quote by Sam Harris, author of "The End of Faith"

by Mulan 3 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Mulan

  <<Just look at the case of the apostate in Afghanistan who converted to Christianity and who was up for a death sentence. Then, after all the nations of the earth applied pressure on Hamid Karzai, he got spirited away. This is the reality under Islam: you take your life in your hands for criticizing the faith. A Muslim is simply not free to wake up in the morning and decide he no longer wants to be a Muslim. Such a change of mind is really punishable by death. So unless Muslims reform this feature of their religion, at a minimum, there is not much hope for Muslim democracy. >>

  Eerie, isn't it??

  Very interesting interview of Sam Harris http://www.truthdig.com/interview/print/20060403_sam_harris_interview/
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  Mulan

  Here is another goodie

  <<The thing to reiterate is that every Christian knows exactly what it’s like to be an atheist with respect to the beliefs of Muslims, for instance. Muslims have the same reasons for being Muslim as Christians have for being Christian. They have a book they’re sure was written or dictated by the creator of the universe–because the book says that it was written or dictated by the creator of the universe. Christians look at Muslim discourse and find it fundamentally unpersuasive. Christians aren’t lying awake at night worrying about whether they should convert to Islam. Why not? Because Muslims can’t really back up their claims. They are clearly engaged in a style of discourse that is just not intellectually honest. It’s not purposed to genuine inquiry into the nature of the world. It is a reiteration of dogma, and they are clearly committed to a massive program of self-deception. Every Christian recognizes this about every religion other than Christianity. So every Christian knows exactly what it is like to be atheist. They just don’t turn the same candor and intellectual honesty on to their own faith. >>
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  robhic

  That is such a good and thought-provoking book. I read it last year and had little snippets on my tongue for quite some time afterwards!
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  Seeker4

  Sam Harris - one of my new heroes. Thanks for bringing this on to the board, Mulan.

  Google Sam Harris and check out his 20 minute talk given last year on this subject. Videos of it are available online and well worth the listen.

  S4