Sam Harris and Ben Affleck went head to head on Bill Maher. Harris maintains that Islam as a whole needs to be reformed, and in his books, makes excellent arguments in favor of that. The biggest hindrance to reform, he argues, are Islamic adherents who claim that Islam is inherently a religion of peace that believes in doing good to all humans. It is not. I flipped open the Quran a few nights ago and the first chapter I read was Allah commanding the Muslims to murder an entire caravan of pilgrims and steal their stuff. I have read the entire Quran a few years back. It is the only Holy Book from a world religion that I finished and thought, Not good. I came out of that exercise thinking the same thing as Sam Harris...before I ever read anything from Sam Harris. I agree with Harris. Running around defending Islam is one way to maintain the status quo. His point about burning a Quran, and suddenly all these moderate Muslims in other countries are burning down embassies, is a real point that needs to be considered. If your average gut reaction to a perceived threat fits better in the 15th Century, then your religion needs reform. Calling for reform is not hateful, but loving. Trying to insist that reform is not needed is the hateful doctrine. My opinion, of course.
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 04:51:20 +0000