Sam Harris: No Credibility

He published an op-ed in the L.A. Times, praising Pete Stark for coming out as an atheist. His own rants against religion might carry some force if he got more of his facts straight. As it is, he's only going to be convincing to those who already want to agree with him, and are as immune to the facts as he is.

Just a few items to lift out and respond to:

"The truth is, there is not a person on Earth who has a good reason to believe that Jesus rose from the dead..."

What's a good reason? It would probably be evidence. What's evidence? If you're Sam Harris, there is no such thing, by definition. That's how he can explain away the reasons that thoughtful, educated people have been putting forth for centuries.

"Of course, no religion is monolithic. Within every faith one can see people arranged along a spectrum of belief. Picture concentric circles of diminishing reasonableness: At the center, one finds the truest of true believers — the Muslim jihadis, for instance, who not only support suicidal terrorism but who are the first to turn themselves into bombs; or the Dominionist Christians, who openly call for homosexuals and blasphemers to be put to death.

"Outside this sphere of maniacs, one finds millions more who share their views but lack their zeal. Beyond them, one encounters pious multitudes who respect the beliefs of their more deranged brethren but who disagree with them on small points of doctrine — of course the world is going to end in glory and Jesus will appear in the sky like a superhero, but we can't be sure it will happen in our lifetime."

This "spectrum of belief" is his own invention with no relationship to reality. The "truest of true believers" he describes in the center sphere are not true believers in Biblical Christianity (I'm not going to comment on Islam here). Their call for homosexuals and blasphemers to be killed has nothing to do with New Testament religion. Therefore, moving outward from that so-called center sphere you will absolutely not find "millions more who share their views but lack their zeal." He's saying we agree with these "maniacs," but we're too wimpy to act on what we believe. That's just false.

Such a completely insulting mischaracterization of Christian belief--of anyone's belief--would be hard to match anywhere. How does he get away with such distortion? Sure, he has the right to say what he believes, and I do not begrudge him that for a moment. I pray all God's blessings for Sam Harris, and I hope he lives a long and happy life. But the things he is saying are wrong, they're incendiary, and they should be promptly and decidedly refuted, by anybody with any sense at all!

(Maybe he knows better than I do what I really believe. Or maybe not.)

We could pull out the "other groups-what if" argument here: what if he were directing a distortion like that toward African-Americans or women or gays? Would any newspaper dare publish it? But he sells lots of books and gets a hearing in places like the L.A. Times. It doesn't make sense.

"The problem is that wherever one stands on this continuum, one inadvertently shelters those who are more fanatical than oneself from criticism. Ordinary fundamentalist Christians, by maintaining that the Bible is the perfect word of God, inadvertently support the Dominionists — men and women who, by the millions, are quietly working to turn our country into a totalitarian theocracy reminiscent of John Calvin's Geneva."

No, actually I disagree with them on those issues and would actively oppose those things. (I'm not sure I like the fundamentalist label, but I'm sure under Harris's descriptors I would qualify.) Because we agree that there is a God and a Bible does not mean that we agree that this is taught in the Bible, or is part of what God tells us to follow. Does Harris "inadvertently support" all the killings done in the name of secularism in the 20th century, because he and those despots share a common basis for their beliefs? He has insisted the answer is no.

"And in this way centuries have come and gone without an honest word being spoken about God in our society."

There's just no credibility there.

Hat Tip to World Magazine Blog.

P.S. Lest you think I'm in a reactionary mood today, please read my blog entry from this morning. It's a lot more in tune with what's really going on in me. Actually, that whole series is more in tune.

Posted: Tue - March 20, 2007 at 12:51 PM |

Thinking Christian by Tom Gilson getCategoryName("<$CategoryUUID$>");

Sam Harris: No Credibility

Thinking Christian by Tom Gilson