Bill Maher vs. Ralph Reed

I don't know what possesses me to watch "Real Time With Bill Maher." Mr. Maher is, without a doubt, the most annoying anti-religionist on the scene today. Though his show is purportedly about politics, it almost invariably includes some attack on religion, especially Christianity. Just last week, his program included a brief conversation with Ralph Reed, the articulate gentleman who used to run the Christian Coalition and who is now a lobbyist and activist on behalf of faith-related causes.

For the first three or four minutes, Reed and Maher discussed the social science concerning children raised in stable vs. unstable families, and Reed was scoring quite a few points in favor of the traditional understanding of marriage. Sensing that he was making little headway, Maher decided to pull the religion card, and from that point on things went from bad to worse. Maher said, "Now you're a man of faith, which means someone who consciously suspends all critical thinking and accepts things on the basis of no evidence." Astonishingly, Reed said, "yes," at which point, I shouted at the TV screen: "No!" Then Maher said, "And I believe that you take everything in the Bible literally," and Reed replied, "yes," at which point I said, "Oh God, here we go again."