Your link to the comments on Sam Harris reminds me of a few question (which may be rhetorical though they should, in fact, have answers):
(1) Why do so many people expend so much energy in their attempts to belittle, discredit, and marginalize religion and people of faith (especially Christians)?
(2) Why do so many people, as evidenced by their relentless commentary, seem so threatened by religion and people of faith (especially since no religion or faith is being forced upon those people)?
Well, perhaps. It strikes me that the anti-religionists like Harris often have no heartburn (no pun intended) with Buddhism, Taoism, or even Hinduism, and they seem to remain silent about Islam (and its aberrant distorters), Judaism (perhaps because of some sort of shared guilt about past persecutions), and the various other religions of the world. Atheism or wholesale opposition to religion, if that is a correct characterization Harris's mindset, seems more accurately to have only Christianity in its crosshairs (more than any other sect or group), and I suspect is has something more to do with world politics (in the big, sociological definition) than an aversion to perceived truth.
Well, I think a lot of people respond to the culture they're in, which in this case has a lot of Christianity (though I wouldn't say they never say anything about Islam or Judaism). And a lot of people are against what they see as folly and prejudice that gets patted on the head and taken seriously just because it's about "faith" or "people of faith."
Your link to the comments on Sam Harris reminds me of a few question (which may be rhetorical though they should, in fact, have answers):
ReplyDelete(1) Why do so many people expend so much energy in their attempts to belittle, discredit, and marginalize religion and people of faith (especially Christians)?
(2) Why do so many people, as evidenced by their relentless commentary, seem so threatened by religion and people of faith (especially since no religion or faith is being forced upon those people)?
They suspect it may be true?
ReplyDeleteWell, perhaps. It strikes me that the anti-religionists like Harris often have no heartburn (no pun intended) with Buddhism, Taoism, or even Hinduism, and they seem to remain silent about Islam (and its aberrant distorters), Judaism (perhaps because of some sort of shared guilt about past persecutions), and the various other religions of the world. Atheism or wholesale opposition to religion, if that is a correct characterization Harris's mindset, seems more accurately to have only Christianity in its crosshairs (more than any other sect or group), and I suspect is has something more to do with world politics (in the big, sociological definition) than an aversion to perceived truth.
ReplyDeleteWell, I think a lot of people respond to the culture they're in, which in this case has a lot of Christianity (though I wouldn't say they never say anything about Islam or Judaism). And a lot of people are against what they see as folly and prejudice that gets patted on the head and taken seriously just because it's about "faith" or "people of faith."
ReplyDelete