Bill Maher's New Rule About Catholicism "The Cult" And The Pope

Bill Maher ended his latest episode of "Real Time" with a "new rule" about the pope. Pegged to the recently raided polygamist compound in Texas and the pontiff's visit to the US this week, it had his guests in stitches and left the audience gasping.

Watch:

Comments

[DRaymond]

I'm not really sure by what definition the Catholic Church is 'getting away with' anything. They are paying huge lawsuits and anybody with any sort of a substatnitated accusation against them has been tossed no matter how long ago.

The Catholic Church is getting all the bigger headlines but the fact is that pedophillia among priests is not significantly different than among the population in general and among other sects I'm not trying to excuse what happened, it is inexcusable, but for every multimillion dollar lawsuit and every Ted Haggard case that can't be ignored there are dozens of little congregations where the ministers quietly leave 'for personal reasons' and start up somewhere else. Its the same thing except that there is not big pockets central authority to sue and make headlines over. But it feels so good to bash the Catholics because it makes it easy to think that the same think couldn't happen in your church.

[nochickenhawk]

For one thing, they aren't being charged in the criminal courts where they belong.

[JohnFromCensornati]

It CAN'T happen in my church because I don't believe in imaginary friends.
The Catholic Church and its priests systematically covered up serious crimes.
*That's* what they are "getting away with*.
Interesting choice of words (tossed), but they should be tossed in prison.

[rzan]

The Catholic priest takes Holy Orders, thereby becoming like Christ. Would you trust your child alone with a Priest? I certainly would not. These are the men we are supposed to look up to. I just can no longer respect the priesthood, and to an even greater extent cannot respect the hierarchy.

[outsurgency]

Where do million plus year old fossils fit in the creation story anyway? Oh, they don't? That settles the whole issue then.

[babylonandon]

Actually, it says in Luke CH 2 that Jesus was circumcised (his flesh and blood shed as a promise to and by God) on the 8th day after his birth, his spiritual creation happening at the beginning of the universe.

Everyone is misreading the creation story.

Nothing in the Bible says the Universe can't be 14.5 billion years old (by man's clocks). God lifted Adam up from the dust (but what forms did the dust go thru before it became Adam?).

If I read Luke 2 right we are still in the 8th day as it doesn't say anything about when we get to the 9th day.

I mean how big a hint does God have to give you (the "a day to the Lord can be a thousand years and a thousand years can be just a day" part)?

[rixhex56]

As I was reading through the posts on this page I was mildly amused by those who still try to defend religion on some level. They can't come up with anything that actually DOES defend religion, because religion has so solidly been shown to be a scam that there simply is no defense of religion.

Perhaps they are nervous because society is ever-so-slowly beginning to marginalize religion. A greater percentage of Americans appear to consider themselves religious than do not, but many of them recognize the fallibility of organized religion. They pick and choose from dogma rather than swallowing the entire line.

This particular New Rule comically-poignantly points out the horrible double standard that allows some ORGANIZED religious nuts to get away with all manner of crimes, while simultaneously oppressing smaller religious organizations that do the exact same things, only on a smaller scale. These are, of course, pure, irrefutable facts, and therefore clear evidence that society is better off WITHOUT organized religion.

More and more we will see religion exposed for the scam that it is, and so those who actually DO believe it, naturally feel threatened. It is well known that there are few things that threaten someone more, or as much, as when their BELIEF SYSTEM is proven false.

The only thing not funny about this New Rule is that it is too true. If you are not threatened by that, it is funny; for others, it is not. Carry on, Bill.

[CactusTom]

As that great American philosopher Eric Hoffer would say, “men do not payer so much for their daily bread as for their daily delusion. The intellect may see the truth but the emotions demand a more rewarding story line, hence religion’s appeal and the reason fiction out sells non-fiction 10 to 1.

[aceholiday]

damn good man

[ChipOatley]

Bill's getting to be as interesting as Dennis Miller. No wonder I haven't seen Real Time in a long time.

[NicoleAnonymous]

I think his problem is he just doesn't have any original material and being funny is hard work so he relies on this instead.

Time for me to go anyway. The people here who hate religion aren't going to change their minds and people who believe it aren't either.

I'm going to finish the last chapter of "Born standing up" on the way home and Bill Maher could learn a few things from him about being funny especially when he writes about Dan Ackroyd getting thrown out of a moving car in the middle of NYC. So funny.

[rixhex56]

NicoleAnonymous,

In another post further down the thread you say, "I think Bill Maher has some major issues about religion that only a trained professional and some medication can solve..."

That prescription would better serve reglious people. Sending someone who is in touch with reality to "a trained professional" and clouding his/her mind with drugs would only perpetuate the problem.

Religion serves no purpose for society at large.

[xxwohxx]

I am not sure about the pope and the catholic religion but I myself believe that the Flying Spaghetti Monster is the true path to enlightenment and eternal life. Anyone who thinks otherwise is blind. The FSM does not teach violence, hatred, or pedophilia.

Maher doesn’t even bash the FSM because he knows the truth.

[dsm]

There's no reason to bash FSM because he knows it's a joke that targets creationism.

[rixhex56]

"Joke" is in the eye, or the ear, of the beholder or listener...

[clevelandtocali]

Pastafarians UNITE!!

[RWS1948]

Bill is spot on.

[roboman]

Amanda85, it's funny that you left a great many murdering dictators off your list...some who I am guessing were Catholic but are loved by the Left such as Castro...and others who I'm sure weren't Catholic but leaned WAY to the Left such as Mao and Stalin...actually, let's not leave out all the other non-Catholic Soviet and Eastern European murdering dictators who ran Eastern Europe nearly into the ground and made whole nations of people miserable spreading the wonders of Communism. Then there's Saddam or our friend in Damascus or.....I could go on but I think we've shown the idiocy of your point.

[amanda85]

I guess you have no idea what a **FASCIST** dictator is.
Which is really unsurprising...

[aceholiday]

you do realize politics is more than a 2 dimensional spectrum right?

[LITU]

I just hope he brings back "I can't even see my balls," Jason Alexander. He was hilarious, and helped keep the stumbling Maher near center.

[InTheSouth]

Long past time for humans to grow up and get with the real world. There are no supernatural entities and no human has or ever had supernatural powers. A cult is a cult whether it is new or old. Cults are mind control machines. People who join them are just gullible, stupid and/or delusional. The hat was way too much however. I can't believe any man would actually put that on his head. LOL. The man should be arrested and tried for crimes against mankind. Liked the way Bill put it all out there. Funny but oh so true.

[Virago55]

–noun a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings.

—Synonyms Atheist, agnostic, infidel, skeptic refer to persons not inclined toward religious belief or a particular form of religious belief. An atheist is one who denies the existence of a deity or of divine beings. An agnostic is one who believes it impossible to know anything about God or about the creation of the universe and refrains from commitment to any religious doctrine. Infidel means an unbeliever, especially a nonbeliever in Islam or Christianity. A skeptic doubts and is critical of all accepted doctrines and creeds.

I have never been able to believe in any sort of religion. I've tried, but none of it made sense to me and I thought hard about it. I would watch others so involved and never could figure it out. I even watched the evangelicals on TV like Jim and Tammy and Jan and pink haired Paula, but I seen it as such a facade for a way to make money and use people. I never trusted anyone that used the word "Christian" in their ads for their services (i.e. plumber, electrician, etc.) to me it was a "red flag". Also, I would watch my own family say and practice their religion, but live another. So I thank gawd I don't have to use it as an excuse like so many do.

[jinjinpinti]

I saw a bumper sticker on a car today that read: "Militantly Agnostic!" Had a good laugh.

[Stephen420]

I have been scrolling down through these comments and I can't believe no one has pointed out that the Catholic religion is not the same thing as the crimes of its priests, anymore than it's the same thing as the crimes of its lay members. This isn't even reductionist, because there is NO intersection between the content and practice of the religion and the sins of its members. It's amazing how stupid people are about religion.

[LBKN]

Stephen420

you said, "It's amazing how stupid people are about religion."

I believe you have made the same point as Bill.


you invalidated the word of God
for the sake of your tradition.
You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:
'THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS,
BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.
'BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME,
TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.'" Mt 15:6-9

[Stephen420]

I'm not sure what all that means, but it's not my tradition.

[nunzia]

Yuk.
Go away.
Get thee to a nunnery.

[amanda85]

"no one has pointed out that the Catholic religion is not the same thing as the crimes of its priests"

That is pretty much like saying that the nazis weren't guilt of anything, except for Adolf Hitler and a few of his henchmen. BTW, it's no coincidence that almost **ALL** fascist leaders in history were devout Catholics: Mussolini, Hitler, Franco, Batista, Videla, Marcos, Pinochet, Duvalier, Noriega, Pahlavi (Shah), Salazar, Cerezo, Somoza etc. It's also no coincidence that the Catholic church was always a strong supporter of these very evil people...

[Stephen420]

No it isn't like the nazis. The nazis were around for about 20 years. The Catholic ch. has been around everywhere for more or less 2 millennia and history, full of criminals, was shaped by its words and its liturgy for a thousand years. The words of the Catholic religion have inspired great artists and heroic saints. It's like the Constitution. It's written down. You can read it. Nothing in there about pedophilia. Nothing in there that would make anybody a criminal. Criminals make themselves.

And Hitler and Mussolini were not "devout catholics." You can't just improvise history.

[AmbivalentGuy]

Thanks for this.
The broad brush approach will work on any large organization.
Cops, teachers, psychiatrists, religious leaders of ALL denominations, etc.
(BTW - not religious at all, rereading I found that I had written "demoninations")

[NicoleAnonymous]

Although I think Bill Maher has some major issues about religion that only a trained professional and some medication can solve, I'm not sure I agree with you that there isn't any connection between the content of relgion and the behavior of it's members such as:

1) Fanatic Muslims who think "Jihad" means killing Americans - that is ALL about religion

2) Zionest settlers who steal land because they claim they're the "chosen" people and G_d promised it to them.

3) Crazy people who kill people who perform abortions because they think the Bible says all murder is bad.

Some things about religion need to change - those texts were written thousands of years ago before abortion even existed. But my point is that maybe all those people are just crazy anyway - maybe religion is an excuse to do bad things that they would want to do on their own. I don't know the answers but I don't think it's as simple as Moher and Hitchens make it.

[JohnFromCensornati]

Yes, it is.
There is NO evidence at all of the existence of a god.
And I don't have to prove a negative.

[nunzia]

It is precisely as simple as Maher and Hitchens say it is.

[JohnFromCensornati]

Yeah, stupid enough to still belong to and donate to the catholic church.

[NicoleAnonymous]

You seem really angry. And my point about respecting other people's opinion is the same even if they think I'm going to Hell because I don't have the same beliefs as them.

I used to be close to some born-again Christians and they were always trying to get me to convert because they were worried that I was going to Hell if I died before converting and I always told them that wasn't going to happen and I know they were only concerned because they really did believe people would go to Hell if they didn't convert. It doesn't make them bad people. You can have different beliefs from someone and still respect their right to have those opinions.

[Stephen420]

Another difference between the Catholic church and a cult is that the Catholic religion is 2,000 years old and has been, and is practiced around the world for many centuries. I am not quite sure why The Huffington Post felt compelled to post this on their website. It's not only offensive, it's creepy. I have to say, this is one angry man.

[JohnFromCensornati]

The definition of "cult" doesn't come from the pope.
You should look in the dictionary.

[NicoleAnonymous]

They do it for a couple reasons:

1) They know "shocking" headlines or topics will make people click on the stories and keep coming back to read responses. This increases their pageviews and they can charge more for ads by telling companies "We had 5 million pageviews last month" so we're increasing our ad rates. It's just a marketing tool to increase profits.

2) They confuse "shocking" people or making people angry with real writing or comedy - if you haven't noticed the quality of both is decreasing drastically on all forms of media - print, TV, online, movies. I used to watch horror movies that give me nightmares that didn't have any blood or gore - now they rely on torture porn because the writers simply can't write anymore. This is the same thing - they're incapable of discussing topics intelliegently so they try to "shock" people or make people angry.

Anyway that's only my opinion and of course I don't really have a right to criticize anyone because I don't have any talent for writing or comedy or else I'd be doing it intead of just complaining about it here.

[Ratprick]

Nicole is apparently not shocked by child molestation. Nice. I'd remain anonymous too if I held your views.

[amanda85]

Actually, when it comes to creepy, the Catholic church takes the cake...

[Ratprick]

Child molestation is only one of the many crimes of the Catholic Church. Murder, torture, thievery of the highest order and warmongering are just a few of the others.

2,000 years is a long time for an organized criminal organization to exist. It's a tribute to their PR department that morons like you still believe.

You apparently weren't attractive enough for your priest to molest you.

[NicoleAnonymous]

Does anyone else just get really tired of all these overpaid white men on TV who are so "brilliant" and "shocking" but they just regurgitate the same material all the time? We get it - Bill Maher hates religion and especially Catholicism. Stephen Colbert is making fun of crazy Republican talk show hosts. Jon Stewart does...actually I don't know what he does to earn millions but I'm sure it not that original.

Does Bill Maher think he is shocking anyone? I just think these guys say things that they know will get them attention and publicity and it never fails but it's only compensating for a lack of original material.

We get it - the Catholic church is horrible. The Pope used to be a Nazi. They all hate gays and women and they abuse children. We get it. We get it. We get it.

Now please come up with some new material - because comedy isn't about "shocking" people. It's about making people laugh. Someone bring back the comediens who were actually original - please, I'm begging you.

[Ratprick]

Nicole, the Child Molester Apologist, says stop talking about how the Pope condoned and enabled priests and bishops to screw our children. That's not important. What's important is that you give all you can to the collection plate so that the Church can buy some more real estate and some gold plated statues of past child molesters, torturers and saints.