Bill Maher Says Obama Is Really an Atheist, Mocks Hillary Clinton's Devotion to The Bible
HBO talk show host Bill Maher said in a Monday interview with the "Daily Show's" Jon Stewart that he does not find President Barack Obama's Christian faith to be genuine, arguing that he is really an atheist, and mocked former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's recent comments that the Bible is her biggest influence.
"You know who's a liar about this, is Obama," Maher said about the president's religion.
"Obama is always spouting spiritual [expletive] and I don't believe it for a second," he continued. "He's a drop-dead atheist, absolutely."
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As for Clinton, who earlier in June said while promoting her new book Hard Choices that "the Bible was and remains the biggest influence on my thinking," Maher said: "You couldn't find something more violent like Game of Thrones?" referring to the book series and HBO show of the same name.
Clinton further said about the Bible: "I was raised reading it, memorizing passages from it and being guided by it. I still find it a source of wisdom, comfort and encouragement." She added that she also has multiple books sitting on her bookshelf that are written by Republican authors, including John McCain's family memoir and autobiography Faith of My Fathers and George W. Bush's memoir Decision Points.
Obama has talked about his Christian faith in public on numerous occasions, and led the fifth annual Easter Prayer Breakfast at the White House in April, taking time to reflect on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the "glory of the resurrection."
"We're reminded how He loves us, so deeply, that He gave his only begotten Son so that we might live through Him. And in these Holy Days, we recall all that Jesus endured for us – the scorn of the crowds and the pain of the crucifixion, in our Christian religious tradition we celebrate the glory of the Resurrection – all so that we might be forgiven of our sins and granted everlasting life," Obama said.
When Stewart also pointed out that the president attended Rev. Jeremiah Wright's church in Chicago for years, Maher said: "He joined, but he never went. He joined because it was politically necessary."
Maher has made numerous anti-Christian comments on his show. Earlier this year, he called God a "psychotic mass murderer" for the flood as described in the biblical account of Noah's ark.
Several Christians have spoken out publicly against Maher, including a recent article from Father Robert Barron, founder of Word on Fire ministry and Rector/President of Mundelein Seminary near Chicago.
"Faith, rightly understood, does not involve any surrender of one's critical intellectual powers, nor is it tantamount to the acceptance of things on the basis of no evidence. What Bill Maher characterizes as 'faith' is nothing but superstition or credulity or intellectual irresponsibility. It is an ersatz 'knowing' that falls short of the legitimate standards of reason. Real faith is not infra-rational but rather supra-rational, that is to say, not below reason but above reason and inclusive of it," Barron wrote, saying that Maher does not understand neither faith nor the Bible.
