Last night on HBO‘s Real Time with Bill Maher, the host had a bone to pick with the fact that there’s no holiday for nonbelievers.
During his New Rules segment of the show, Maher discussed how nearly one-third of Americans (including himself) do not claim religious affiliation yet were not represented in government or public life.
While attempting to make his point, he discussed the upcoming Easter celebrations — which he didn’t seem to have a problem with. “Bunny rabbits that shit eggs to celebrate the son of God? Whatever floats your ark,” he quipped.
He also mentioned the increasing number of schools that are observing Ramadan. Then he began describing his concept for an atheism-themed holiday, which could be a three-day weekend with Monday set aside to avoid other people.
Maher poked fun at the different religions while further detailing his holiday for religious “nones,” which he says would have “no atonement, no corpse reanimation, no fasting, no tree in your house, no big rock to circle, no dirt on your forehead, no candles to light, and please God, no fruitcakes,” referring to the traditional Christmas dessert of course.
He drove his point home by referring to a statistic that 32% of the U.S. population declare themselves atheists, agnostics or “nothing in particular.”
Lastly, the comedian posed a question to believers: “Why make up a being who’s constantly disappointed in you?”
He says anyone can celebrate Atheists Day, where everyone “can get a taste of what it’s like to live your life without some mythical Daddy figure judging and condemning you for being the exact person he made you.”
You can watch Maher’s entire New Rule segment from last night’s Real Time episode above.