I admit, I thought it might be fun tonight to sit and watch the Academy Awards. Having just finished watching Sunset Boulevardon TCM, I was filled with glamorous Hollywood nostalgia. Silly me, for thinking I’d find it at the Oscars…
Instead, we get Bill Maher and his bigoted, ignorant statements on religion. Now, I respect Mr. Maher as a person and his right to have and share his opinion. His opinion that it is our belief in God that is responsible for the majority of the injustice and devastation in our world.
Well Mr. Maher, fine, let’s forget about religion. Just for you, sir, we’ll cut it right out. And in turn, let us end the multitude of good works religious people and organizations have offered to the needy through the years, often at the expense of their own lives. Let’s let alcoholics languish in darkness because they can find no power greater than the bottle. Let’s tell grieving widows that their spouses are lost forever. Let’s tell our children there is no right or wrong in the universe, and ignore the blatant increase in school yard bulling, drug abuse and depression. And let’s tell them there was never a man who dared to stand up to a corrupt society, teach compassion and love and ultimately give his life to save us. Yes, better to tell them it’s all a fairy tale.
Gee, what a great world we have created without religion. But at least we’ve put an end to oppression and war right? Wrong. Mr. Maher seems to have forgotten the multitude of greedy, power hungry atheistic dictatorships that have come to power and destroyed the lives of their people just in the 20th century alone.
I think what Mr. Maher needs to realize is that it’s not religion or athiesm that’s at fault. It’s PEOPLE. We are all imperfect, all capable of good and evil. If we could just stop judging each other for two minutes, perhaps we’d find some common ground and truly find some peace in this world we all share.
In another matter, I admire Sean Penn for standing up for same sex marriage rights during his acceptance speech, hoping we’d someday finally realize that we are all created equal. I only wish as much attention was given to the rights of the unborn at such an award show. Sadly, our great society still has a long way to go…
There were rumors floating around that the Red Carpet event would be cut this year or next, because it was getting higher ratings than the actual awards show. Is this how the Oscars planned to gain new viewership? Good job, Oscars…I for one, will think twice before watching again.
Rights and Compassion 