“Real Time with Bill Maher: Ben Affleck, Sam Harris and Bill Maher Debate Radical Islam (HBO).” YouTube. YouTube, Oct.-Nov. 2014. Web. 12 Aug. 2015.
The unique attribute of theocracy in general is that people can have many perspectives on it. When people collide theocracy with politics it becomes chaos and people tend to think very conservative about it. In Bill Maher’s show he discuses how liberals fail when it comes to theocracy. Specifically he is referring to Islam and liberals are “offended” when people criticize Islam. In fact he says that people “treat it like it’s a minority”, but it shouldn’t because it’s the second biggest religion in the world. Throughout the video Bill Maher and Smith argue that Islam is a religion that asserts negative things such as violence and lack of open-mindedness. They also discuss that the idea of Islam is bad and that many Muslims are jihadists (Muslim extremists). The opposing side is Ben Affleck who considers Islam to be a peaceful religion and uses many examples to back up his arguments.
Furthermore Maher and Harris discuss how Islam has failed when it comes to free thinkers, freedom of sexuality, and women’s rights. Harris adds that “we have to be able to criticize bad ideas” and “Islam is the motherlode of bad ideas”. While the audience was clapping for the comment he had made, Maher was reiterating it’s “a fact” during the argument. This escalated the debate and Affleck responded, “racist” and “disgusting”. Affleck was astonished what Harris and Maher said; he gave them an absurd look. To neutralize the argument Harris made, Kristof who is a famous author states the “picture you are painting to some extent is true, but hugely incomplete”. He lists notable people who are Muslim’s such as Malala yousafzai, Mohammad Ali, and Rasheed Rahaman. He then conveyed that not everyone is getting the positive exposure of Islam and what it offers. Suddenly Affleck interrupts and says “what about more than a billion people who are not fanatical, who do not punish women, and just want to go to school”. Essentially Affleck is trying to convey that they are stereotyping Islam as violent religion that disapproves every liberal principle. Later Harris breaks the people of Islam into “three concentric circles”. In the center he says its “jihadists” who are Muslim extremists and want to “die trying”. Then he says the second circle Muslims that want change the things in their government by democracy and don’t want to “blow things up”. He also says that those two circles are “twenty percent of the Muslim world”. Finally in the third circle he says there are the “conservative Muslims” who say they are not represented by ISIS. However “they have troubling thoughts about homosexuals and women’s rights” and “they keep them immiserated”. Harris is portraying that most Muslims are conservative when it comes to sexuality and women’s rights.
Additionally Maher aggressively states “it’s the only religion that acts like a mafia that will [expletive] kill you if you say the wrong thing, draw the wrong picture, or write the wrong book.” Maher is employing that Islam has a dearth of tolerance and is a close-minded religion. He does not believe that Islam is a safe a religion and is ignited by fear. When Maher makes these unorthodox comments, Michael Steele who is a politician argues Maher is wrong. He states there “are other souls who stand up to these extremists”, but these “fighters” don’t get enough exposure. Affleck adds that ‘we have killed so many Muslims” and we should not be “exempted” from actions. He also says bluntly “I disagree with you what you have to say”. Affleck is unhappy about what Maher and Harris feel because he thinks there arguments are absurd.
Overall both sides did have proof, but Maher was stereotyping Islam as a violent religion. Towards the end Maher says “ninety percent believe that death is the appropriate way to leave the religion”. Ultimately Maher is uneducated about Islam and needs to acknowledge the fact Islam is based on principal roots.