Sam Harris.org Reader Forum

Free Will

2013-05-15T02:58:33+00:00

If there is no such thing as free will, why do we punish people for committing crimes? Do we not expect people to use their free will to refrain from criminal activity? Why does Sam write books to change people’s minds if they don’t have the free will to change their
minds? Thanks for your responses.

Getting the Message out Theists on the tangible benefits of reading Dr. Harris

2013-05-06T19:29:55+00:00

I’m no Steinbeck and new to this particular forum, but what I have noted in my experience as a non-theist in other forums is that people like me have a hard time connecting with theists. I was a Christian true believer at one time, and I can say from my memories of those times in this present moment, that I understand (not agree with) their fear of us. We challenge the very foundation of their beliefs. Now, unlike them, I was always wired to leave faith. My brain could never fully accept the dogma. I always had questions, but didn’t realize those questions would be answered through atheism until I started to realize I was one. There isn’t any information or action that would have made me endure as true believer. I’m getting a bit off track, but what I am trying to get to is that we need a way to bridge the conversation. They are scared and aren’t going to make the first step. I empathize with them from my past experience when I could not grasp atheism and how anyone without god could lead a moral life or felt the need to.

Now to my point: Dr. Harris is a brilliant man and is able to challenge religious beliefs without a full assault that would scare them away.

I started to write a review of Dr. Harris’s work, that I thought would be helpful in getting the word to theists that, his thoughts are worth listening to.

**Please provide me with criticism on the piece, if you think something like this may be good to get the word out to the Christian Nation, and where I may post a piece like this to initiate a response.

“Dr. Sam Harris is one of the most prophetic and inspirational speakers, writers and debaters that I have ever had the fortune to read and listen to. He masters speaking style, the literary word, and gently disarming distinguished debate opponents with his kind wit, logical perfection and meditative style. It is mildly unfortunate that he is labeled as “one of the four horsemen” of New Atheism. His polarization to atheism is most likely due to his penetrating belief in logic, science and the betterment of this world, which religious disconnectedness seems unable to accomplish. His ideals, morals, and positive outlook on his own life and the progression of the human condition are great lessons for all of mankind. Theist and non-theists all have so much they could learn from him. If we were to forget the titles of his books, and look at the content for its potential impacts to our lives and those we love, we could increase our toolbox to live fulfilling lives tenfold. I highly encourage everyone to listen to his speeches and debates and read his books. Please check out his website at http://www.samharris.org/ where, you can find a lion share of his content. Even if you are a religious true believer, there is more to be gained from his words than any I have found in any other writings from this decade. Please take the time, if only to study opposing viewpoints to read Dr. Harris. Just as I, have learned the lessons of Gandhi, Buddha and Jesus of Nazareth as well as the many of the leaders of New Atheism, I encourage you to approach Dr. Harris’s works with an open mind and take from them only what you need for your personal betterment. I would guarantee reading Mr. Harris will be a life changing experience and even if you don’t match with him on all levels of belief, you will be able to able an immense proportion of each work to your own life.”

Sincerely,
Chris Randall

This is Chris, signing off, and reminding you to stay connected and live in the present, for it is truly what we have.

You can find more about me at: http://www.christopher-randall.com (Father, Husband, Humanist, Veteran, Lover of Science, Reason, Nature, Technology Transcendental Experiences, Meditation and Mankind).

aftermath of school shooting and rise of religion

2012-12-19T21:47:53+00:00

I’m somewhat baffled and freaked by the media coverage (primarily all the so-called cable new channels) following the Newtown school shooting and how the media treats religion and the concepts of god and heaven so postively and literally. CNN is interviewing a lot of extreme religious figures and seriously discussing heaven, the process of entering heaven and how the victims are together with Jesus, etc. It’s pretty startling how extreme and detailed the discussions have been on CNN, MSNBC and especially FOX. What’s the deal? Are we sliding back into the medieval thinking. What makes everyone get super religious and superstitious after these tragic events. Will we ever break free of this form of insanity? It’s pretty disturbing.

The first Greek Pastafarian Martyr ( Blasphemy Arrest In Greece !!! )

2012-09-25T13:06:36+00:00

‘Gerontas Pastitsios’ Pastafarian Facebook Page Leads To Blasphemy Arrest In Greece

A 27-year-old man has been arrested by Greek police for what the authorities called “malicious blasphemy,” according to a HuffPost translation of a press release.

Police allege that the man managed a Facebook page that lampooned the deceased Eastern Orthodox monk Elder Paisios, a widely popular religious figure, using the name “Gerontas (Elder) Pastitsios.”

Pastitsios is a Greek pasta dish, and the page parodied the monk and his work in the vein of Pastafarianism, a lighthearted, satirical movement that promotes irreligion. In a screen shot of the group’s Facebook page, which now appears to have been removed from the social network, Elder Paisios is shown with a plate of pastitsios.

The unidentified man was arrested at his home in Athens on Friday following complaints received by the Greek police’s “Cyber Crimes” bureau. Police confiscated the man’s laptop and “determined that he was indeed the person who created and managed” the Facebook page, according to a HuffPost translation of the Greek police press release.

According to Reddit user “DeSaad,” who posted a thread about the arrest to the social news site, the manager of the page used it to publish satirical images and articles about the Greek Orthodox faith and Elder Paisios. The Redditor claimed that this angered members of the Greek right-wing political party Golden Dawn, who called for the man’s arrest under Greece’s anti-blasphemy laws.

However, a Digital Journal translation of a Greek news source claims that the Facebook page was under investigation prior to the political party’s condemnation of it.

The arrest has sparked outrage across the Internet. The hashtag #FreeGeronPastitios trended strongly on the Greek Twittersphere, Business Insider reports.

A petition addressed to the Greek parliament demands the immediate release of the accused man and the abolishment of anti-blasphemy laws in Greece.

Blasphemy in Greece carries a fine of up to 3,000 euros (about $3,800), and up to 2 years imprisonment, according to Change.org.

Pastafarianism, also known as the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, is a parody religion founded in the United States that opposes, among other things, the teaching of intelligent design and creationism in public schools.

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Does God exist? Mavbe, maybe not.

2012-02-18T14:08:36+00:00

The world we live on has many people, some theists, some not. Maybe a supreme Being doesn’t exist, I don’t know for sure. Do you claim to know that God is not? Is there a heaven beyond the universe? Religious beliefs are taken for granted, but seem to be increasingly questioned as time goes on. Questions are alright. Investigation is allowed, but the question about the origin of the cosmos and the existence of God does not yield a definite answer. I wish we were living in paradise. Maybe there is no God. I think most subscibers here would tell me there isn’t. Theism, eliminate it, right? Science, given time, will explain everything, right? Human striving for knowledge, total knowledge, seems funny to me. Such seems beyomd our grasp; maybe not.

Demanding Evidence for God

2012-02-18T13:30:48+00:00

Demanding evidence for the existence of God, the supreme Being, is like a blind person asking to see. Sometimes, blindness can be cured.

A Norwegian’s response to Norway’s alleged atheism and Sam’s blog post “Christian Terrorism and Islamophobia”.

2011-07-25T19:09:51+00:00

Fellow nontheists, I will just make sure to tell you that this is my first post. The chief reason for my registration, besides me being very fond of Sam’s books and essays, was that his blog post “Christian Terrorism and Islamophobia” really struck a chord with me. As a lot of you may know, Norway was a victim of an atrocity not matched since WWII. If you are not aware of this, I suggest you go and read Sam’s blog post, and then, I’m sure, we can be on the same page. In this post I also want to address Norway’s atheism, something I think a lot of people are curious about.

First, I think I should inform you of my standpoint to prevent any confusion from arising: I am best described as the Christopher Hitchens-esque anti-theist: I have been a non-believer pretty much all my life, but after reading his books in addition to Dawkins’s and Harris’s books, I found myself to be an anti-theist.

Onwards to Norway’s atheism: There are, as you have heard, a lot of secularists in Norway; however, there are not as many atheists and agnostics as people are purporting there to be. One finds the predominant views here to be liberal religious, or non-believers with a tedious habit of defending religion like the most avid of the fundamentalists. In fact, the people I have encountered most criticism of my religious views from, have all come from the latter. I am rarely “blessed” to meet people who share my view points, but I have no trouble being a lone wolf. If anybody wants to know anything else about this subject, just ask and I will try to address the matter as best as I can.

Now to the terrorist attacks: At first, I, like so many others, had my suspicions of a terrorist attack by Al Qaida because of their strenuous promise to revenge Osama Bin Laden’s death; nevertheless, I did not want to draw hasty conclusions based on mere suspicions, so I decided to wait for the data to come in. After Andreas Behring Breivik was caught, it really came as a shock to hear that he had, in the span of only 1-2 hours, killed over 80 young, political active people. A bomb attack on Norway I have actually thought was just a matter of time, but I did not foresee the severity of this callous, appalling tragedy.

Like the anti-theist I am, I reject all religion, but I think we can say that, for the time being, Islam is the one religion that poses the biggest threats. Now, I have to clarify that I am NOT a racist, at all. Nor do I have anything against Muslims personally; I have some Muslim friends – liberals and fundamentals. The aftermath of this, I fear, is going to severely restrict my ability to not get labeled as an Islamophobic person. And it is for this reason I find it hard to, like Sam said, be open and candid about the truth.

Nevertheless, all kinds of different people over the ages, who have had controversial and subsequently accepted view points, so I think that this is just an even more important reason for me to make my case, and I know, judged by my own merits, I am not a racist, or anything remotely of the kind.

Child Abuse and Iphone Apps in the name of Catholicism

2011-02-13T09:18:23+00:00

Hi,

I happened upon an article about the Vatican on the BBC news webpage. It seems to me like the ‘Holy See’ is attempting to cover some of the stain the ‘child abuse’ case has put on their reputation in the news. To me, it seems like a way of displaying to the Catholic public & those criticizing it that everything is running smoothly and that the church is up to modern times, as with the January 24th announcement on technology by the Pope. Could this be the unfolding of a new age of a modernized church or more likely an attempt to keep up appearances? Does the ‘app’ really matter? Probably not; however, the problem I find with it is the flagrant lack of perspective this shows on their part. They have a sex abuse scandal gone public and seem to find the creation of online proselytizing and confession more important. This is a misappropriation of resources that can simply be called stupid. If one looks over the years from condoms to stem cell research, it may merit be labeled exhaustively stupid. In fact, it speaks volumes of how lightly this organization actually takes the case of child rape. So, am I wrong? Does this public display merit being a signal to people that the Church has far more important priorities than justice against child rapists? If I am (and I may be), why is there an apparent stall to fixing this problem? I know it is a small piece of Catholic functioning and is somewhat a reflection of what the BBC wants to interest their readers. But, the publicity made over this app and Catholic social networking seems to be a case of wanting publicity, other than the current one spanning billions of dollars in lawsuits. They state the ‘child abuse’ case is important, but find time for deliberation on reinventing confession.

What are your thoughts?

Scott D. J

In the ‘Moral landscape’ where Morality is defined as that which contributes the well being of conscious creatures, would it then follow that sacrific

2011-01-16T02:29:41+00:00

Read all of this before you answer.

I was gong to ask Sam: If I have five people in a hospital, one needs a heart; the other a liver; the other a pancreas; the other two kidneys in order to survive, and then I had a healthy person, would it be moral to kill the healthy person and harvest his organs in order to save the 4 that are bout to die, since this contributes to the well being of more sentient beings?

THEN I THOUGHT OF THE ANSWER MYSELF: It doesn’t contribute to the well being of more conscious creatures since a world where any healthy person could be randomly killed for the sake of others would create a society of fear, where people are afraid to leave their house, people would seek revenge upon doctors who killed their siblings, mothers, brothers e.t.c the pessimism would be detrimental to the economy and so on.

BUT WHAT IF: This wasn’t a daily occurence. What if it happened so rarely as to be negligible to the well being of the general population, but when it did happen 4 conscious beings would be benefited for the sacrifice of one.

Would that then be moral?

has Sam Harris commented on ‘Burn a quran day’ ?

2010-09-10T09:30:08+00:00

maybe i’m not looking carefully enough but it looks like there is no discussion on this issue at all on this forum. Can that be right?