The Wisdom of Bill Maher

[James J Skach]

The source of evil isn't religion, it's capitalism!
:rotfl:

[droog]

"The source of evil isn't capitalism, it's religion!"

You're right; sounds pretty silly.

[James J Skach]

"The source of evil isn't capitalism, it's religion!"

You're right; sounds pretty silly.

You might not believe this, but I agree.  They both sound silly.

[droog]

You might not believe this, but I agree.  They both sound silly.

I'll believe it if you say so, but who was saying either? Apart, perhaps, from Bill Maher.

[James J Skach]

Uhhh...Terry Eagleton? I'm sorry, I inferred that your quote of him meant you supported the information in the quote.

[droog]

Uhhh...Terry Eaglton? I'm sorry, I inferred that your quote of him meant you supported the information in the quote.

Hmmm...it seems to me Eagleton isn't saying anything of the sort.

as far as I know his anti-religious diatribes have never been matched in his work by a critique of the global capitalism that generates the hatred, anxiety, insecurity and sense of humiliation that breed fundamentalism.

That's to say, Dawkins accounts not at all for the dynamic of global political economy, in which he is certainly not alone.

Instead, as the obtuse media chatter has it, it’s all down to religion.

And there you have it (my emphases).

[James J Skach]

Correct. But I think Eagleton is saying "Hey, it's not religion, it's capitalism." Or at the very least, "Hey, it's not all religion.  Capitalism makes people do Evil things too!"

At least, that was my read of his comment.

[droog]

Or at the very least, "Hey, it's not all religion.  Capitalism makes people do Evil things too!

I think it's more like 'you'll never understand ideology until you understand material reality.'

But, for the sake of argument, what exactly is wrong with your formulation of what Eagleton says? It's simplistic, but it expresses some truth.

[RPGObjects_chuck]

Hmmm...in 2004, about 2.4 million people died...total..in the US. So you're tossing out the idea that the Us diet is responsible for..what...80% of deaths?

(you used the term "millions", which implies multiple millions, which means you're actually implying 80% is your bottom ratio).

Yes I clearly mispoke.

Still, what would you say, 500,000? I think CDC lists 250K yearly from "physical inactivity".

Add some from column B (heart disease), a healthy dose from column C (high blood pressure) and a WHOLE lot from column D (diabetis) and I dont think doubling that number would be out of bounds.

Still, even if we go with the bare minimum, that's a whole lot more dangerous than, say, planes crashing into buildings.

Chuck

[Dominus Nox]

Back to Bill Maher, I do like some of his views but find others to be intolerable, and he's a bit of a hypocrite at times.

But all in all, I'll generally listen to him because in most cases the wheat outweighs the chaff.