Why the End of Faith is just its Beginning - #1

Why the End of Faith is just its beginning

[da has now chosen his title]

Chapter 1 - Reason In Exile

Finally, I start reading Sam Harris “End of Faith”. The cover looks intimidating, it reminds me of the sign of the London Dungeon. Am I entering the gates to hell disguised in a book promising peace, freedom and happyness for everybody? We´ll see.

One of the first statements I stumble on first is “Most cherished beliefs lead us to kill one another.” Dear Sam, unfortunately, you don´t detail which ones they are. As you leave it open for imagination, I think, in my case, the summary of all laws given by Jesus is one of my most cherished beliefs. Now, I am wondering how “Love your neighbor as yourself” can lead to the holocaust…unless I am pretty suicidal, which, on the other hand, God despises.

Hmm, what is quite disturbing to me is that Harris makes no distinction among beliefs. He, having read the Bible, son of a Quaker father, should realize that in the case of Christians, homicides have occurred only when misinterpreting the Bible for personal convenience (crusades, Protestants, inquisition, “If thou seest a witch, thou shall kill her”?????…). Not in the slightest sense does Jesus call for harming another human, no matter what his belief or his actions are. This is dramatically proven by many fellow believers who have been slaughtered without any resistance, remember what Jesus tells us when we are attacked: “give the other cheek”.

I only can interpret the first pages as talking about Islam or other violent religion where the writings give explicit right to harm/kill others. “Our religious beliefs are antithetical to our survival?” Sam, you know you are not talking about true Christian beliefs but, at most, about what mankind, evil in its nature, has done out of it.

Allow me one example. An amazonian tribesleader said that before they had the Bible they lived like animals, killing, stealing, and killing. But since they live according to the faith in Jesus, they live like humans. Recall: no alien intervention, just a handful men living in a secluded jungle. Result: they start killing each other without any “book”. Those are the “scientific” experiments we have all over the world in remote areas.

Finally, a point I agree with Sam: religious moderates are no good to anybody. I don´t know if religious tolerance is the main force leading to the abyss (when will Hollywood discover his writing skills? Many special effects guaranteed if he directs a movie) but it helps nobody. Sam is right in pointing out that, if one accepts any faith by face value, tolerance is not possible. You will never ever see me praying with a Muslim to Allah, although I wouldn´t punch him either.
“There is clearly a sacred dimension to our existence”, ok, now we get along again. But then, what is it? Have you found a new spiritual way? And: what if I won´t accept it? Will you stone me, Sam? Hopefully, your “sacred dimension” tells you to be nice to others just as mine tells me. In that case we will get along. I won´t accept your view but I will accept you. See, it´s in principle the same we have here. I like TAM´s approach and I would never think of stoning him (besides, the Bible forbids me). But I do not agree with his beliefs. Ok, enough for today. Tomorrow I'll go for “The Myth of Moderation in Religion”, sounds like I will like Sam's following section. Although, pleeeease, make some distinction between the beliefs you are talking about.

TAM: da, welcome to the missionary reading club. First of all, I agree that the moral code which Jesus preached is largely worthy of praise. Surely you know that he was not the first to teach these precepts. If all there was to Christianity was "love your neighbour", I can almost guarantee you that this ite would be largely aimed at other faiths. The problem is that religious beliefs invariably affect the way people live their lives and the way they want others to live their lives. In your comment above, you state that Sam is not talking about "true Christian beliefs". Well, over the course of this discussion, I hope you will share the tenets of your flavour of delusion with us. For example, as a Christian, I take it you believe that Jesus was crucified, died on the cross, started to rot and then rose from the dead over 24 hours later. Think about that. Do you really believe that? It is supposedly fundamental to your faith. Finally, the thesis of Harris' book (and the reason why I asked you to read it) is that religious moderation enables the radicals. In the case of Christianity, the radicals are the fundamentalists who await the end of the world with open arms. In the days and weeks to come, I look forward to hearing when you believe Christ will return and what you think will happen to the poor sods like me when he does.