Bill Maher Thinks G.K. Chesterton was Smart. But is Bill Maher?
7 August 2009, me @ 2045

He waited until the end of this diatribe on how stupid Americans are to throw this in:

A smart guy named Chesterton once said: “My country, right or wrong is a thing no patriot would ever think of saying… It is like saying ‘My mother, drunk or sober.’”

My Anglican and Roman Catholic friends know that G.K. Chesterton was one of the most eloquent defenders of Christianity has ever had against all comers–and that included atheists like Bill Maher.  People like Maher are generally reluctant to favourably quote any Christian author.

Bill Maher is either ignorant of who Chesteron was or desperate.  And New Atheism is supposed to deliver us from both.



4 Comments a “Bill Maher Thinks G.K. Chesterton was Smart. But is Bill Maher?”

1. Nicholas — 9 August 2009 @ 0243
   

   I’m guessing

2. Nicholas — 9 August 2009 @ 0259
   

   I’m guessing that Mr. Maher thinks of himself first and foremost not as an atheist but as a comedian. And as everyone knows, comedians don’t let silly things like integrity, scruples, or faction come between them and a cheap laugh.
   That being said, is it truly the opinion of the author that Maher is unintelligent? Or that he is ignorant of Chesterton’s ethico-political alignments? Or that drawing on Chesterton indicates desperation? I think not.

3. me — 9 August 2009 @ 0754
   

   Irrespective of their “day job,” atheists these days are loathe to refer to any Christian author as a “smart guy.” The whole line from people of Maher’s idea is that Christians are fundamentally stupid. From a logical standpoint that is an ad hominem argument, but that rule gets waived routinely these days by the self-proclaimed “rational” atheists.

   Although I agree that as a comedian he might say just about anything for, as you say, a cheap laugh, the piece I was quoting from wasn’t a comic type of piece. People grab quotes from all kinds of places which are disembodied from their original source. Something is amiss here.

4. Praying to Oneself | Positive Infinity — 8 September 2009 @ 0603
   

   [...] Praying to Oneself8 September 2009, me @ 06:00At the end of G.K. Chesterton’s (whom atheist Bill Maher thinks is a smart guy) classic Orthodoxy, he states that the one thing Jesus never showed in his earthly life is his [...]

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