I have a total crush on Sam Harris. Only he's not as cute in that picture. I saw an interview of him in the documentary "The God Who Wasn't There," and he was, well, scrummy.
And that he thinks that religion is just plain stupid is just the icing on the cake.
The political and other musings of two Canadians. One in Toronto at the Centre of the Universe, and the other in Los Angeles, at the, 'ahem', Center of the Universe. When we're not tag-teaming, we're attacking from both ends.
Political Sites
- A Lie A Day
- Adam Radwanski
- Andrew Coyne
- Andrew Sullivan
- Canadian Cynic
- Chantal Hebert
- Flying Spaghetti Monsterism
- Google News
- Great Canadian Speeches
- Hairy Fish Nuts
- Inkless Wells (Paul Wells)
- Inside the Queensway (Kady O'Malley)
- Maisonneuve MediaScout
- Mike's Personalized Google News
- Red Tory
- Seething Mom
- Slate
- The Commons (Aaron Wherry)
- Warren Kinsella
- Wikipedia
1 comment:
I encountered Sam Harris about six months ago --not physically but figuratively-- and I have to admit as a moderate Christian I take his criticism seriously. Perhaps as a moderate that is in my nature, whatever nature means.
He argues that the moderate christians provide cover for the fundamentalists because our discourse about God and faith, often couched in metaphor, relaxes the normal constraints on truth in public discourse. There might be something to that.
Apparently, schizophrenics and those suffering from dementias like Alzheimer's have difficulty with metaphorical expressions such as: People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. They interpret these expressions literally.
Should we censor our speech, eliminating metaphors, so that schizophrenics and the elderly demented do not become confused?
I guess the answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind. Though, perhaps I should be careful about what I say in case a literalist "christian" interprets this to mean that I actually believe the ANSWER is physically blowing around somewhere and is just about to smack them in the face if only they stand outdoors long enough.
I hope you don't feel antagonized by what I have written. I am just looking for conversation. Its less about trying to convince you than to defend what I feel is a reasonable position.
You really think Sam Harris is cute? Have you met him? :)
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