A prominent atheist sides with Israelis over Palestinians

[rug]

Aug. 6, 2014 11:20 a.m.
Pat Cunningham

Sam Harris, whose books and articles on religion have made him prominent among atheist philosophers and authors, EXPLAINS his views on a certain political/religious conflict in the Mideast:

The question I’ve now received in many forms goes something like this: Why is it that you never criticize Israel? Why is it that you never criticize Judaism? Why is it that you always take the side of the Israelis over that of the Palestinians?

…(W)hen we’re talking about the consequences of irrational beliefs based on scripture, the Jews are the least of the least offenders. But I have said many critical things about Judaism. Let me remind you that parts of Hebrew Bible—books like Leviticus and Exodus and Deuteronomy—are the most repellent, the most sickeningly unethical documents to be found in any religion. They’re worse than the Koran. They’re worse than any part of the New Testament. But the truth is, most Jews recognize this and don’t take these texts seriously. It’s simply a fact that most Jews and most Israelis are not guided by scripture—and that’s a very good thing…

What do groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda and even Hamas want? They want to impose their religious views on the rest of humanity. They want stifle every freedom that decent, educated, secular people care about. This is not a trivial difference. And yet judging from the level of condemnation that Israel now receives, you would think the difference ran the other way.

This kind of confusion puts all of us in danger. This is the great story of our time. For the rest of our lives, and the lives of our children, we are going to be confronted by people who don’t want to live peacefully in a secular, pluralistic world, because they are desperate to get to Paradise, and they are willing to destroy the very possibility of human happiness along the way. The truth is, we are all living in Israel. It’s just that some of us haven’t realized it yet.

http://www.bastropenterprise.com/article/20140806/BLOGS/308069995/-1/sports#ixzz39dEV1gX3

It's terrible when views on religion seep into politics.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. Color me shocked.

Having bought and read a copy of one of Harris' books (End of Faith?) that basically boiled down to 'We need to quit being religious because it's going to get too easy for a Muslim to get WMD and kill a lot of people', I'm not really surprised that he's still bashing Muslims.

[AtheistCrusader]

2. I do not share Harris views, and am prepared to defend my position.

Israel has quite a lot to answer for, in actively provoking the Israeli/Palestinian conflict along.

[rurallib]

3. he's entitled to his opinion. It's not like he's the atheist pope or ayatollah

or anything.

[AlbertCat]

4. (W)hen we’re talking about the consequences of irrational beliefs based on scripture,...

... the Jews are the least of the least offenders.


This is patently absurd since Israel is the consequence of irrational beliefs based on scripture

[rug]

5. What exactly do you mean by this?

the Jews are the least of the least offenders.

The article is about the State of Israel.

[cpwm17]

6. Someone posted Sam Harris' crap in GD concerning his support for Israel aggressions.

The post was appropriately hidden.

Judging by the attitudes in and out of Israel of Israel's supporters, including here on DU, Sam Harris' position is seriously in doubt.

[cbayer]

7. This shouldn't surprise anyone, but the real question is why his opinion

on this has any weight at all.