Religion, Fundamentalism, and Extremism
Sam Harris is CEO of Project Reason. He received a Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCLA, and is a graduate in philosophy from Stanford University. Even though Sam Harris isn’t a friend to religion, I think he makes several excellent points about religion, fundamentalism, and extremism.
Harris says:
- Religion is a nearly useless term and to lump Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, and Jainism into the same category is problematic.
- To call Islam a religion of peace is delusional. Jainism is a religion of peace – the crazier you get as a Jain, the less we have to worry about you. Jain extremists are paralyzed by their pacifism. The problem therefore is not religious extremism if your core beliefs are truly non-violent.
- The problem isn’t fundamentalism. The problem with Islamic fundamentalism are the fundamentals of Islam.
Do you agree or disagree with Sam Harris?
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I fully agree with Sam Harris that to call Islam a religion of peace is totally delusional and is a compulsion of political correctness.It is not polite to examine the fundamentals of Islam – instead the bland assertion that all religions are the same and do not preach violence towards fellow humans serves to put all of us in great danger, to which we may wake up too late.
The naked truth is what Mr Harris has said — the problem with Islamic fundamentalism are the fundamentals of Islam.
Great to see someone bold enough to call a spade a spade !
Sam Harris echoes my own thoughts exactly. I have read enough of the Quran to understand the meaning of “death to all infidels”, and to understand that means us..or anyone who isn’t them. Did this statement of the writer mean just Christians, Jews, or Hindus..or anyone or sect unaffiliated with the “true” faith? The question becomes more relevant as we see how various sects like the Sunnis persecute the Shiites, etc. In my opinion, “infidel” can mean anyone not of the same religious belief as those in power at any given time. Fertile ground for planting the seeds of jihadist terrorism in the minds of nuts.