Sam Harris – Letter to Christian Nation – Atheism is not a religion.

Since when did facts have the power to influence religious beliefs? I mean, they do for reasonable people, sure, but what about those of us who are able to compartmentalize our brains into two parts: one set aside for rational, reasonable understanding, and the other for accepting religious deepities and epistemological incoherencies as our way to honour god? Reason is such a small sacrifice to make for eternal bliss.

What about those of us who simply don’t care about what’s probably true and grant our primary allegiance to our nonsensical religious beliefs? Do facts make the slightest difference?

No, not really. There will always be the batshit crazy among us who believe in scriptural inerrancy. For them, facts don’t matter and seem to cause little or no cognitive dissonance.

But to those who fall somewhere short of gobshite lunacy (let’s call them agnostic for convenience) – those still susceptible to intellectual integrity and honest rational coherence, those who think what’s true really does matter – then yes, facts will carry weight.

I am a huge fan of Harris and enjoy the fresh air of his intellect. To be honest, it’s several years since I read LTACN. Thanks for the reminder.

(The latest incarnation of atheism as another kind of belief is now presented as an ideology that will run its course as its ‘followers’ grow up.)

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You people? Oh my. We’re your neighbours, your friends, your relatives, your children. We are your bosses and workers and fellow employees. We are your ministers and priests. We are everywhere people are. We value what’s true and don’t believe in deities. We are moral, ethical,, compassionate, and productive members of society who hold that enlightenment values matter.

Gnu atheists stand up and challenge religious nonsense. Those who think religious beliefs are not nonsense need to explain why and inform that explanation with good reasons. It doesn’t matter what the religious belief is; if it’s nonsense, it’s nonsense and needs to be treated as such.

As for the argument that this nonsense isn’t as bad as that violent nonsense are talking a lot of sense here, either: the malady is the nonsense and the symptom is whatever specific bit of nonsense is ID or creationism or women are property or whatever. These are just the overt symptoms and need to be challenged vocally and often and some are worse than others. That’s why gnu atheists do indeed go after islam as particularly repugnant and disingenuous. What is stupid is assuming that islam is protected by atheists when the evidence is quite clear that it is not. Religious belief needs strong and sustained criticism if we ever want to defend our rights and freedoms and respect human rights, equality, and the dignity of personhood over and above religious nonsense that undermines these enlightenment values.

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Right. You have no idea what atheists are talking about. You’ve never heard anything about ID or creationism, not a clue about gay marriage, think praying in school doesn’t promote religion by the state, have no problem intervening in medical issues like abortion and research, assume Iron Age morality is a pinnacle of human philosophy, and will trust a disabled female islamicist ahead of an atheist. You don’t care that many state charters prohibit atheists from holding public office, think it’s fine to hold blasphemy laws on the books, don’t care that a significant minority support murder of atheists in defense of the faith, that government money should support religious outreach programs, that there’s nothing wrong with the military being a christian organization, that tax exemption is the least everyone owes churches, that legislation should mention praise to god, that religious belief should be a defense against civic duty, that money needs a religious slogan, and so on. You haven’t a clue about anything wrong with extending religious belief into the public domain and that no one has cause to take issue with thiws intrusion.

You don’t want to learn, Alan, so why do you think it’s okay to be so blatantly dishonest? A lack of intellectual courage, perhaps? Or simply a firm belief that what you believe is not only more important than you accepting my civil rights, but that I should subsidize your fairytale insertions into my life? You will not only dismiss my concerns, but, you already have. Haven’t you?

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Legitimate criticism is not an ‘attack’ unless you feel you are defending something illegitimate.

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Yes, I see his point: every American is really a Nazi because Kennedy said “Ich bin (ein) Berliner (the ein shouldn’t be used for a person).

Come on. Think first.

Oh, right. That gate has already closed.

Nevertheless, let me explain. This sign represents the same principle as the one Kennedy used: the rights and freedoms we have need to be protected including freedom of religion not just by those whose rights are under attack but by each and every one of us.

The problem is that too many religious folk think their right to freedom of religion in the public domain should be asserted by the state. Obviously, this is retarded thinking because it directly attacks freedom of religion. And religious folk love to undermine their own freedoms (and everyone else’s) on the alter of ‘repecting’ their preferred god.

Gnu Atheists attack faith-based beliefs because they understand you cannot accommodate equal respect what IS true with respect for what people BELIEVE is true. In this sense, all religious beliefs are incompatible with respecting what is true. But you still have the right to believe whatever you want… in the private domain. In this sense of respecting personal equality, I’m a christian religious nutcase too.

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