shaun k says
Maybe.
posted 6 days ago
(This is a response to a previous comment)
jen s. says
shaun, as a follower of Christ, i just want to tell you how sorry I am that has been your experience. unfortunately your statement can be so true and I apologize on behalf of all Christians who grieve over that reality. you should know there are many real, authentic churches out there that preach what Jesus actually taught - we are ALL broken and in need of a Savior - thus no room remains for superiority complexes. Take care.
posted 3 weeks ago
Sounds like my kind of reading. The last place to find the love of Christ is in a Christian church. (for the most part.)
atlantic_beauty says
what an idea!!
posted Tuesday, February 12 2008
(atlantic_beauty’s previously rated this books 5 stars)
jakob l says
Your comparison to eugenics is invalid because science fixed that. I have yet to see any evidence whatsoever of religious moderates successfully combating extremism. You have certainly chosen to disagree with Harris, but you have done so based on faulty logic (and perhaps a cursory reading of the text). Your comparison to guns is also misguided; Harris is extremely specific about why religion is a direct threat to modern society- namely (to paraphrase from memory) the interaction of iron age beliefs with modern nuclear technology. If you want to convince us that you've clearly understood the book, why not attack the argument that faith itself is a bad thing? Harris deals with faith specifically, going beyond citing examples of evils committed in the name of faith. You could have saved yourself the effort of needlessly (and fruitlessly) invoking eugenics and firearms and gotten right to the heart of the matter, but as we can see freely chose not to, "based on logic*."*Speaking of which, you may wish to look up what logicians call the slippery slope fallacy. Your incomprehension of the concept is exceptionally thorough.
posted Tuesday, November 20 2007
(jakob l’s previously rated this books 4 stars)
black1178 f says
how i can read the book when i added to my shelf list plz help me for that
posted Thursday, November 8 2007
caelah says
Perhaps you have not had the opportunity to discuss with moderates, or have applied blanket generalizations to them based on your paradigm of thinking? I think if you had, and if Harris truly had, he would find that the two groups share a lot in common (moderates and Atheists). Tubesocksandals, you completely overlooked the comparison to Eugenics, of course this is to be expected as it draws the same illogical conclusions as Harris' disapproval and desired eradication of moderates.Most moderates will support proper criticism. Bruxy Caveys "The End of Religion" is a great example of an irreligious Christ centered movement that aims at coming to terms with those criticisms and proposing a radical departure from the drain of religion.I have not missed Harris main point, I understood it, but I choose freely to disagree with him based on logic.
posted Wednesday, September 5 2007
(caelah’s previously rated this books 4 stars, read review)
tubesocksandals says
This from someone who gave the book 'God is No Fool' 5 stars. Clearly, Harris has offended you in this book, which is a shame. Even he states that this is to be expected, but not intended. I find it really sad that people get offended when someone else presents a well stated argument to their ideas."In conclusion, he fervently hopes that religion will be stamped out over the course of the 21st century just as slavery was in the 19th."Amen."First, this book makes no effort to be “fair and balanced.”" I think you might be thinking of FOX News. He is making a case for his ideas, something that he does very well in my opinion. This is what good authors do. The idea of 'fair and balanced' is a croc. Either you defend your arguments well, or you don't. If you do it well, and you completely denounce the opposing argument then you've made your case. Plain and simple. Think of it as a debate if you must - one side doesn't have to provide arugments for the other."He conveniently ignores the wonderful contributions Christians have made to civilization and to human welfare." How do these wonderful things compare to the crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the genocide Catholic bishops are committing now spreading dogma against contraceptives, the Catholic bishops and clergy that were active participants in the Rwanda genocide (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3671464.stm), not to mention the countless sodomy and rape charges against priests - all of which were protected or hidden by the Vatican (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/panorama/5389684.stm).The list of horrible things that have happened in the name of religion goes on and on. Open you rmind to these ideas just for once, have a look at what your irrational beliefs give the world, and how much better the world would be if all countries had a foundation where all discussions could begin. Religion is the largest impedement to this.
posted Monday, August 20 2007
(tubesocksandals’s previously rated this books 2 stars, read review)
"Harris is dead wrong in attacking moderates and liberal, and has in doing so villainized a strong ally in the battle against fundamentalism." I think you might have missed Harris's main point - the moderates are (perhaps unwilling) allies to the fundamentalists in that they provide them cover and protection from proper criticism. If the moderates were to allow their beliefs to be challenged rationally instead of insisting they be 'respected' or accepted at their face value, then the fundamentalists would be outed for what they are. Harris is calling for intellectual honesty and asking people to provide good reasoning for their ideas, and that any ideas brought forth without any reasoning (or with very questionable reasoning) be called such and treated accordingly.
(tubesocksandals’s previously rated this books 4 stars, read review)