So the liberal, aetheists are at it again - giving Sarah Palin a hard time in the press. Predictable and slightly old, was my first response,when I read about what Bill Maher, a long time, well known cheerleader for that team, recently penned.
And then I stopped breathing for a second or two.
Let's start at the beginning. The article I read was actually quoting Bill Maher, in all fairness. But I assume the quote is accurate, having too been written by someone who is well known in journalistic circles.
Having determined the credibility of my source, I continued to read details. Surely, this well known writer wouldn't have said something that stupid, I thought.
But it turns out, he really did.
And this is what he said. He referred to Sarah Palin's family as a bunch of "inbred weirdos".
Wow.
I understand what critics are getting at by suggesting Palin may be stretching the "Oh, poor me, I have a mentally handicapped child and therefore that qualifies me to be a compassionate, wise, elected official," schtick. Sure, I can buy that. Any thinking person could. But I draw the line there.
And I wonder what demon possessed Maher to commit professional suicide by saying such cruel, ignorant things. Things which showed how his own lack of intelligence.
Which is sort of ironic, when you really think about it, because Maher is also a well known advocate of aetheism, which is, of course, his legal and moral right - I have no beef with him having the right to freely express his opinions on things. After all, this is one of the most important foundations of these North American nations we have built, wouldn't you say?
I digress...
It's ironic because he does claim, like most critics of religion, in particular those who are suspicious of Christianity, to have a higher I.Q. than those who profess faith.
But this comment he made using the words "inbred weirdos" shows just how lacking in that area he is himself. That's where he most likely lost the respect and backing of other so-called intelligent, liberal-minded aetheists - I would sincerely hope that would be the case, anyway.
Do I need to explain this one, folks?
Well, in the event my thought process is not clear to some, I will paint the picture for you.
First of all, Down Syndrome - as most educated, intelligent people know; or should know - is not caused by "inbreeding", which refers to a penchant some cultures or isolated peoples have for marrying close relatives. It is caused by an error in cell division, which takes place almost immediately once an embryo has been fertilized. This causes a further error in one of the pairs of chromosones - the 21st pair, to be exact - which produces a spare chromosone. Hence the medical term for the syndrome is Trisomy 21.
OK, so we've established that fact. Strike one, Mr. Maher.
And here's where it gets even easier to see how he messed up.
Our thirteen year old daughter was born with Down Syndrome. She is the greatest thing that could have happened to our little family. She gives affection daily to all of us, without condition. She has taught us to see life and others with less judgement, more compassion and greater hope for our future. Essentially, she has taught us to be more emotionally mature than not having her would have accomplished.
Need I say it? - Strike two.
Now in all fairness, Mr. Maher has not had a firsthand experience which compares to ours, so we really cannot judge him. Yet, he claims his intellect should somehow supercede the skills we have learned, by merit of our daughter's being born into our family, and that just doesn't ring true in my way of thinking.
And I know my own I.Q is just below genius. I learned that just before I wrote an LSAT exam when I was in my early 20s. So much for having the ability to process facts.
But, honestly? I did not learn anything useful until our daughter was born.THAT was when the real learning curve began.
So - the illusion that Mr. Maher has about those who have less intellectual ability being somehow less able to lead us or make sound judgements on behalf of large groups of people somehow just sounds rather hollow and without credence to me.
Perhaps I should invite Mr. Maher to come and stay with us for a while. Then he might - and I say that with hesitation because my feeling is he may well be closed minded about some things such as this - learn something that books and high I.Q.s just can't provide.
He might learn wisdom. Of which, at this point, it is evident, he has little.
Strike three.
It seems, Mr. Maher, you're out.
No comments:
Post a Comment