bingle4 - 11 June 2011 05:50 PM
In “The End of Faith” Sam Harris takes a strong stance against religious moderates. It seems he is mostly opposed to moderates, due to their enabling the extremist. My hypothetical question is this: If we could eliminate all religious extremism, would Sam Harris still take issue with the moderates? Any input is appreciated. Thanks.
You cannot eliminate religion (as defined with a g-d or agency). Religion is a social phenomena that can be rooted from anyone individual philosophical ideology.
You cannot eliminate extremism. As such, is the reason why moderates exists to adjust some sort of stability among the objective masses.
Moderates exists as a mean to uphold some sort of religious middle ground until there is a degradation or total cessation of such religious teaching. They are necessary for the transformation of one extreme religious form into a lesser one.
Just like without middle class system, which is the staple or the backbone of a country’s economy, small businesses would not arise and jobs availability cannot supply for the needed demands.
Moderates tend to take both sides of the fence, whenever it is convenience or favorable for their own needs. But this is only only a short term issue. Without their driving force, extremism on the opposing end would eventually arise, adding yet another layer to the existing problem.
