new rules

i’m always flirting around with a fine line…

this weekend, i was watching “real time with bill maher” live on hbo–none of that tivo bullshit. now, i’m by no means a kool-aid drinking disciple of maher or moore or any of the other personalities that the media paints as radical leftists. however when it comes to current events, bill and i agree more often than not and on the topic of god’s place in government and society, the guy’s my hero.

as i sat listening to the show’s segment on creationism vs. evolution vs. intelligent design, it felt great to hear someone discussing the topic without being shrouded in politcally correct nonesense. it felt vindicating to hear someone call creationists on their bullshit and to watch someone look straight into the camera and remind us that there is nothing “intelligent” about intelligent design.

i was feeling pretty damn good about myself and was revelling in my 60 minutes of admonition until the person i was sitting next to turned to me and said, “…listening to this guy frustrates me as much as listening to rush limbaugh…”

i was shocked and now am left with the question: is bill maher no better than rush limbaugh? or on a more personal note, am i no better than the bible-thumping-right-wing crazies that i look down on?

are we each other’s own mirror image?

the more and more i go over this in my head, i wonder how close i am to the fine line between taking a stand for what’s right or becoming no better than my counter-parts in the mirror. shouldnt i be able to take the moral high ground because i believe in science and reason and logic? shouldnt it be ok to poke a little fun at the creationist crowd for blindly believing in a fairy tale? shouldnt i be able to enjoy criticism of a group of people who far too often are loyal to a person and not to a principle?

the answers used to seem so clear to me, but these days i’m just trying to keep my balance while walking that fine line.