Comedian Bill Maher had a pointed debate with PBS’s Charlie Rose when the two discussed the nature of Islam.
The HBO “Real Time” host on Monday blasted Mr. Rose, who tried to completely divorce the actions of groups such as Islamic State from their stated faith before he steered the conversation into a discussion on Christians.
“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,” Mr. Maher said, Real Clear Politics reported.
The PBS host then prompted Mr. Maher to explain why he thought the majority of Muslims condone violence.
“There was a Pew poll in Egypt done a few years ago — 82 percent said, I think, stoning is the appropriate punishment for adultery. Over 80 percent thought death was the appropriate punishment for leaving the Muslim religion. I’m sure you know these things. So to claim that this religion is like other religions is just naive and plain wrong. It is not like other religions,” Mr. Maher responded.
Mr. Rose countered that he did not believe the actions of terrorist groups were representative of the Islamic religion, adding, “I don’t think the Koran teaches them to do these kinds of things.”
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In a televised address to the nation Wednesday night, President Obama echoed Mr. Rose’s sentiments while discussing the threat posed to America by the Islamic State group.
“[The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] is not ’Islamic.’ No religion condones the killing of innocents, and the vast majority of ISIL’s victims have been Muslim,” said Mr. Obama. The president later went on to say that “ISIL is a terrorist organization, pure and simple, and it has no vision other than the slaughter of all who stand in its way.”
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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