Back in early October, an episode of
Real Time with Bill Maher got a lot of attention and enflamed some very passionate feelings on two sides of an argument. If you haven't seen the clip, you can view it
here. Bill Maher, along with Sam Harris, makes some pretty offensive and ridiculous generalizations about Islam as a religion and about not only people who follow that faith, but live in nations that are primarily Muslim. The rest of the guests on Maher's show, including Ben Affleck, came to the defense of reason and tried their best to point out that these points of view are based on painting large swaths of the population with ignorant stereotypes.
This debate is one that happens in the media and in our own communities on a very regular basis. On Friday,
On The Media ran a
piece which takes a look at social media movements, coming from Muslim communities, that seek to stand up and declare that they are equally upset and disgusted by the actions of extremist groups, like ISIS, that claim to do what they do in order to follow religious teaching.
It is an issue that people of all races, religions, and nationalities must constantly make ourselves aware of. No one should have to defend the actions of others in this way.
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