Bill Maher criticized Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s (R) statement on evolution and expressed concern about the long-term effects of vaccinations on Friday’s “Real Time” on HBO.
Regarding Walker’s statement that science and faith “go hand-in-hand,” Maher stated, “No, they absolutely don’t, they absolutely don’t. They’re completely incompatible. Stupidity is not another form of knowledge.”
Later, during an interview with author David Duchovny, Maher said that while he was “sympathetic” to parents who were concerned about herd immunity, and agreed that joining “the herd” requires sacrifice, he added “I also understand why parents have a right to say, you know, certain diseases–would certainly be, of course, you’d be remiss not to protect your kids from, but that one [measles] doesn’t seem that dangerous to me.”
He then continued, declaring that having six children is “selfish” was a “scientific fact…the planet cannot support unlimited population.”
Maher later clarified his position on vaccines further, stating that he was not skeptical that they work, but that antibiotics and chemotherapy both work, but at a cost and said “there have been no long-term studies done on vaccinated vs. unvaccinated people long-term health outcomes. If you never give your immune system a chance to actually fight a disease…” at this point, Maher was cut off by disagreement coming from the panel and the discussion turned to overpopulation, but Maher did add “measles is not really that deadly a disease,” and expressed agreement that there was a case for mandatory vaccinations for “the most dangerous diseases.”
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