Bill Maher’s View of Mormons and Evangelicals

Did you watch the Larry King Show last night? If you did, you were treated to an hour of humor by Bill Maher, a sharp wit and a good comedian. But much of his humor yesterday was disparaging and witless.

Several times, Maher could not help but to get off on a tangent. When Larry King asked him what he thought of Mitt Romney, Maher’s response was that, “Mormons have always been shape shifters.” King had not asked him what he thought about Mormons, but what he thought about Romney. The question was politically oriented – nothing else.

Maher could not resist the temptation to twist the answer into a broadside aimed at all Mormons. Shape shifter is a derogatory term meaning that a person does not stay put on solid ground, but moves about constantly, hoping to present an illusive, unsteady appearance.

Maher’s prejudice was not reserved only for Mormons. When asked by King to comment about Mike Huckabee, Maher wasn’t too enthusiastic about him either, indicating that anyone who believes in “The old book of Jewish fairy tales” doesn’t suit his fancy either.

Maher offered his philosophy that, “I think all religions are cuckoo, but I’m not a bigot.” He went on to say, “You can’t shut me up by using the word ‘faith’ because I think it’s dumb.”

During that entire hour, King did not once ask Maher his opinion of the candidates’ faith. I don’t know why Maher thinks that someone is trying to shut him up by using the word faith. Certainly it didn’t happen during last night’s interview. Larry King needs to get a grip, control the format of his show, and not act like such a wimpy host when one of his guests gets so far out of line.

Note: 06 July 2006 Photo by Jesse Grant - © WireImage.com - Image courtesy WireImage.com