Fareed Zakaria and Bill Maher Battle Over Islam: You’re Not Pushing Reform, ‘You’re Getting Applause Lines’

Mediaite.com:

Fareed Zakaria confronted Bill Maher on his show tonight over his frequent criticisms of Islam, telling him that he’s just doing it for “applause lines” and that won’t actually help reform the religion.

Maher reiterated the “Islam is the motherlode of bad ideas” critique after talking about the Boston bomber, and Zakaria told him that he’s not going to win hearts and minds if he’s just insulting an entire religion and tell people their faith “sucks.” There needs to be, Zakaria said, “some sense of respect” in how the argument for reform is framed.

Maher bewilderedly asked Zakaria if he honestly doubts that many followers of Islam have rather backwards beliefs. Zakaria said they don’t in some nations, acknowledged his own criticisms of Islam, and told Maher all he’s doing is “getting applause lines.”

Maher responded that it’s a little “insulting,” but Zakaria said people “feel like their religion is being insulted” when people like Maher critique it.

RELATED: Twitter Says It Suspended 10,000 ISIS-Linked Accounts in One Day