On his HBO program on Friday, Bill Maher delivered an rant against religion in which he called God an “psychotic mass murderer” and declared that America is a “stupid country” because most Americans believe the Bible’s story of Noah and the Ark to be true.

Maher’s blasphemy did not sit well with Bryan Fischer, who dedicated a segment on his radio program today to defending the Biblical tale of Noah’s flood, arguing that it was the free will choices made by humans that left God with no other option but to kill every living thing, just as God has given Bill Maher the free will to engage in this sort of blasphemy.

The only reason Maher is able to say such things, Fischer declared, is because God allows it and the only reason Maher is not struck down on the spot for engaging in this sort of blasphemy is because God is merciful, compassionate, and loving.

God allows Maher to continue living after saying these things, Fischer explained, is in order to give Maher an opportunity to repent and ask forgiveness.

“Bill Maher might have thought he was being hip and kind of trendy and kind of cool and all of that,” Fischer said, “but he is going to be judged for those careless words. God hopes it doesn’t come to that. God could, by all rights, take him right now and Bill Maher would have to face judgment by the end of the day. Why doesn’t He do that? Because He is patient with Bill Maher. He doesn’t want to have to do that. He wants to give Bill Maher the time to come to his senses and to come to a place of repentance”: