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Bill Maher - Misogynist or Misanthrope?

Ambud Buddhist Blog

I understand that Bill Maher is a comedian and as such is generally given some leeway as far as stupid comments are concerned. Is this guy even funny anymore? Maybe a better question is, was this guy ever funny.

Bill Maher sits in his self proclaimed ivory tower looking down on humanity while sharing his jaded, hateful opinions with an audience that is more likely viewing to see how Misog-o-diculous or Misanthro-diculous he’ll be, rather than for real comedy.
I found this article on the Huffington Post and I’m including part of it here because I think his comments show how failing to understand that our biggest enemy is ego, help contribute to Bill’s unfortunate misery and ignorance.

But before Tiger moves on there’s one more apology he really should make, and that’s to Buddha, for dragging him into this mess and proving once again, that whenever something unspeakably tawdry, loathsome and cheap happens, just wait a few days. Religion will make it worse.
Now usually, when famous cheaters are looking for public redemption, they go to Jesus, but Tiger went old school, and claimed that sleeping with 2/3 of the waitresses in America had made him a failure as a Buddhist. He said Buddhism teaches you the way to inner peace is letting go of desire - and if that doesn’t sound like marriage, I don’t know what does.
Personally, if I was a golfer, I’d go with Jesus - because he’s a Trinity, so when you walk with him, you’ve got a foursome. Christianity is for rubes. Buddhism is for actors.
And it really is outdated in some ways - the “Life sucks, and then you die” philosophy was useful when Buddha came up with it around 500 B.C., because back then life pretty much sucked, and then you died - but now we have medicine, and plenty of food, and iPhones, and James Cameron movies - our life isn’t all about suffering anymore. And when we do suffer, instead of accepting it we try to alleviate it.
Tiger said, “Buddhism teaches that a craving for things outside ourselves” makes us unhappy, which confirms something I’ve long suspected about Eastern religions: they’re a crock, too.
Craving for things outside ourselves is what makes life life - I don’t want to learn to not want, that’s what people in prison have to do. Buddhism teaches suffering is inevitable. The only thing that’s inevitable is that if you have fake boobs and hair extensions, Tiger Woods will try to f— you.
And reincarnation? Really? If that were real, wouldn’t there be some proof by now? A raccoon spelling out in acorns, “My name is Herb Zoller and I’m an accountant.” …something?
People are always debating, is Buddhism a religion or a philosophy: it’s a religion. You’re a religion if you do something as weird as when the Buddhist monks scrutinize two-year-olds to find the reincarnation of the dude who just died, and then choose one of the toddlers as the sacred Lama: “His poop is royal!” Sorry, but thinking you can look at a babbling, barely-housebroken, uneducated being and say, “That’s our leader” doesn’t make you enlightened. It makes you a Sarah Palin supporter.
- Bill Maher
Ambud Said
I think that Bill’s comments should be included in Buddhist texts. It could help to illustrate how a misguided mind lashes out when its futile attempts to find ‘happiness outside of itself’ fail. The text could include brilliant excerpts such as:

And when we do suffer, instead of accepting it we try to alleviate it.
Ambud -How Bill? By consuming large amounts of alcohol?

-Craving for things outside ourselves is what makes life life
Ambud –Now you’re on to something, Bill. I think we Buddhists call it Samsara.

I don’t want to learn to not want, that’s what people in prison have to do.
Ambud – There are prisoners that practice Buddhism who have more freedom than Bill does, since they understand the causes of suffering.

It’s a scary world sometimes Bill, taking pot shots at what you don’t understand won’t help ease your pain.
Find a temple, cross your legs, and take a long hard look at your ugliness with an open, accepting heart.
Ambud

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