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Debates
Sam Harris v. Rabbi David Wolpe
Does God Exist?
November 6, 2007
American Jewish University presents best-selling authors Sam Harris and Rabbi David Wolpe in a debate about the existence of God and the role of religion and faith in society. Sam Harris is the author of The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation. Rabbi David Wolpe, of Sinai Temple, is the author of Teaching Your Children About God and Why Be Jewish. This debate is moderated by Los Angeles Times religion editor Steve Padilla.
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On Secularism: A Round Table
What is the role of secularism in contemporary politics, and what does it mean to be tolerant towards others’ religious or non-religious views? Micromega is presenting a two-week long round-table to discuss these issues, with Roberta De Monticelli, Daniel Dennett, Paolo Flores d’Arcais, Marcel Gauchet, Sam Harris, Avishai Margalit, Thomas Nagel, Fernando Savater, Dan Sperber
Sam Harris v. Chris Hedges
This debate was held as a benefit for TruthDig at UCLA’s Royce Hall on May 22nd, 2007, before an audience of 1,300 people. Robert Scheer served as moderator.
Chris Hedges is a former Middle East bureau chief for The New York Times and a graduate of Harvard Divinity School. He is the author of “American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America.”
Robert Scheer is a journalist with nearly 40 years of experience and the author of eight books. He is the editor in chief of Truthdig.
Sam’s written addendum to the debate can be found here:
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Sam Harris v. Andrew Sullivan
Harris debates blogger and Conservative Soul author Andrew Sullivan in a no-holds-barred “blogalogue.”
Sam Harris vs. Rick Warren
April 9, 2007
From the Introductory Essay: “Is God Real?”, by Jon Meacham
If you know anything about the two men, you will not find their answers surprising. The details of their arguments and the play of their minds, however, shed light on the nature of the clash about religion at this moment in America. Warren believes in the God of Abraham as revealed by Scripture, tradition and reason; Jesus is Warren’s personal savior and was, Warren argues, who he said he was: the Son of God. Harris, naturally, takes a different view. “I no more believe in the Biblical God than I believe in Zeus, Isis, Thor and the thousands of other dead gods that lie buried in the mass grave we call ‘mythology’,” Harris says. “I doubt them all equally and for the same reason: lack of evidence"…
Rick Warren is as big as a bear, with a booming voice and easygoing charm. Sam Harris is compact, reserved and, despite the polemical tone of his books, friendly and mild. Warren, one of the best-known pastors in the world, started Saddleback in 1980; now 25,000 people attend the church each Sunday. Harris is softer-spoken; paragraphs pour out of him, complex and fact-filled— as befits a Ph.D. student in neuroscience. At NEWSWEEK’s invitation, they met in Warren’s office recently and chatted, mostly amiably, for four hours. Jon Meacham moderated. Excerpts follow.
God Debate: Sam Harris vs. Rick Warren
Sam Harris v. Reza Aslan
Does the Bible provide timeless prescriptions for our daily lives? Or does its inclusion of practices such as slavery preclude its ability to act as such a guide? Are Osama bin Laden’s grievances with the United States purely theological, or also social and political? Reza Aslan, author of No god but God, and Sam Harris, author of Letter to a Christian Nation, take up these questions in this debate at the Los Angeles Public Library. The debate is moderated by Jonathan Kirsch, author of A History of the End of the World.
Sam Harris v. Dennis Prager
Author of the thundering anti-theist polemics The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation, Harris may just be the Thomas Paine of an emerging movement to wrench religion out of American life. Prager is a nationally syndicated talk radio host who trumpets the virtues of the Judeo-Christian tradition… (www.jewcy.com)
Sent in by a kind reader—artist, Shell Fisher