# Where do you stand on the Bill Maher/Ben Affleck argument? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 6, 2014, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-stand-on-the-bill-maher-ben-affleck-argument/700589 "2014-10-06T21:01:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 29
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-stand-on-the-bill-maher-ben-affleck-argument/700589/562 "2014-11-19T00:49:12Z")
I’m sorry, that was really rude. I disagree with your elephant. But I’d love to read any supporting evidence you can provide. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-stand-on-the-bill-maher-ben-affleck-argument/700589/563 "2014-11-19T00:59:06Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > There’s an elephant in the room that is rather ignored: > > Islam gets somewhat of a free pass because it’s a minority in the United States, and therefore many people feel that diversity is needed and that we have to turn a blind eye to violent teachings of that “religion that brings diversity to America.” > > Christianity, on the other hand, is the main religion of the USA, and so people don’t give it that same free pass, because Christianity doesn’t bring “diversity” to America, so, why should we extend it any benefit of the doubt? I would be interested in visiting this alternative universe that you have described that looks nothing like the world in which we live. What “free pass” do you believe one group is getting and not the other? Islam get criticized all the time in this world. Look at the various posts in the three threads currently discussing it in this forum, alone. Conversely, while Christianity tends to be criticized on this message board with its large percentage of non-believers, in the rest of the country Christianity is still the default belief system and various Christians make a point of using the privileges that accrue to a majority, from appealing for votes based on their religion to continuing to bring Christian prayers into schools in violation of the law. ---
**Author:** ![nani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58956e/32.png) [@nani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nani)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-stand-on-the-bill-maher-ben-affleck-argument/700589/564 "2014-11-19T02:20:07Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > There’s an elephant in the room that is rather ignored: > > Islam gets somewhat of a free pass because it’s a minority in the United States, and therefore many people feel that diversity is needed and that we have to turn a blind eye to violent teachings of that “religion that brings diversity to America.” > > Christianity, on the other hand, is the main religion of the USA, and so people don’t give it that same free pass, because Christianity doesn’t bring “diversity” to America, so, why should we extend it any benefit of the doubt? Something like this complaint is heard from ex-Muslims pretty often. But usually what groups like ex-Muslims of North America point out is not that Islam is given a free pass, but that the majority of the criticism of Islam that exists is often veiled bigotry and inaccurate. They bemoan the lack of helpful criticism, they don’t try to say that no one is being critical. I’ve criticized western liberal attitudes toward Islam (and religion in general) on this board before, but Islam is hardly shielded from severe and usually unfair criticism in the public arena. If Western critics of Islam want to be taken more seriously, they should make better arguments. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-you-stand-on-the-bill-maher-ben-affleck-argument/700589.md?page=28)