If you believe that religious tolerance is necessarily good and questioning the religious beliefs of others is necessarily bad, I encourage you to read Sam Harris' The End of Faith. Whether you agree with him or not, I think you'll find it to be extremely thought-provoking. Here are a few quotes from Sam, to give you an idea of what to expect:
"Religious moderates are, in large part, responsible for the religious conflict in our world, because their beliefs provide the context in which scriptural literalism and religious violence can never be adequately opposed."
"The difference between science and religion is the difference between a willingness to dispassionately consider new evidence and new arguments, and a passionate unwillingness to do so."
"120 million of us [in the U.S.] place the big bang 2,500 years after the Babylonians and Sumerians learned to brew beer."
"The men who committed the atrocities of September 11 were certainly not "cowards," as they were repeatedly described in the Western media, nor were they lunatics in any ordinary sense. They were men of faith -- perfect faith, as it turns out -- and this, it must finally be acknowledged, is a terrible thing to be."
"A significant percentage of the world's Muslims believe that the men who brought down the World Trade Center are now seated at the right hand of God."
"We can no longer ignore the fact that billions of our neighbors believe in the metaphysics of martyrdom, or in the literal truth of the book of Revelation, or any of the other fantastical notions that have lurked in the minds of the faithful for millennia -- because our neighbors are now armed with chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons."
"Religious moderates are, in large part, responsible for the religious conflict in our world, because their beliefs provide the context in which scriptural literalism and religious violence can never be adequately opposed."
"The difference between science and religion is the difference between a willingness to dispassionately consider new evidence and new arguments, and a passionate unwillingness to do so."
"120 million of us [in the U.S.] place the big bang 2,500 years after the Babylonians and Sumerians learned to brew beer."
"The men who committed the atrocities of September 11 were certainly not "cowards," as they were repeatedly described in the Western media, nor were they lunatics in any ordinary sense. They were men of faith -- perfect faith, as it turns out -- and this, it must finally be acknowledged, is a terrible thing to be."
"A significant percentage of the world's Muslims believe that the men who brought down the World Trade Center are now seated at the right hand of God."
"We can no longer ignore the fact that billions of our neighbors believe in the metaphysics of martyrdom, or in the literal truth of the book of Revelation, or any of the other fantastical notions that have lurked in the minds of the faithful for millennia -- because our neighbors are now armed with chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons."
6 Comments:
Hi, I am a student at Rutgers University and my Sociology professor recommended this book to me after a discussion we had about society and the trends of religious extremism. I have only read half the book but its really great. I just stumbled onto your website and found it quite illuminating. (Always enjoy learning about the universe. I apologize for poor grammer and spelling.)
By Anonymous, at 11:11 AM
Thanks for the post. Glad you liked it.
No need to apologize for grammatical or spelling errors... the purpose of language is to communicate, so as long as people understand what you're trying to say, that's good enough for me. Your professors might disagree, of course...
By howtolive.org, at 12:43 PM
I completely understand your point of view.
Christianity is the center of my life and yet when I hear strong comments denouncing it I have nothing to argue against since frequently the observations are 90% correct and the other 10% can be accounted for by all the hurt Christians have caused. Therefore, I feel I need to apologize for Christianity. Christianity has been destructive in its intolerance, oppression, bigotry, arrogance, child abuse, homophobia, abortion-clinic bombings, cruelties to women, war, educational systems that teach ignorance when it comes to math and science and on and on. The Jesus I follow teaches exactly the opposite. I don’t believe there is need to explain where I’m coming from since you live in a world were the stark contrast between the teachings of Christ and the lives of His followers highlight little more than hypocrisy. Maybe one day the small voice of the minority will grow loud enough that the world of religion and the world of science will discover that they are standing on the same terra firma. I apologize for all the pain Christianity has created.
By Anonymous, at 8:29 AM
Sounds interesting. I will keep my eyes open for it next time I am at Barnes & Noble.
By David Mackey, at 2:13 PM
An additional read, Sam Harris at the pen, is "Letter to a Christian Nation". It covers most of the same topics but in a much more conversational approach. It is directed at the Christian, but is an interesting read for non-believers alike.
By Anonymous, at 12:01 AM
Wow. Great quotes! Especially:
"The men who committed the atrocities of September 11 were certainly not "cowards," as they were repeatedly described in the Western media, nor were they lunatics in any ordinary sense. They were men of faith -- perfect faith, as it turns out -- and this, it must finally be acknowledged, is a terrible thing to be."
I am Mormon and have ordered the book from Amazon and am now waiting...
By Anonymous, at 2:31 PM
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