What Does It Take to be Right?

Michael Shermer thinks that Bill Maher is right about religion, and why does he think that? According to the title of this essay, excerpted from his latest book, it's simple:

Bill Maher agrees with Michael Shermer.

Of course, it's clear that the real reason is that Michael Shermer is promoting his latest screed against religions and religious believers.

Unfortunately, if Michael Shermer ever had any credibility among thinking religious people (and, BTW, Mr. Shermer, the term "thinking religious people" is not a contradiction in terms), he lost it again in this bit from his new book.

Confession: I'm basing my opinion about Michael Shermer's rightness or lack thereof on the one excerpt I've linked to above. I can't review the entire book, The Moral Arc, published this very month, because I'm not going to read it.

Yes, you read that correctly. I'm not going to read the entire book. Life is short and best spent in activities that bring one happiness and peace. In other words, life is too short to waste a minute more than I already have wasted on the excerpt and writing this opinion piece.

Back to my original question: What does it take to be right? One thing, in fact the main thing, it takes to be right is to have your facts straight. You don't have to be a theologian to find flaws and mis-statements in every assertion Michael Shermer makes about Christianity in general and Mormonism in particular.

What it does NOT take to be right is having the agreement of a racist bigoted loudmouth television personality and/or wanting people to buy your new book.

Sorry, Michael Shermer. You're not right, and neither is Bill Maher.