The Inconsistent Skepticism of Bill Maher

by inkling 20 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  inkling

  Ok, So I recently watched the film Religulous, and found it to be very funny.
  
  However, I was quite disappointed to see Maher "confront" some Christians with
  the "fact" that the Jesus myth was borrowed pretty nearly whole-cloth from the
  Egyptian Horus myth.
  
  He lists, as fact:
  
  Horus was born on December 25th of the virgin Isis-Meri.
  His birth was accompanied by a star in the east...
  Which in turn, three kings followed to locate and adorn the new-born savior.
  At the age of 12, he was a prodigal child teacher.
  At the age of 30 he was baptized by a figure known as Anup and thus began his ministry.
  Horus had 12 disciples he traveled about with, performing miracles such as healing the sick and walking on water ...

  and so on...
  
  This list is... how do I put this delicately... oh ya, BULLSHIT!
  
  The most recent example of this awful argument being used was in the remarkably credulous
  conspiracy-theory flick Zeitgeist
  
  It has just about as much bullshit content as the arguments FOR religion that Maher is so
  skilled at mocking with hilarious style
  
  A BAD argument for a GOOD cause is worse that no argument at all.

  This, combined with his swallowing the stories of the anti-vaxxers, makes me wonder the following:
  
  How can Bill Maher be so smart and so dumb at the same time?

  [inkling]
• 

  cluless

  Why do you think he is so smart ?
• 

  Kinjiro

  I do not think he 'swallowed' the Horus Story, inkling... I think what he was trying to say is that most people would never even consider as true an egyptian myth like that but have no problem believing the same 'storyline' for Jesus...

  To me his point is valid... if you believe the BS from the bible and jewish lore, you might as well believe the BS from any so called sacred book from anyone... and be at least an 'equally ridiculous' Religulous
• 

  thebiggestlie

  i too found this quite puzzling. I think christians and JW's alike that are confronted with this kind of BS "argument" against christianity will feel only more empowered once they find out that its all BS. There faith strengthened, there sense of being "persecuted" boistered and your right a BAD argument for a GOOD cause is counterproductive and defeats the purpose of making the argument at all.

  Oh yeah and 90% of zeltegeist is tripe propaganda just as guilty as christian propaganda. Why would someone want to taint there cause by using sloppy twisted arguments that when fact checked are clearly innacurate. If i wanted to take in info like that i'd read a watchtower.

  tbl
• 

  inkling

  I do not think he 'swallowed' the Horus Story, inkling... I think what he was trying to say is that most people would never even consider as true an egyptian myth like that

  I think it is quite a stretch to say that was his intent.

  I'm not willing to grant that much benefit of the doubt.

  This list was presented in the film as fact.

  This was a simple failure of factchecking, A problem Maher
  has clearly had before.

  [inkling]
• 

  inkling

  Why do you think he is so smart ?

  Well, perhaps "clever" is a better word.

  You don't find any of his comedy clever?

  [inkling]
• 

  AllTimeJeff

  I think at best Maher provides a door to get people to wake up and think about their beliefs

  However, if one depends on Maher for real truth, well, god bless them! lol

  I think Maher is very funny and very insightful. Scholarship was never the point with this.

  A BAD argument for a GOOD cause is worse that no argument at all.

  Great point. However, if one does their own research, they will find out all sorts of things Maher didn't even have time to include. I think it a small problem. But you are right, fundies will use it to their advantage.
• 

  inkling

  A BAD argument for a GOOD cause is worse that no argument at all.

  Great point. However, if one does their own research, they will find out all sorts of things Maher didn't even have time to include. I think it a small problem. But you are right, fundies will use it to their advantage.

  And to be clear, I think this is a bad argument in a good film,
  not that the whole film is a bad argument.

  On the balance, I think the film does more good than harm, but the flaws
  still bug me, and cause me some doubt wether that is the case.

  [inkling]
• 

  compound complex

  http://www.kingdavid8.com/Copycat/JesusHorus.html

  Hello Inkling:

  In my researching the so-called parallels between Horus and Jesus, I chose this link to post. I'm learning not only to read (which is a great deal) carefully, but to compare and weigh the evidence for and against before drawing any conclusions.

  There's such a long ways to go ...

  CoCo
• 

  Leolaia

  The most recent example of this awful argument being used was in the remarkably credulous
  conspiracy-theory flick Zeitgeist....
  
  A BAD argument for a GOOD cause is worse that no argument at all.

  That was exactly my point the other day in the other Bill Maher thread:

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/170770/1/An-Absolute-Must-See

  A bad argument is a bad argument is a bad argument.

  I do not think he 'swallowed' the Horus Story, inkling... I think what he was trying to say is that most people would never even consider as true an egyptian myth like that but have no problem believing the same 'storyline' for Jesus...

  It is not swallowing the mythology of Horus as an article of faith that inkling was talking about. It's that he swallowed a modern myth ... the myth that such a "Horus story" even existed in Egyptian religion. What has been claimed about Horus in popular literature (e.g. that he was born in a manger, had twelve disciples, was baptized by "Anup the Baptizer", preached a Sermon on the Mount, was transfigured, was crucified, etc.) is completely foreign to any ancient belief about Horus. I might as well say that Spiderman was born in a manger, had twelve disciples, preached a Sermon on the Mount, was crucified, etc. and then claim that the story of Jesus was ripped off from the famous story of Spiderman. Funny thing is, I never saw any comic book or movie or cartoon that showed Spidey doing those things, just as there is not a scintilla of documentary evidence from ancient texts that shows that the Egyptians believed that Horus did those things.