Bill Maher turned up the volume on his “disbelief that God exists” on Friday night’s “Real Time” on HBO by poking fun at the religions that do and calling for a yearly 3-day weekend for atheists “to observable reality.”
As we head into a holy week for Christians and Passover for Jews, Maher said in his “New Rules” segment that the country needs to stop talking about diversity, equity and inclusion unless it also includes atheists.
“Atheists: we’re approaching a third of the population now, [and] I shouldn’t have to beg for this, for God’s sake! It’s outrageous that there are this many of us and there is still zero representation in government. Congress has 535 members and only a handful will even sheepishly admit their ‘religiously unaffiliated,” he joked. “No one has been able to admit their shameful secret: ‘I don’t believe in ghosts.’”
Next Sunday, as many of you know, is Easter, the day Christians commemorate the resurrection of Jesus. “Enjoy,” Maher said. “If that’s your thing: bunny rabbits that s—t eggs to celebrate the son of God, whatever floats your ark. But it’s not fair that people who belong to one of the big religions–,” he stopped midsentence. “They all get this cosmic personal day where the world revolves around them. I mean, here we are in the middle of the great egg shortage, and yet next Sunday we’re gonna take the few eggs we have and hide them in the yard?”
Although there is a movement for schools to officially recognize Ramadan –the Muslim month of fasting – Maher pointed out that while approximately 3 million Americans celebrate Ramadan, 100 million say they have no religion at all.
“So where’s our day?” he asked. “Is that really so much to ask, that this many people get one day a year when we recommit ourselves to observable reality? One day with no atonement, no corpse reanimation, no fasting, no tree in your house, no big rock to circle, no dirt on your forehead, no candles to light and please, God, no fruit cakes. Just a yearly three-day weekend to celebrate your deeply held belief that with Monday off you can drink on Sunday night and get you sleep in.”
Watch Maher’s entire “New Rules” segment at the top.
