Bill Maher: Occasionally Right, More Often Not So Much

I just read Bill Maher's piece over on Huffington Post (there's two minutes I won't get back in this lifetime). In it, he basically says we're all Mel Gibson because our anti-semitism floats to the surface without much effort whatsoever. One of the examples he uses to prove this point is the hue and cry over Qana and the civilian casualties in Lebanon.

Sorry, Bill, this is one of those times where it becomes painfully clear how you can count Ann Coulter as a "good friend".

Well before the Lebanon incursion, it was certainly very possible to find fault with the Israeli government's policies without hating Jews. The same holds true after the incursion and after last weekend's Qana Massacre as well.

It's ridiculous this idea that criticizing Israel's politics makes one an anti-semite. For this to be true, I would have to believe that Israel is a complete theocracy which, to my understanding, it is not. It would be like saying that anyone who disagrees with a policy by the U.S. government is anti-Christian (after all, wouldn't the GOP love you to believe that they have made American into a Christian theocracy?).

I'll tell you something sad. For a very long time - like a decade or more - I did not openly question decisions made by Israel for fear my opinion might seem anti-Semitic. For someone who grew up in an extremely narrow-minded and racist household, I have been truly blessed in gifts given to me by people of other cultures and religions. Among them are Jews who taught me so much about peace, about justice, about living a life of commitment, about love, about acceptance and about forgiveness. Thus, the last thing I wanted to do was say something which might be construed as "anti-Jew".

Rather appropriately, it was more than one Jew who finally convinced me that I could disagree with the policies and practices of the State of Israel without labeling myself anti-anything. Perhaps you need to meet these same people, Bill.