Bill Maher made the news by badmouthing the Catholic Church and the Pope. My mom always told me that the truth hurts. I think that Bill probably hit too close to home for a lot of Americans.
There have been all kinds of responses including the “Fire Bill Maher” website that popped up. Apparently, if Sharpton can get Imus fired for making degrading remarks about a basketball team, then the Catholics can get Bill fired for talking bad about the Pope and their church.
I heard a radio show today debate about this. Of course, all the people on the radio were on Bill’s side and couldn’t believe that the folks responsible for the website would even dare request such a thing. “What about freedom of speech?” they cried. “How can a religious organization possibly ask for Bill to be removed from the airwaves?” He’s on HBO anyway which is subscription based so that’s already kind of stupid.
But they are missing the biggest point of all. Religion is a chosen cult. These people chose to be Catholic. In my opinion you can bad mouth people all day long over something they chose to be. Imus was fired for racial comments. People can’t choose their race. Incidentally, children aren’t always allowed to choose their cult. At what age can a person be held accountable for the cult they have chosen?
Where do we draw the line with Freedom of Speech? Do we need to draw a line? I don’t agree with the whole Imus thing either. I’d even go out on a limb and say Sharpton is twice the racist that Imus will ever be. I would not have even heard about what Imus said if it weren’t for Sharpton.
My mom always said that sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me. But, apparently, if you pretend they hurt, you can get lots of free publicity and make yourself look like a big moron on TV!
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