Sam Harris on Charlie Hebdo and Islam in General |
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Posted: 31 Jan 2015 09:00 AM PST
Sam Harris is an
outspoken critic of all religions. But one religion in particular requires
him to keep defending his position: Islam. And he defends his position well.
Listen to the audio file below. It is a masterpiece of clarity and
articulation. Listen to it ten times. He makes many good points and makes
them extremely well. If we had these points fresh in our minds when
conversations come up, we could more effectively do what we most need to do:
Change the way people think about Islam.
Listen to Sam Harris's monologue here: After Charlie Hebdo and Other Thoughts. The first 15 minutes are all you need to listen to. Harris then goes onto other topics. In those first 15 minutes, he makes a huge number of important points, including these:
§ It doesn't matter if any particular terrorist is affiliated with
a group or merely a "lone wolf." They are all motivated by the same
ideology.
§ The one thing that would keep cartoonists safe is for everyone
to immediately re-publish the cartoons. If newspapers and magazines had done
that the first time, the staff of Charlie
Hebdo would probably still be alive.
§ If someone asks the question, "What were the cartoons
about?" they are entirely missing the point. People were murdered over cartoons.
End of moral analysis.
§ There is no "trade off" between freedom of speech and
freedom of religion. There's no balance to be struck here. Freedom of speech never
infringes on freedom of religion. There's nothing I could say that would
infringe on a Muslim's freedom to practice his religion. If your
"freedom of religion" entails forcing those who don't share your
religion to conform to it, that is not freedom of religion. We have a word
for that: Theocracy.
§ The ISIS beheadings and torture and murders of journalists and
aid workers and women are not examples of an excessive use of force by a few
deranged individuals. This is entirely normal behavior within the context of
standard Islamic doctrine. This is what they
consider best about themselves. The butchery is what they use to advertise.
Video footage of them cutting off the head of an aid worker is part of
their recruiting materials. This does not cause them embarrassment.
Quite the opposite. This is a bold expression of their worldview — a
worldview fully supported by Islamic scripture. Not just supported but demanded
by their religious scripture. They consider their behavior entirely
ethical.
Listen to Sam Harris's
monologue here: After Charlie Hebdo and Other Thoughts.
And share it with your friends and family.
I've also posted this on Inquiry Into Islam here for sharing. |
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