HBO Real Time host Bill Maher, a self-proclaimed atheist, is often viewed as controversial among conservatives. Recently, however, it’s not conservatives who are up in arms over Maher’s latest comments. Instead, it's one of the most liberal colleges in the country – the University of California, Berkeley.
Maher is expected to speak at a graduation ceremony at Berkeley in December. It is this speaking engagement that has many students protesting Maher’s planned speech because of his “racist and bigoted” views on the Muslim faith. During the past few weeks, Maher’s views and comments on Islam have received much attention, mainly because those views do not coincide with the general “viewpoint” of liberals. Maher believes that Islam is unlike other religions because they advocate violence – such as stoning women or death to those who leave the religion.
In an effort to get Maher nixed from this speaking engagement, two Berkeley students even went so far as to create a petition on Change.org. At the time this was posted, there were 3,281 signatures. The petition is backed by the Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian Coalition (MEMSA), with an active member listed as one of the two authors. They claim:
“Bill Maher is a blatant bigot and racist who has no respect for the values UC Berkeley students and administration stand for. In a time where climate is a priority for all on campus, we cannot invite an individual who himself perpetuates a dangerous learning environment. Bill Maher’s public statements on various religions and cultures are offensive and his dangerous rhetoric has found its way into our campus communities.”
They then address the issue of freedom of speech:
“It’s not an issue of freedom of speech, it’s a matter of campus climate…The First Amendment gives him the right to speak his mind, but it doesn’t give him the right to speak at such an elevated platform as the commencement. That’s a privilege his racist and bigoted remarks don’t give him.”
They also provide citations of Maher’s “hate speech”:
“‘Islam is the only religion that acts like the mafia that will fucking kill you if you say the wrong thing’
‘Dealing w/ Hamas is like dealing w/ a crazy woman who's trying to kill u - u can only hold her wrists so long before you have to slap her”
“Talk to women who’ve ever dated an Arab man. The results are not good.”
‘The Muslim world has too much in common with Isis’”
Just a few weeks ago, Maher and actor Ben Affleck got into a heated discussion of Islam, with Affleck defending the religion, and Maher going after liberal hypocrisy:
"Liberals need to stand up for liberal principles. ... Liberal principles like freedom of speech, freedom to practice any religion you want without fear of violence, freedom to leave a religion, equality for women, equality for minorities including homosexuals -- these are liberal principles that liberals applaud for [pointing to his audience], but then when you say in the Muslim world this is what's lacking, then they get upset… It's the only religion that acts like the mafia that will f--king kill you if you say the wrong thing, draw the wrong picture, or write the wrong book."
Prior to Maher and Affleck’s scuffle, Maher was interviewed on Charlie Rose’s PBS program and was even more opinionated. He told Rose:
“Vast numbers of Christians do not believe that if you leave the Christian religion you should be killed for it. Vast numbers of Christians do not treat women as second class citizens. Vast numbers of Christians --…do not believe if you draw a picture of Jesus Christ you should get killed for it. So yes, does ISIS do Khmer Rouge-like activities where they just kill people indiscriminately who aren't just like them? Yes. And would most Muslim people in the world do that or condone that? No.”
Regarding Islamic beheadings, Maher went on to say:
“But I mean in Mecca where infidels, non-Muslims, are not even allowed in the holy parts of the city. I mean, right there, we don't have that example in other religions. They do behead people. Now if they were beheading people in Vatican City, which is the equivalent of Mecca, don't you think there would be a bigger outcry about it? So this is the soft bigotry of low expectations with Muslim people. When they do crazy things and believe crazy things, somehow it's not talked about nearly as much.”
During a recent episode of Real Time, Maher used the accusations of “Islamophobia” for fodder in light of the recent shooting in Ottawa. He joked:
“I'm sure you saw this, an attack on the Canadian Parliament. The shooter, we know now, was a convert to, uh, well, I don't want to be called a bigot, so I'll just say, a religion” he quipped.
He continued, “I don't know which one. That's how much of a liberal I am, because it's equally likely, could be any religion. You know what? I think it was the Amish. I think the guy was Amish.”
UC-Berkeley holds approximately 25,574 undergraduates and 10,125 graduate students, so it’s unclear if a petition containing 5,000 signatures will derail Bill Maher’s speaking engagement. One thing seems to be trending college campuses these days –those with different views other than the views of students are not welcome. In an era where freedom of speech can protect the true hate speech of Code Pink or the Westboro Baptist Church by allowing them to protest military funerals, or have a convicted cop killer speak to a college graduating class, Bill Maher’s “hate speech” seems insignificant in comparison.
