Arrange a Debate Between Bill Maher and Ray Comfort

To:  The producers of "Real Time with Bill Maher" at Home Box Office (HBO)

On August 19, 2005, on the HBO television program "Real Time with Bill Maher", the host, Mr. Bill Maher, addressed the creation/evolution debate before his studio audience. With the cover of the August 15, 2005, issue of TIME magazine in the upper-right hand corner (which featured the headline "Evolution Wars"), Mr. Maher referred to the theory of Intelligent Design as "a load of crap". Not content with this, he went on to claim that it "isn't real science" and that "evolution is supported by the entire scientific community" (even going so far as to profess, on national TV, that "there is no debate among scientists" whatsoever, thus implying that anyone who disbelieves in evolution is not a true scientist). He described proponents of ID as "willfully ignorant", derided them by stating that "stupidity isn't a form of knowing things", and likened ID to belief in the delivery of babies by storks and the worshipping of the postal service. He implied that adherents of ID must necessarily believe in Adam and Eve, which he characterizes among "fairly tales", and alleges that teaching this theory would violate the separation of church and state. Of course, Mr. Maher is renowned for his belief that religion is a neurological disorder, as well as his agnosticism regarding the existence of God.

On May 10, 2006, Ray Comfort, a Christian author, televison host, and founder of The Way of the Master evangelism ministry and Living Waters Publications, issued the following challenge to Mr. Maher: "I can scientifically prove intelligent design. Let’s have 20 minutes each. I present my case (I won’t even mention 'faith') and then he can present his case for evolution. I say that he doesn’t have one. He’s bluffing. I don’t mind if he spends his 20 minutes telling jokes, because that’s all he has." He also stated, "Mr. Maher can choose the place of the debate. I don’t mind if he has it in front of his audience. He can bill it as 'Another simple-minded Christian being thrown to the lions.'" Mr. Comfort has accused Mr. Maher of possessing "a blind faith in a theory-tale that can’t be substantiated", this theory-tale being "just another opiate of the masses--a religion called 'Darwinism' that piously robes itself in what it thinks is 'science'."

Not only is Mr. Comfort a former atheist and evolutionist himself, but, on April 13, 2001, at the 27th National Convention of American Atheists, he debated Ron Barrier, the National Spokesperson for American Atheists, thus showing he clearly has no reservations about debating before an ideaologically hostile audience. He has also published several books on the topic, including "God Doesn't Believe in Atheists" and "Intelligent Design vs. Evolution-Letters to an Atheist". He is clearly quite serious about and adept with the subject matter at hand and is more than ready to defend his beliefs. He has accused Mr. Maher of being "a chicken" for not accepting his challenge.

We would like to see whether or not he's right.

We would like to see whether or not Bill Maher is ready to stand up for the accuracy of what he said on his late-night TV show. We, the undersigned, would like him to invite Ray Comfort on to "Real Time" and debate him for the hour which he has requested so that both sides of this debate can be presented to his audience, and to the American public, so that they can decide for themselves which one is truly "a load of crap". We believe that everyone- including comedians- should be held accountable for the truthfulness of what they tell others.

Thank you for considering our, and Ray Comfort's, request.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Arrange a Debate Between Bill Maher and Ray Comfort Petition to The producers of "Real Time with Bill Maher" at Home Box Office (HBO) was created by and written by Brett Fawcett (protestant_witness@yahoo.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

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