Sam Harris

I have always been an atheist and always have enjoyed to varying degrees Sam Harris’ work, particularly his neuroscientific ideas and ideas on free will. With that said, I have now officially lost ‘faith’ in Sam. Since 2005 I have listened to him and since that time I constantly hear him speak of men as if they were universally violent criminals in every imaginable context, be it Afghanistan, Turkey, the United States, Norway, etc. Men are (according to Sam) rapists, murderers and generally speaking the principle agents of violence in the world whereas women are innocent, angelic and without fault or flaw. I used to post here a fair deal but since detecting Harris’ constant misandry (which I do not believe he is aware of, I have lost a great deal of respect for him. Below is the link to his article the Riddle of the Gun. I am on the same page as him concerning gun rights but where we depart is with statements like the following:

http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/the-riddle-of-the-gun

“A world without guns is one in which the most aggressive men can do more or less anything they want. It is a world in which a man with a knife can rape and murder a woman in the presence of a dozen witnesses, and none will find the courage to intervene”

” But when an armed man enters an office building, restaurant, or school for the purpose of murdering everyone in sight, things are going very badly already.”

“Just imagine how a few men with box cutters would now be greeted by their fellow passengers at 30,000 feet.”

At the same time, women are only victims or as is the case in this article, on the side of right, law enforcers. That there are women murderers of children, women rapists and violent women in general, seems to elude him. How such a brilliant (albeit compartmentalised) mind can not see this is beyond me. I have my theories but that would wander into the realm of his personal background, which is something I want to avoid. Now those kinds of statements about violent men can be found in virtually every piece of writing he has produced, from books to articles. I believe he produces it subconsciously without thinking about because as some are acutely aware, our world and society despises men and sees them primarily as agents of violence and wrong doing. I suppose you can call this a ‘calling out’ but I for one am sick and tired of Sam writing these things and speaking the same. Evil men, good women. That seems to be as much as part of Sam Harris’ beliefs as anything else.

stardusk - 03 January 2013 12:06 PM

I have always been an atheist and always have enjoyed to varying degrees Sam Harris’ work, particularly his neuroscientific ideas and ideas on free will. With that said, I have now officially lost ‘faith’ in Sam. Since 2005 I have listened to him and since that time I constantly hear him speak of men as if they were universally violent criminals in every imaginable context, be it Afghanistan, Turkey, the United States, Norway, etc. Men are (according to Sam) rapists, murderers and generally speaking the principle agents of violence in the world whereas women are innocent, angelic and without fault or flaw. I used to post here a fair deal but since detecting Harris’ constant misandry (which I do not believe he is aware of, I have lost a great deal of respect for him. Below is the link to his article the Riddle of the Gun. I am on the same page as him concerning gun rights but where we depart is with statements like the following:

http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/the-riddle-of-the-gun

“A world without guns is one in which the most aggressive men can do more or less anything they want. It is a world in which a man with a knife can rape and murder a woman in the presence of a dozen witnesses, and none will find the courage to intervene”

” But when an armed man enters an office building, restaurant, or school for the purpose of murdering everyone in sight, things are going very badly already.”

“Just imagine how a few men with box cutters would now be greeted by their fellow passengers at 30,000 feet.”

At the same time, women are only victims or as is the case in this article, on the side of right, law enforcers. That there are women murderers of children, women rapists and violent women in general, seems to elude him. How such a brilliant (albeit compartmentalised) mind can not see this is beyond me. I have my theories but that would wander into the realm of his personal background, which is something I want to avoid. Now those kinds of statements about violent men can be found in virtually every piece of writing he has produced, from books to articles. I believe he produces it subconsciously without thinking about because as some are acutely aware, our world and society despises men and sees them primarily as agents of violence and wrong doing. I suppose you can call this a ‘calling out’ but I for one am sick and tired of Sam writing these things and speaking the same. Evil men, good women. That seems to be as much as part of Sam Harris’ beliefs as anything else.

Would it make you feel better if every pronoun was gender neutral?  Would it really make any difference to the context? 
Specifically, in the case of the first quote would you feel better if the pronouns were reversed and it was an aggressive woman raping a man?
On the second quote, how many women have done those things?  Is there a possible precedent that would lead one to use the male pronoun?
Again, on the third quote, do you know of any cases of women attempting to hijack a plane using box knives?
Obviously, men and women have the ability and propensity to be violent.  I think you are a bit too defensive and sensitive here.  Someone once told me that when you think and act like a hammer all you see are nails.

Hardly. Read Harris’ books and articles. They abound with examples of violent male rapists threatening women. In general, the concern is, what does religion do to women but not men and if so then only how it affects men in relation to women.