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== Killing people for thought crimes and Harris' book The End of Faith ==
 
== Killing people for thought crimes and Harris' book The End of Faith ==
  
In his book ''The End of Faith'', Harris wrote: “Some beliefs are so dangerous that it may be ethical to kill people for believing them”.<ref>[http://dangerousidea.blogspot.com/2011/06/sam-harris-on-killing-people-for-what.html Sam Harris on Killing People for What they Believe] by Victor Reppert</ref>  Harris was criticized by [[Christian apologetics|Christian apologist]] Victor Reppert and others for his promotion of the idea that killing people for thought crimes is morally acceptable.<ref>[http://voxday.blogspot.com/2014/10/sam-harris-is-still-genocidal-maniac.html Sam Harris: genocidal maniac or suicidal logician?] by [[Vox Day]], October 13, 2014</ref><ref>[http://dangerousidea.blogspot.com/2011/06/sam-harris-on-killing-people-for-what.html Sam Harris on Killing People for What they Believe] by Victor Reppert</ref>
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In his book ''The End of Faith'', Harris wrote: “Some beliefs are so dangerous that it may be ethical to kill people for believing them”.<ref>[http://dangerousidea.blogspot.com/2011/06/sam-harris-on-killing-people-for-what.html Sam Harris on Killing People for What they Believe] by Victor Reppert</ref>  Harris was criticized by [[Christian apologetics|Christian apologist]] Victor Reppert and others for his promotion of the idea that killing people for thought crimes is morally acceptable.<ref>[http://voxday.blogspot.com/2014/10/sam-harris-is-still-genocidal-maniac.html Sam Harris: genocidal maniac or suicidal logician?] by [[Vox Day]], October 13, 2014</ref><ref>[http://dangerousidea.blogspot.com/2011/06/sam-harris-on-killing-people-for-what.html Sam Harris on Killing People for What they Believe] by Victor Reppert</ref><ref>Madeleine Bunting, "[http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/may/07/comment.religion The New Atheists loathe religion far too much to plausibly challenge it]," The Guardian, May 7, 2007</ref>
 
[[File:Vox Day.jpg|thumbnail|right|150px|[[Vox Day|Theodore Beale]] ]]  
 
[[File:Vox Day.jpg|thumbnail|right|150px|[[Vox Day|Theodore Beale]] ]]  
 
[[Vox Day|Theodore Beale]] wrote in response to Harris defending his statement:
 
[[Vox Day|Theodore Beale]] wrote in response to Harris defending his statement:
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== Sam Harris vs. William Lane Craig debate ==
 
== Sam Harris vs. William Lane Craig debate ==
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''See also:'' [[Atheism debates]] and [[Atheism and morality]] and [[Sam Harris vs. William Lane Craig debate]]
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In 2011, Sam Harris debated the [[Christian apologetics|Christian apologist]] and philosopher [[William Lane Craig]] at the [[University of Notre Dame]] on the topic of morality and the debate was the proposition "Is Good From God?".<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqaHXKLRKzg The God Debate II: Harris vs. Craig], Notre Dame University YouTube channel, Uploaded on Apr 12, 2011</ref><ref>[http://thinkingmatters.org.nz/2011/04/how-william-lane-craig-thrashed-sam-harris-like-a-naughty-puppy/ How William Lane Craig thrashed Sam Harris like a naughty puppy], Thinking Matters (New Zealand Christian Apologetics Ministry), April 9, 2011</ref>
  
 
=== Reviews of the debate ===
 
=== Reviews of the debate ===
  
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==== Review by the New Zealand Christian apologetics ministry Thinking Matters ====
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[[Image:Billcraig_czvx.jpg‎‎|thumb|150px|[[William Lane Craig]] ]]
 
The New Zealand Christian apologetics ministry Thinking Matters said of the Sam Harris vs. William Lane Craig debate:
 
The New Zealand Christian apologetics ministry Thinking Matters said of the Sam Harris vs. William Lane Craig debate:
...Craig brought down the hammer and completely crushed Harris for the rest of the debate, by not only showing that Harris wasn’t engaging with the topic (he was equivocating between moral epistemology and ontology) but that his entire ethical system was necessarily false, by his own admission.<ref>[http://thinkingmatters.org.nz/2011/04/how-william-lane-craig-thrashed-sam-harris-like-a-naughty-puppy/ How William Lane Craig thrashed Sam Harris like a naughty puppy], Thinking Matters (New Zealand Christian Apologetics Ministry, April 9, 2011</ref>}}
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{{cquote|Craig brought a great many cogent objections to bear against Harris’s view...
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Craig started by drawing the audience’s attention to how Harris was confusing moral [[ontology]] with moral [[semantics]]: confusing the basis or the foundation for moral values with the meaning of moral terms.
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...Craig brought down the hammer and completely crushed Harris for the rest of the debate, by not only showing that Harris wasn’t engaging with the topic (he was [[equivocation|equivocating]] between moral [[epistemology]] and ontology) but that his entire ethical system was necessarily false, by his own admission...
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“A less moral framework is atheism,” started Craig with an exasperated laugh, and then went on to point out that Harris had said nothing to defend an atheistic foundation for morality, nor to refute Craig’s own arguments. To demonstrate how poorly Harris understood Christianity, and how irrelevant his “arguments” were, Craig quipped, in regards to Harris’s claim that the goal on theism is to avoid hell, “Belief in God isn’t some kind of fire insurance.” He then went on to list a number of other ways in which the red herrings that Harris had laid across the path were irrelevant—which was fair enough since there wasn’t much else to say.<ref>[http://thinkingmatters.org.nz/2011/04/how-william-lane-craig-thrashed-sam-harris-like-a-naughty-puppy/ How William Lane Craig thrashed Sam Harris like a naughty puppy], Thinking Matters (New Zealand Christian Apologetics Ministry), April 9, 2011</ref>}}
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To see the full review of the debate by the Christian ministry Thinking Matters, please see: [http://thinkingmatters.org.nz/2011/04/how-william-lane-craig-thrashed-sam-harris-like-a-naughty-puppy/ Review of Sam Harris vs. William Lane Craig debate]
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Other reviews by Christians:
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*[http://rightreason.org/2011/debate-review-william-lane-craig-and-sam-harris/ Debate Review: William Lane Craig and Sam Harris]
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*[http://www.randyeverist.com/2011/04/review-of-craig-vs-harris-debate.html Review of Craig vs. Harris Debate] by Randy Ecerest
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*[http://jwwartick.com/2011/04/08/harris-craig/ Sam Harris vs. William Lane Craig: Thoughts and Links] by J.W. Wartick
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==== Review of the debate by the atheist Luke Muehlhauser at Common Sense Atheism ====
  
The atheist Luke Muehlhauser said of the debate, "As usual, Craig’s superior framing, scholarship and debate skills ‘won’ the debate for him."<ref>[http://commonsenseatheism.com/?p=15243 Sam Harris vs. William Lane Craig debate review (part 3)] by Luke Muehlhauser, Common Sense Atheism,  oApril 17, 2011<?ref>  
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The atheist Luke Muehlhauser reviewed the debate at the atheist blog ''Common Sense Atheism''. Muehlhauser said of the debate, "As usual, Craig’s superior framing, scholarship and debate skills ‘won’ the debate for him."<ref>[http://commonsenseatheism.com/?p=15243 Sam Harris vs. William Lane Craig debate review (part 3)] by Luke Muehlhauser, Common Sense Atheism,  oApril 17, 2011</ref>
  
 
== Harris claims the label atheist is right next to child molester as a designation ==
 
== Harris claims the label atheist is right next to child molester as a designation ==
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=== Harris' and Western atheist outreach contrasted with Christian outreach ===
 
=== Harris' and Western atheist outreach contrasted with Christian outreach ===
  
[[File:African open air Christian meeting.jpg|thumbnail|right|320px|[[Africa]]n Christians clapping at an open air meeting. In recent years, Christianity has seen a rapid growth in Africa.<ref>[http://gratefultothedead.wordpress.com/2009/12/16/the-african-apostles-how-christianity-exploded-in-20th-century-africa/ The African apostles: How Christianity exploded in 20th-century Africa]</ref>  
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[[File:African open air Christian meeting.jpg|thumbnail|left|320px|[[Africa]]n Christians clapping at an open air meeting. In recent years, Christianity has seen a rapid growth in Africa.<ref>[http://gratefultothedead.wordpress.com/2009/12/16/the-african-apostles-how-christianity-exploded-in-20th-century-africa/ The African apostles: How Christianity exploded in 20th-century Africa]</ref>  
 
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Revision as of 00:08, July 6, 2015

Sam Harris

Sam Harris is an American author and atheist. Harris is one of the founders of the New Atheism movement. Dr. Harris received a Ph.D. in neuroscience from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and is also a graduate in philosophy from Stanford University. He wrote two controversial, but New York Times best seller books, The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation. He has written essays such as "Science must destroy religion"[1].

Sam Harris and charges of misogny

See also: Atheism and women and Atheism and sexism

Like his fellow new atheist Richard Dawkins, Harris has raised the ire of feminists.[2][3][4] See also: Elevatorgate

In 2014, Harris said that atheist activism lacks an “estrogen vibe” and was “to some degree intrinsically male”.[5]

On October 3, 2014, Salon magazine published an online article titled, Atheism’s shocking woman problem: What’s behind the misogyny of Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris?[6] On September 20 2014, the feminist blogger Libby Anne wrote an article entitled Is Sam Harris Sexist?[7] Atheist Sam Fincke wrote a piece entitled On Sam Harris’s Reply to Feminist Critics.[8]

In his defense, Harris published an article on his website titled, “I’m Not the Sexist Pig You’re Looking For”[9]

Charges of Islamophobia

See also: Atheism vs. Islam

The new atheists Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins and the late Christopher Hitchens have received multiple accusations of engaging in Islamophobic behavior.[10] On the other hand, defenders of atheist criticisms of Islam/Muslims indicated that New Atheists should be able to criticize Islam without being accused of Islamophobia.[11]

On June 21, 2014 Harris published an article on his website entitled Response to Critics which was a response to his critics who accuse him of Islamophobia.[12]

Killing people for thought crimes and Harris' book The End of Faith

In his book The End of Faith, Harris wrote: “Some beliefs are so dangerous that it may be ethical to kill people for believing them”.[13] Harris was criticized by Christian apologist Victor Reppert and others for his promotion of the idea that killing people for thought crimes is morally acceptable.[14][15][16]

Theodore Beale wrote in response to Harris defending his statement:

whining about the fact that people are still actively holding him accountable for the clear and obvious meaning of his written words, and he is still attempting to shade the truth while doing so.
"I know one thing to a moral certainty, however: Both Greenwald and Aslan know that those words do not mean what they appear to mean. Given the amount of correspondence we’ve had on these topics, and given that I have repeatedly bored audiences by clarifying that statement (in response to this kind of treatment), the chance that either writer thinks he is exposing the truth about my views—or that I’m really a “genocidal fascist maniac”—is zero. Aslan and Greenwald—a famous “scholar” and a famous “journalist”—are engaged in a campaign of pure defamation. They are consciously misleading their readers and increasing my security concerns in the process."

What a load of utter codswollop. Sam Harris clearly and openly and unmistakably wrote that it MAY be ethical to kill people for believing dangerous beliefs. Not for doing anything, not for harming anyone, but for simply BELIEVING CERTAIN BELIEFS. His repeated "clarifications" and obfuscations don't change that established fact and he has never recanted his statement. Nor, I note, has he ever come right out and declared specifically WHAT beliefs are so dangerous that it is ethical to kill people for nothing more than holding them.[17]

Sam Harris vs. William Lane Craig debate

See also: Atheism debates and Atheism and morality and Sam Harris vs. William Lane Craig debate

In 2011, Sam Harris debated the Christian apologist and philosopher William Lane Craig at the University of Notre Dame on the topic of morality and the debate was the proposition "Is Good From God?".[18][19]

Reviews of the debate

Review by the New Zealand Christian apologetics ministry Thinking Matters

The New Zealand Christian apologetics ministry Thinking Matters said of the Sam Harris vs. William Lane Craig debate:

Craig brought a great many cogent objections to bear against Harris’s view...

Craig started by drawing the audience’s attention to how Harris was confusing moral ontology with moral semantics: confusing the basis or the foundation for moral values with the meaning of moral terms.

...Craig brought down the hammer and completely crushed Harris for the rest of the debate, by not only showing that Harris wasn’t engaging with the topic (he was equivocating between moral epistemology and ontology) but that his entire ethical system was necessarily false, by his own admission...

“A less moral framework is atheism,” started Craig with an exasperated laugh, and then went on to point out that Harris had said nothing to defend an atheistic foundation for morality, nor to refute Craig’s own arguments. To demonstrate how poorly Harris understood Christianity, and how irrelevant his “arguments” were, Craig quipped, in regards to Harris’s claim that the goal on theism is to avoid hell, “Belief in God isn’t some kind of fire insurance.” He then went on to list a number of other ways in which the red herrings that Harris had laid across the path were irrelevant—which was fair enough since there wasn’t much else to say.[20]

To see the full review of the debate by the Christian ministry Thinking Matters, please see: Review of Sam Harris vs. William Lane Craig debate

Other reviews by Christians:

Review of the debate by the atheist Luke Muehlhauser at Common Sense Atheism

The atheist Luke Muehlhauser reviewed the debate at the atheist blog Common Sense Atheism. Muehlhauser said of the debate, "As usual, Craig’s superior framing, scholarship and debate skills ‘won’ the debate for him."[21]

Harris claims the label atheist is right next to child molester as a designation

see also: Atheism, pederasty and NAMBLA and Views on Atheists

Dr. Sam Harris is a founder of the New Atheism movement. He is quite aware of the stigma surrounding atheism and has even advocated that atheists no longer call themselves atheists.[22] In fact, Dr. Harris has said concerning the label of atheist, "It's right next to child molester as a designation."[22]

Gender and racial demographics of Sam Harris' audience

File:2404429188 ea8f1fc48b.jpg
Studies and web traffic data appear to indicate that women in the Western World tend to be more religious than men.[23] See: Atheism and women

See also: Gender and racial demographics of Sam Harris' audience

According to the web traffic tracking company Quantcast, white males appear to be the group of individuals who are most receptive to Richard Dawkins' message.[24][25] Survey data and website tracking data of prominent atheists' websites indicate that in the Western World, atheism is significantly less appealing to women.[26] According to the web traffic company Alexa, Harris receives the majority of his web traffic from North America and European countries.[27]

In 2015, BloombergView reported concerning the United States:

According to a much-discussed 2012 report from the Pew Research Center on Religion and Public Life, only 3 percent of U.S. atheists and agnostics are black, 6 percent are Hispanic, and 4 percent are Asian. Some 82 percent are white. (The relevant figures for the population at large at the time of the survey were 66 percent white, 11 percent black, 15 percent Hispanic, 5 percent Asian.)

...Craig Keener, in his huge review of claims of miracles in a wide variety of cultures, concludes that routine rejection of the possibility of the supernatural represents an impulse that is deeply Eurocentric.[28]

At the same time, due to immigration, Europe is expected to become more desecularized in the 21st century (See also: Global atheism and Atheist population).

These findings and Harris'/Dawkins' above cited problems with feminists, suggest that New Atheism movement is significant more appealing to white males. See also: Western atheism and race and Atheism and women

For more information, please see: Gender and racial demographics of Sam Harris' audience

Harris' and Western atheist outreach contrasted with Christian outreach

African Christians clapping at an open air meeting. In recent years, Christianity has seen a rapid growth in Africa.[29]

In 2005, there were four times as many non-Western World Christians as there were Western World Christians.[30]

Western World atheists have not engaged in a significant amount of global outreach.

Wikipedia is a wiki founded by an atheist Jimbo Wales and the agnostic Larry Sanger. Wikipedia's article on Sam Harris' book The End of Faith does not list any reviews either negative or positive from Africans, Latin Americans or South Americans.[31]

The atheist population in the Western World has not had significant outreaches to spread atheism outside the Western World. Historically, Christians have made great evangelism efforts to reach every people group across the earth. In 2005, there were four times as many non-Western World Christians as there were Western World Christians.[32] Doing overseas evangelism/outreaches, often requires significant hardships/persecution and Western atheists have been unwilling to endure such hardships in order to spread atheistic ideology (see: Atheism and hedonism).

In terms of its geographic distribution, Christianity is a much more a global religion than most, if not all, religions (See also: Global Christianity).[33][34] The Bible has been translated into 518 languages and 2,798 languages have at least some portion of the Bible.[35]

Since World War II a majority of the most prominent and vocal defenders of the evolutionary position which employs methodological naturalism have been atheists.[36] Charles Darwin's book The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life has been translated into 35 languages. [37]

Collectively speaking, the Christian community has a much greater degree of linguistic and cultural diversity than the atheist community (see: Atheist community and verbal–linguistic intelligence).

See also:

Project Reason

See also: Project Reason

An article published by an advocate of the Question evolution! campaign entitled Sam Harris, Project Reason failed quotes Sam Harris's Project Reason website thusly in terms of a description and aims of the project:

Project Reason is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation devoted to spreading scientific knowledge and secular values in society. The foundation draws on the talents of prominent and creative thinkers in a wide range of disciplines to encourage critical thinking and erode the influence of dogmatism, superstition, and bigotry in our world.

One immediate need is to build an archive of the best secular resources on the Internet. Registered users can submit their favorite articles, videos, interviews, etc."[38]

In addition, the article Sam Harris, Project Reason failed offers this web traffic graph from the web traffic tracking company Alexa:

An Alexa web traffic tracking graph for Project Reason taken from the article Sam Harris, Project Reason failed[39]


An updated Alexa web traffic tracking graph on January 31, 2014:

A January 31, 2014 Alexa web traffic tracking graph for the website Project Reason

Also, the article Sam Harris, Project Reason failed adds:

...it is extremely hard to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. No doubt the "best" secular material on the internet is extremely poor in quality. In addition, material which promotes atheism is very much like evolutionary pseudoscience material in that it is extremely dull, stale and boring. To the best of my knowledge, there has never been an atheism revival!

See: How stale and boring is evolutionary indoctrination? Is the public fooled or are they suspicious? What is the trend?

Questions for Sam Harris and his anemic fan base

Sam, what happened? By the way, what are your thoughts about global atheism shrinking? I do hope you know that this is expected to affect Western World atheism.

The Birbeck, University of London professor Eric Kaufmann declared to a secular audience in a lecture titled Shall the religious inherit the earth: "The trends that are happening worldwide inevitably in an age of globalization are going to affect us."[40]

According to website traffic tracking company Alexa, as of July 3, 2015, Project Reason is the 774,804 most popular website on the internet and it recently dropped 48,642 places in terms of its ranking.[41]

See also

References

  1. Huffington Post article
  2. Atheism’s shocking woman problem: What’s behind the misogyny of Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris? by Amanda Marcotte, Salon magazine, October 3, 2014
  3. Is Sam Harris Sexist? by Libby Anne at the blog Love, Joy, Feminism, September 20, 2014
  4. Atheist writer Sam Harris faces backlash over 'estrogen vibe' comments by Heather Tomlinson, Christianity Today, September 17, 2014
  5. Atheist writer Sam Harris faces backlash over 'estrogen vibe' comments by Heather Tomlinson, Christianity Today, September 17, 2014
  6. Atheism’s shocking woman problem: What’s behind the misogyny of Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris? by Amanda Marcotte, Salon magazine, October 3, 2014
  7. Is Sam Harris Sexist? by Libby Anne at the blog Love, Joy, Feminism, September 20, 2014
  8. On Sam Harris’s Reply to Feminist Critics by Daniel Fincke, September 16, 2014
  9. “I’m Not the Sexist Pig You’re Looking For” by Sam Harris, September 15, 2014
  10. New Atheism should be able to criticise Islam without being accused of Islamophobia by Andrew Zak Williams, New Statesman, Published 19 April, 2013
  11. Response to Critics by Sam Harris, June 21, 2014
  12. Sam Harris on Killing People for What they Believe by Victor Reppert
  13. Sam Harris: genocidal maniac or suicidal logician? by Vox Day, October 13, 2014
  14. Sam Harris on Killing People for What they Believe by Victor Reppert
  15. Madeleine Bunting, "The New Atheists loathe religion far too much to plausibly challenge it," The Guardian, May 7, 2007
  16. Sam Harris: genocidal maniac or suicidal logician? by Vox Day, October 13, 2014
  17. The God Debate II: Harris vs. Craig, Notre Dame University YouTube channel, Uploaded on Apr 12, 2011
  18. How William Lane Craig thrashed Sam Harris like a naughty puppy, Thinking Matters (New Zealand Christian Apologetics Ministry), April 9, 2011
  19. How William Lane Craig thrashed Sam Harris like a naughty puppy, Thinking Matters (New Zealand Christian Apologetics Ministry), April 9, 2011
  20. Sam Harris vs. William Lane Craig debate review (part 3) by Luke Muehlhauser, Common Sense Atheism, oApril 17, 2011
  21. 22.0 22.1 Roberts, Jessica, et al. (June 19, 2007). "Interview with an atheist". News21. Retrieved on July 30, 2014.
  22. Multiple references:
  23. http://www.quantcast.com/richarddawkins.net#demographics
  24. http://www.quantcast.com/samharris.org
  25. Alexa data for Sam Harris' website
  26. The Atheism Gap By Stephen L. Carter, BloombergView, Mar 27, 2015 4:26 PM EDT
  27. The African apostles: How Christianity exploded in 20th-century Africa
  28. Is Christianity taking over the planet?
  29. The End of Faith
  30. Is Christianity taking over the planet?
  31. Many religions heavily concentrated in one or two countries
  32. Christianity in its global context
  33. Bible translations
  34. Darwin in translation
  35. Sam Harris, Project Reason failed!
  36. Sam Harris, Project Reason failed!
  37. Sam Harris, Project Reason failed!
  38. Project Reason - Alexa ranking

External Links