Recently the comedian Steve Harvey appeared on the Larry King Live show (to promote a new book) where he was interviewed by Joy Behar (of the View). The following exchange took place (with my comments):

JB: … making people laugh is a great thing…

SH: It’s a… it’s an amazing blessing from God, it really is.

JB: … which reminds me, speaking of God. You say in the book that, uh, you wouldn’t go out with a woman… I guess a woman should not go out with a man who doesn’t believe in God.

SH: Nah, I mean why would you?

[Because we won't put an invisible Jewish Carpenter who some claim flew up into the sky 2,000 years ago ahead of you in our relationship?]

JB: Well… well, do you believe that only people who are religious are ethical and moral?

SH: No, I just believe that if you don’t believe in God, then where’s your moral barometer? That’s just me talking…

[So he does believe that only people who are religious are ethical? If non-believers have no moral barometer, as Harvey seems to think, then how does he explain the curious lack of any serious criminal problem with non-believers around the globe? If theists have a special moral barometer that atheists do not, then how does he explain the apperance in the news, day in and day out (as frequently documented here and elsewhere), of theists behaving badly? Certainly the problems in the Middle East are not being solved by all of those theists checking their moral barometers...]

JB: … I understand you, yeah…

SH: … you can believe what you want to believe, but if you’re an atheist you’re basing your goodness and morality on what? I mean, but what is an atheist? I don’t… I don’t really get into that. You know why? I’ve talked to people all the time– “I’m an atheist!”—I just walk away. I don’t know what to say to you, you know?

[How about, instead of walking away, you take a minute or two to actually listen to what we believe and what are life philosophies actually are. You might be surprised a bit.]

JB: Well, an atheist is someone who doesn’t quite believe in… that there is somebody out there… some “God” out there.

SH: Well, then to me you’re an idiot…

[Let's see who the real idiot is. Keep reading.]

JB: Okay, well…

SH: … so I’m cool with that—

JB: But—

SH: I’m, I’m just–

JB: –that’s fine–

SH: –probably not the right ‘politically correct’–

JB: –Nonono–

SH: –thing to say, but if you don’t believe in God, then really you’ve got to have an explanation for this, and you just can’t tell me this spun out of a gastreous ball–

[Can it get worse than this? Yes.]

JB: Yeah.

SH: –then all of a sudden then we were evolved from monkeys—why we still got monkeys? There’s too much open here. I just believe that, and if you don’t believe that, then I don’t like talking to you.

[Well, that confirms it. Steve Harvey is the idiot. It may not be politically correct but it is clearly correct. Because we didn't evolve from modern day monkeys? Hello? Oh, right. It all makes sense now. If Harvey cannot have all of the answers to life's mysteries then the only reasonable course of action is to believe in supernatural ones.]

JB: I see, okay. Listen—listen—it’s fine with me—

SH: Can you say it on ol’ Larry King?

JB: You can say it on any show–

SH: Okay, okay, okay…

JB: ‘Cause it’s a free country, thank goodness.

SH: It is.

(via isabigot)