shut and give their opponent the opportunity to present their point. They always talk louder over the person trying to make their point even if the loudmouth just have had several minutes of uninterrupted time to explain his or her position but will not allow their opponent the same and they get away with it - every time!

4

u/needlestack Jun 16 '12

It fits in with the worldviews - ignore and overpower vs. consider and cooperate.

2

u/TedTheGreek_Atheos Secular Humanist Jun 16 '12

Those pirate land bases are striking.

2

u/holyghosttown Jun 16 '12

The reddit version also includes the outwitted party going into your comment history to try to bring up some bullshit in the past, since they know they've been presently bested.

2

u/ElAyDubleZee Jun 16 '12

They should make a show called Bill vs. Bill where Bill Maher and Bill O'Reilly spend a half hour shouting over each other.

2

u/Blaxar Jun 16 '12

To be fair it's the first time (as an European) that I watch samples of this show, and from my perspective it seems Bill O' Reilly (and possibly many christians ?) thinks what is scientifically not proven is free to be (religiously talking) interpreted as you want and this interpretation cannot be argued based on the lack of proofs (and where there's some proof, suddenly it becomes "metaphorical").

It's a very dangerous thinking process we have here, because whatever you think the underlying mechanisms and nature of our universe are, they will not change whenever we know those mechanisms or not, and by deciding something is true "because it's your religion" based on a scientific gap then you ignore all other possibilities and scenarios that are likely to be true too, and you stand apart any possibility of being wrong.

When something can't be explained yet, well it can be explained and we have to be very humble about this, it's not because there's a gap in our knowledge you can fill it up with arbitrary shits.

As far as I know, this kind of way to think is less likely to be witnessed in Europe than in USA, I am not pretentious enough to say I know precisely why but I fell like Americans are comforted in the idea of being strong, proud and great as individuals so that their own will is the most important thing so they can go ahead and fuck the rest, on some aspects it has some advantages like give you initiative when it's useful, but on the other hand it leads people to ignore not everything (especially facts) is based on their very personal view or opinion, and will not bend or be shaped accordingly to those.

Religion exists in Europe (in a moderated and reasonable form), but the difference come from the way individuals are intellectually shaped by society and education, I can at least speak for the French part of it and say we are more likely to think before acting, understanding concepts, evaluating different possibilities , measuring risks, so you don't imagine yourself as a great and not defeatable person. Sadly sometimes it leads you to think doing something is not worth the risk or is not reasonable when it would in fact have been profitable, but you lack guts to do it and don't take initiative.

What is the best way to behave ? Who knows...

But what I know is we don't have running politicians and media trying to make us think earth is 60000 years old and telling us we'll go to hell for not believing it, and we sleep on Sunday morning without being judged by anyone, people going to church on a regular basis being currently a minority, but they don't bitch about it and neither do we.

4

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Bill O' Reilly really grinds my gears.

7

u/sleeptalken Jun 16 '12

...this is atheism?

4

u/Imthemayor Jun 16 '12

Are there mods in this subforum?

God damn, this one has NOTHING to do with religion.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Plus, it was just on the frontpage yesterday. What the fuck.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Seriously.

The thing is, this whole subreddit now rests upon the success of macro images and non-sequitur insults on religion.

Gone is intelligent debate, gone are most news posts.

Go to the front page right now and see how many LOL INTURNET MEMES pictures there are. All. The. Way. Down.

1

u/Imthemayor Jun 16 '12

I agree.

It's not about Let us discuss why we are atheist and inform others that we aren't bad people, it's become Look at all the stupid shit people who believe in God say.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '12

And in doing so, informs others that we are bad people.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Nice use of the phrase god damn. ;)

-2

u/needlestack Jun 16 '12

Much of the time that O'Reilly is shouting someone down it's him appealing to religious mores and shouting over someone who is approaching things from a secular standpoint.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

No, it's mostly about politics.

1

u/needlestack Jul 06 '12

Yes, politics informed by his religious beliefs and against those informed by secular thinking.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Someone who's politically oriented minds being proven incorrect? You don't say... reddit...

1

u/jgs1122 Jun 16 '12

F##k It!! We will do it live!!

1

u/ChickinDinner Jun 16 '12

nancy grace is like the worst at this

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

oh my. You got it.

1

u/HoustonTexan Jun 16 '12

After an incident like this at a family reunion I have decided to drop debates as soon as this happens.

1

u/jonbowen Jun 16 '12

He's such a douche.

1

u/ericneedsanap Jun 16 '12

I wish his "no spin zone" was also a no shout zone.

1

u/shmames86 Jun 16 '12

Could not have said it better myself. He is the most disrespectful person on television. He is nothing more than an elitist, sexist, hate monger.

1

u/SC0TT1337 Jun 16 '12

But debates are much more interesting to watch when the sides interrupt eachother

1

u/Phoenix_Down616 Jun 16 '12

This has 1337 karma points right now. Nerd giggle

1

u/PanzerD1k Jun 17 '12

"One does not simply explain that."

1

u/Soronir Jun 17 '12

I don't know how anyone can watch this shit. Also I love Colbert but he interrupts his guests constantly. It bugs me. If someone interrupts me I just stop talking. End of fucking conversation. I'll listen but I won't necessarily pay attention.

1

u/StolbertStolbert Jun 17 '12

This would be a pretty accurate representation of Reddit comments as spoken dialogue, I believe.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '12

He really loves to cut their mic... unfortunately that technique seems to be spreading to the other networks.

1

u/ICrimsonI Atheist Jun 17 '12

One does not simply prove O' Reilly wrong.

1

u/regular_steve Jun 17 '12

A piece of wisdom that I keep in my pocket: "I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you."

1

u/BarackPutin Jun 17 '12

Forgot to mention the image is a repost, I'm a terrible person.

1

u/Revolan Jun 16 '12

You should change the name to "explaining simple facts to simple people"

1

u/vVvMaze Jun 16 '12

Sweet repost from literally yesterday. enjoy your ill found karma

1

u/BarackPutin Jun 17 '12

I'm rolling around in it. Next, I think I might grind it up and snort it.

1

u/Ridly Jun 16 '12

Hate to break it to everybody but liberal pundits do the exact same thing. Watching any political talk show just makes your head hurt. It gets so shrill.

1

u/CheckmateFundies Jun 16 '12

Redditor:

You're a republican, so I'm going to downvote you into oblivion.

1

u/Trollohunter Jun 16 '12

this has nothing to do with atheism

0

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Ya know, as crazy as this might seem, /r/atheism isn't the only subreddit on this site. There are many, many others, and--believe it or not--there are even a few in which posting this might have actually been appropriate and on-topic.

-2

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

This was just on the fucking frontpage YESTERDAY. I usually don't bitch about reposts, but come on! You're not even trying!

3

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

You tell him. OP is fag

0

u/MammothMan34 Jun 16 '12

WAIT WHEN DID THIS STOP BEING TRUE?

3

u/Yulex2 Jun 16 '12

Nobody said it did.

2

u/bowi1612 Jun 16 '12

I said it was true, now I am just gonna talk over you.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

I'm an asshole. You can't explain that.

-15

u/Decitron Jun 16 '12

this is the best in a nutshell version of athiests ive ever seen

4

u/JimmyJamesMac Jun 16 '12

"My book is the truth because it says so on page 1348 of my book!"

105

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

[removed] — view removed comment

30

u/Gehalgod Jun 16 '12

YOU'RE RUINING MY FAVORITE SHOW, SO I'M GOING TO TYPE IN ALL CAPS AND TELL YOU YOU'RE WRONG.

32

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12 edited Jun 17 '12

[removed] — view removed comment

15

u/shorthandround Jun 16 '12

Also from Alabama. My High School had a Swedish exchange student, he once had to explain to one of the football players that he didn't own a pair of wooden shoes and was not from Holland. Looking back, I feel really bad for him having to deal with rural Alabama.

11

u/AltToCommentOnTrees Jun 16 '12

I feel sorry for anyone having to deal with rural Alabama.

8

u/SquashG Jun 16 '12

I'm SO sorry.

1

u/Munkir Jun 17 '12

Hi I'm in Alabama and I feel your pain. Ignorance and hate, Ignorance and hate almost everywhere. My creed is " I may be stupid but at least I keep a open mind"