Essay: Where was Sam Harris when the New Atheists needed him?

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Sam Harris

(photo obtained from Wikimedia commons, see license agreement)

Sam 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.

The term New Atheism which first appeared in the November 2006 edition of Wired magazine, is frequently applied to a series of six best-selling books by five authors that appeared in the period between 2004–2008. These authors include Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, Richard Dawkins, Victor J. Stenger and Christopher Hitchens.[1] The four most prominent writers of the New Atheist movement are Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens and Daniel Dennett.

3 out of 5 founders of the New Atheism movement have had issues with being overweight

see also: New Atheism leadership's problem with excess weight

3 out of 5 of the founders of the New Atheism movement have had issues with being overweight as can be seen HERE and HERE and HERE

Hey neuroscientist Sam Harris! I hope you know that excess weight impairs brain function!

See also: Atheism and obesity and Atheism and Mental and Physical Health

Some of the medical conditions associated with obesity include: type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and triglycerides, coronary artery disease (CAD), stroke, arthritis, cancer, sleep apnea, reproductive problems in women and varicose veins.[2][3][4][5] In addition, medical science research indicates that excess weight impairs brain function.[6][7][8][9][10]

Medical research indicates that excess weight impairs brain function.[11][12][13][14][15]

According to the Mayo Clinic some of the symptoms associated with obesity can include:

“
  • Difficulty sleeping
  • Snoring
  • Sleep apnea
  • Pain in your back or joints
  • Excessive sweating
  • Always feeling hot
  • Rashes or infection in folds of your skin
  • Feeling out of breath with minor exertion
  • Daytime sleepiness or fatigue
 ”

Concerning the issue of depression, atheists do have higher rates of suicide than the general population.

Dr. Harris, I hoped you pleaded with them to lose some weight!

Neuroscientist Sam Harris with Patrick McKenna.

(photo obtained from Wikimedia commons, see license agreement)

See also: Atheism and obesity

Dr. Harris, I certainly hoped you pleaded with the overweight New Atheists founders to lose some weight! I do know that leadership is by example and if you pleaded I hope it was quite strongly. You certainly don't want overweight New Atheist leaders serving as role models to the atheist community and encourage atheists to lead lives contrary to the recommendations of medical science.

Did you ever orchestrate a overweight New atheism founders intervention? Did you speak out publicly about the significant number of New Atheism founders who were overweight?

The reason I asks these questions is as of December 28, 2010 the pictures of the members of the American Atheists organization's board of directors showed a significant portion of its members having excess body weight. [17] The pictures of the American Atheists board of directors can be found HERE.

Dr. Harris there does appear to be a significant problem with obesity within the Western atheist community - especially when you compare them with the very religious. Please see Atheism and obesity for details.

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

Dr. Harris has said concerning the label of atheist, "It's right next to child molester as a designation."[18]

.(photo obtained from Flickr, see license agreement)

Atheism is a social stigma in many Western societies and obesity is as well.[19][20][21] For example, in the United States, obese people are often stereotyped as being "lazy, lacking self-discipline and being mentally slow".[22]

Of course, if atheist obesity could be avoided by some through simple dietary and exercise changes, this could cause a lot less heartache and disappointment to parents who not only have an atheist son or daughter, but suffer the double indignity of having son or daughter who is both obese and an atheist.

Dr. Harris is quite aware of the stigma surrounding atheism and has even advocated that atheists no longer call themselves atheists.[23] In fact, Dr. Harris has said concerning the label of atheist, "It's right next to child molester as a designation."[23]

Atheism, pederasty and NAMBLA

see also: Atheism, pederasty and NAMBLA

Some of the well known atheist advocates of the North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) are:

1. The atheist and homosexual David Thorstad was a founding member of the North American Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA).[24]

2. Harry Hay (1912 - 2002) was an liberal advocate of statutory rape and the widely acknowledged founder and progenitor of the activist homosexual agenda in the United States. Hay joined the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA) in 1934. [25] Harry Hay was an atheist.[26] He was a vociferous advocate of man/boy love. [27][28] In 1986, Hay marched in a gay parade wearing a shirt emblazoned with the words "NAMBLA walks with me."[29]

3. The writer Samuel R. Delaney is an atheist and a homosexual.[30][31] Delaney said he was a supporter of NAMBLA.[32]

John Maynard Keynes

John Maynard Keynes and pederasty

see also: John Maynard Keynes and pederasty

John Maynard Keynes was the founder of Keynesian economics. Lytton Strachey, his male bed partner, wrote that Keynes was a “A liberal and a sodomite, An atheist and a statistician.”[33] Keynes and his friends made numerous trips to the resorts surrounding the Mediterranean. At the resorts, little boys were sold by their families to bordellos which catered to homosexuals.[34] In his work The Cambridge Apostles, 1820-1914: Liberalism, Imagination, and Friendship in British Intellectual and Professional Life, William C. Lubenow expresses the opinion that Keynes was an agnostic.[35]

Running away from the stigma of atheism

As noted earlier, Sam Harris tells atheists don't call yourself an atheist! Well, I guess that is one way to run away from the well earned stigma of atheism that atheists have caused to fall upon themselves (please see: atheism and mass murder and atheism and deception and atheism and suicide and atheism and morality). Call yourself a former Baptist or former Anglican! If people probe further, just run away!

Evolutionists who have had problems with being overweight and/or obese

See also: Professor PZ Myers fails applied biology

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]

A list of evolutionists who who have had problems with being overweight and/or obese can be found here:

Evolutionists who have had problems with being overweight and/or obese

Overcoming obesity

Sometimes high intelligence (or former high intelligence that has been impaired by having excess weight[37]) and having simple and effective methods to lose weight is not enough to escape the jaws of obesity. Often, it takes self-discipline as well.

See also: Are atheists smarter than the average bear? and Overcoming obesity with the aid of Christian faith

(Photo obtained from Flickr, see: license agreement)

see also: Are atheists smarter than the average bear? and Overcoming obesity with the aid of Christian faith

Perhaps, if more overweight atheists evolved a backbone and took the recommendations of medical science and exercise science more seriously, clinical trials could be run by Dr. Harris to help atheists find better ways to wrestle themselves from the clutches of obesity.

Sometimes high intelligence (or former high intelligence that has been impaired by having excess weight[38]) and having simple and effective methods to lose weight is not enough to escape the jaws of obesity. Often, it takes self-discipline as well. This can be frustrating to many overweight atheists especially when they hear taunts such as: If your so smart Mr. Atheist, then why are you so fat?

On the other hand, besetting sins such as gluttony, sloth, homosexuality and drug addiction can certainly be more effectively conquered with the assistance of Christian faith, self-discipline and of course through diet and exercise well. Peter LaBarbera is the President of Americans for Truth which is an organization which counters the homosexual agenda. Peter LaBarbera declared concerning Christian ex-homosexuals who reported being transformed by the power of God:

“ Another factor from my experience as a close observer of the “ex-gay” phenomenon is that many former homosexuals do not linger in “reparative therapy” programs, or participate in them at all. They attribute their dramatic and (relatively) rapid transformation to the power of God, and likely would not show up in a study of this kind. In fact, these “unstudied” overcomers would appear to be the most successful ex-homosexuals because they’ve moved on with their lives — as “reborn” Christians move on after overcoming any besetting sin.[39] ”
Members of the Pentecostal Church of God in Lejunior, Kentucky praying for a girl in 1946.

In 1980 a study was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry and eleven men participated in a study about men overcoming homosexuality. The American Journal of Psychiatry stated that eleven homosexual men became heterosexuals "without explicit treatment and/or long-term psychotherapy" through their participation in a Pentecostal church.[40]

On December 11, 2001, the prestigious Mayo Clinic reported:

“ In an article also published in this issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Mayo Clinic researchers reviewed published studies, meta-analyses, systematic reviews and subject reviews that examined the association between religious involvement and spirituality and physical health, mental health, health-related quality of life and other health outcomes.

The authors report a majority of the nearly 350 studies of physical health and 850 studies of mental health that have used religious and spiritual variables have found that religious involvement and spirituality are associated with better health outcomes.[41]

”

Obese atheists and overweight atheists comedy and satire

See also

External links

Notes

  1. ↑ http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/vstenger/battle.html
  2. ↑ http://www.webmd.com/diet/tc/obesity-health-risks-of-obesity
  3. ↑ http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity/calltoaction/fact_consequences.htm
  4. ↑ http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/obesity
  5. ↑ http://stanfordhospital.org/clinicsmedServices/COE/surgicalServices/vascularSurgery/patientEducation/varicose.html
  6. ↑ http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/41/18/25.1.full
  7. ↑ http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/brain-and-behavior/articles/2009/08/25/as-waistlines-widen-brains-shrink.html
  8. ↑ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21167850
  9. ↑ http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100714112832.htm
  10. ↑ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/2568718/
  11. ↑ http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/41/18/25.1.full
  12. ↑ http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/brain-and-behavior/articles/2009/08/25/as-waistlines-widen-brains-shrink.html
  13. ↑ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21167850
  14. ↑ http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100714112832.htm
  15. ↑ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/2568718/
  16. ↑ http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/obesity/DS00314/DSECTION=symptoms
  17. ↑ http://www.atheists.org/about/Board_of_Directors
  18. ↑ http://newsinitiative.org/story/2007/06/19/interview_with_an_atheist
  19. ↑ Edgell, Gerteis & Hartmann 2006
  20. ↑ http://newsinitiative.org/story/2007/06/19/interview_with_an_atheist
  21. ↑ http://www.rcgd.isr.umich.edu/crockerlab/articles/2005_Crocker_Garcia_Self-Esteem_&_Stigma_of_Obesity.pdf
  22. ↑ http://www.rcgd.isr.umich.edu/crockerlab/articles/2005_Crocker_Garcia_Self-Esteem_&_Stigma_of_Obesity.pdf
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Roberts, Jessica, et al. (June 19, 2007). "Interview with an atheist". News21. Retrieved on July 30, 2014.
  24. ↑ http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/abbott/100822
  25. ↑ The Boston Phoenix, The real Harry Hay, Michael Bronski, October 31 - November 7, 2002.
  26. ↑ http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2010/ss_politics0010_01_07.asp
  27. ↑ The American Spectator Special Report, When Nancy Met Harry, Jeffrey Lord, 10/5/2006.
  28. ↑ http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2010/ss_politics0010_01_07.asp
  29. ↑ http://www.mega.nu/ampp/baldwin_pedophilia_homosexuality.pdf
  30. ↑ Samuel R. Delaney, About writing: seven essays, four letters, and five interviews, page 36
  31. ↑ http://www.enotes.com/contemporary-literary-criticism/delany-samuel-r
  32. ↑ Delany, Samuel R.; Freedman, Carl (2009). Conversations with Samuel R. Delany. Univ. Press of Mississippi, page 143
  33. ↑ http://www.keynesatharvard.org/book/KeynesatHarvard-ch09.html
  34. ↑ http://www.keynesatharvard.org/book/KeynesatHarvard-ch09.html
  35. ↑ The Cambridge Apostles, 1820-1914: Liberalism, Imagination, and Friendship in British Intellectual and Professional Life, 1998, Cambridge University Press, page 402
  36. ↑
  37. ↑ http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/41/18/25.1.full
  38. ↑ http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/41/18/25.1.full
  39. ↑ http://www.americansfortruth.com/news/landmark-study-change-for-homosexuals-is-possible.html
  40. ↑ E.M. Pattison and M.L. Pattison, "'Ex-Gays': Religiously Mediated Change in Homosexuals," American Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 137, pp. 1553-1562, 1980
  41. ↑ http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.com/content/76/12/1225.full.pdf
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