The panel on HBO’s Real Time With Bill Maher discussion got a bit heated when discussing the Orlando shooting. Host Bill Maher, who is critical of the illiberal values within the religion of Islam, said it’s time for liberals (and this isn’t the first time he’s made this claim) to stand up for our values. Those being the values of freedom of speech, separation of church and state, and the free exercise of religion.
He also noted the stark differences made between our leaders and that of the United Kingdom’s David Cameron after terrorist attacks, with the latter clearly stating that being neutral in these battles of ideas isn’t an option, and that we should stand up for our values.
Guest retired Army Col. Lawrence Wilkerson said that Muslims aren’t the only ones that shoot people, which Maher slammed a false equivalence, given that there have been many more Islamic-inspired shootings that Christian ones. Moreover, Christian extremists aren’t actively trying to get a hold of nuclear material.
Business Insider’s Josh Barro brought Robert Lewis Dear, Jr., who shot and killed three people at a Planned Parenthood center in Colorado Springs last November, which Maher responded by saying that his position isn’t that only bad things happen in the Muslim world, but we should focus on where the preponderance of these horrific events occur. It happens to settle “in this sphere…in the name of this religion.”